Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Mysterious 14,000-year-old leg bone may belong to archaic human species
Christian Science Monitor ^ | 12/20/2015 | By Eva Botkin-Kowacki

Posted on 12/20/2015 12:39:43 PM PST by SeekAndFind

A 14,000-year-old thigh bone may upend human history.

Unearthed in southwest China, this femur resembles those of an ancient species of humans thought to be long extinct by the Late Pleistocene, scientists say. The scientists compare the leg bone to ancient and modern human femurs in a paper published Thursday in the journal PLOS ONE, arguing that this specimen represents a population of ancient humans that lived surprisingly recently.

If they're right, this could dramatically change the way we see human history.

Today, our species, Homo sapiens, are the only humans to walk the Earth. But it hasn't always been that way.

At times, ancient human species, like Neanderthals, Denisovans, H. erectus, and H. habilis, overlapped. Some even intermingled with our own species, as Denisovan genes show up in some modern humans living today.

Scientists thought that the last time there was more than one species of human on Earth was tens of thousands of years ago. One of our closest cousins, Neanderthals, for example, are thought to have died out about 40,000 years ago.

"Until now, it was thought that archaic humans on mainland Asia had survived no later than around 100,000 years ago," study author Darren Curnoe tells the Monitor in an email. "So, to find a human bone that resembles very ancient humans that is only around 14,000 years old is a real surprise."

"Now, it is only one bone, so we need to be a bit careful," Dr. Curnoe says. But if it does represent these ancient humans, "there must also have been overlap in time between archaic and modern humans for tens of thousands of years in Southwest China."

(Excerpt) Read more at csmonitor.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science
KEYWORDS: china; denisovans; evolution; flores; godsgravesglyphs; hobbit; homoerectus; homofloresiensis; homohabilis; homosapiens; humanspecies; legbone; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals

1 posted on 12/20/2015 12:39:43 PM PST by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

*ping*


2 posted on 12/20/2015 12:40:37 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Was it connected to anything?


3 posted on 12/20/2015 12:40:48 PM PST by o_1_2_3__ ( –)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Helenthomasis Horribulus


4 posted on 12/20/2015 12:44:03 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: o_1_2_3__

Thigh bone connected to the leg bone ?


5 posted on 12/20/2015 12:49:33 PM PST by buckalfa (I am feeling much better now.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind
....leg bone may belong to archaic human species...

Did it belong to an honest, patriotic politician?

6 posted on 12/20/2015 12:56:41 PM PST by HomerBohn (Liberals and slinkies: they're good for nothing, but you smile as you shove them down the stairs.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: HomerBohn

“Did it belong to an honest, patriotic politician? “

Honest? Yes, to the extent that
when he’s bought, he stays bought.


7 posted on 12/20/2015 1:00:47 PM PST by sparklite2 (Islam = all bathwater, no baby.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Sasquatch???


8 posted on 12/20/2015 1:03:43 PM PST by batterycommander (...Change your diaper, diaperhead. It's full of shiite.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: batterycommander

Sasquatch??? In China???


9 posted on 12/20/2015 1:05:48 PM PST by batterycommander (...Change your diaper, diaperhead. It's full of shiite.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Well, in the timeline of Humans, 14000 years sounds pretty contemporary.


10 posted on 12/20/2015 1:49:39 PM PST by Fhios (How about we call it a a war on sharia law?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

“If they’re right, this could dramatically change the way we see human history....”

It is almost certain that the level of certitude in this announcement was just as authoritarian and credible as when the previous(now clearly incorrect) way we saw human history was announced.


11 posted on 12/20/2015 1:51:23 PM PST by theBuckwheat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Pitldown.


12 posted on 12/20/2015 2:00:09 PM PST by Original Lurker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: theBuckwheat

Indeed. I thought the science was settled....


13 posted on 12/20/2015 2:27:29 PM PST by Proud_texan ("Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." - PK Dick)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: theBuckwheat

never forget that you’re reading what a journalism major “thought” the scientists said.


14 posted on 12/20/2015 2:42:59 PM PST by muir_redwoods (Freedom isn't free, liberty isn't liberal and you'll never find anything Right on the Left)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: fieldmarshaldj
Thanks fieldmarshaldj.

Thigh bone points to unexpectedly long survival of ancient human ancestors


15 posted on 12/20/2015 2:45:51 PM PST by SunkenCiv (Here's to the day the forensics people scrape what's left of Putin off the ceiling of his limo.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: theBuckwheat

[[as when the previous(now clearly incorrect) way we saw human history was announced.]]

Yeah but this is the really really correct way we see human history now (until a really really really correct view comes along)


16 posted on 12/20/2015 2:52:20 PM PST by Bob434
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Well I hope that a new species of Humans is right around the corner because without divine intervention then this one is about to go Extinct.


17 posted on 12/20/2015 3:30:51 PM PST by Revel
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

18 posted on 12/20/2015 3:38:26 PM PST by SkyPilot ("I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

i was going to ping you, but fieldmarsal beat me to it.


19 posted on 12/20/2015 5:44:32 PM PST by CPT Clay (Hillary: Julius and Ethal Rosenberg were electrocuted for selling classified info.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson