Latest news with #MiddlePleistocene
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Farmers Dug Up a 300,000-Year-Old Skull. It's Unlike Any Human Ancestor We've Ever Seen.
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: The fragmented Maba 1 skull, which had previously been described as belonging to a Neanderthal, is not so Neanderthal after all. Researchers reassessed the skull and found resemblances to Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens, but it didn't exactly fit into any of these species. It is most similar to other debatable hominin specimens. Maba 1 also suffered trauma before death, but the specific cause of the trauma remains unknown. In 1958, in a narrow trench of an eroded limestone cave near Maba Village in Shaoguan City, China, local farmers were digging up bat guano for fertilizer when they came across something unusual. Fossilized fragments of bone surfaced that looked somewhat human, and were later determined to be part of a skull (and several facial bones). But which of our ancestors this skull belonged to has remained a mystery. At a glance, Maba 1 seems like any other skull fragment—and that is the whole problem. Because no other parts of the skull were ever found, it was nearly impossible to positively identify the fragment as having come from a particular species of hominin. The only thing researchers knew for certain is that the bone dates back to the late Middle Pleistocene and is about 300,000 years old. While it had previously been determined to belong to a Neanderthal, a team of researchers who previously studied the skull have now reevaluated it and found contradictory features that aredifficult to ignore. '[Maba 1] is well-known for the Neanderthal-like face, while its neurocranium shows affinities with many hominin taxa, which makes the taxonomic status of Maba 1 controversial,' they wrote in a study recently published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology. Until now, the skull fragments had been observed externally, but much about their internal structures was still unknown. So, the skull was reconstructed using data from micro-CT scans, which can image the inside of a fossil without damaging the actual specimen. The scans made one thing very clear: the skull probably wasn't from a Neanderthal. Channels in the sinuses that veins once used to ferry blood through spongy diploid bone were connected to the parietal foramen towards the back of the skull by tubular structures—a very rare occurence in Homo neandertalensis. The inside of the skull's frontal lobe turned out to be morphologically closer to Homo erectus than Neanderthals or Homo sapiens (though Homo erectus had a smaller brain than its two counterparts), and the cranial capacity of Maba 1 was more like that of Neanderthals and modern humans. But while the researchers agreed that Maba 1 seemed closest to H. erectus, differences from the morphological standards of the species were too obvious to ignore. The frontal lobe was short in comparison, and the bregma—where the coronal (lengthwise) and sagittal (crosswise and perpendicular to the coronal) sutures meet—was thicker than that of H. erectus. Maba 1 also shows signs of trauma—a dark, semicircular lesion on the external right side of the frontal bone, which spans the area from the middle of the head to the bridge of the nose. Signs of healing suggest that the individual suffered this injury while still alive, though it is unclear whether the lesion healed completely and what exactly caused it. There were no signs of infection. While it could have been left behind by an impact such as a fall, it is also possible that such a lesion was the result of anemia, or even a tumor. Strangely enough, the researchers concluded that Maba 1 is more similar to other debatable hominin skulls, such as the LH18 specimen found in Tanzania, which is thought to be an early Homo sapiens skull. There are also resemblances to the Djebel Irhoud skulls from Morocco (first assumed to be Neanderthal remains but now thought to be from some of the earliest known Homo sapiens) and Zambia's Broken Hill skull (a Homo heidelbergensis specimen now at the Natural History Museum in London). 'The internal structures of Maba 1 show a combination of morphological features found in various species,' the researchers concluded. 'These findings further evidence the high morphological variability among Asian hominins in the late Middle Pleistocene. Maba 1 currently cannot be definitely classified in any known hominin taxon.' You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Evidence of Ancient Human Ancestors Found Underwater
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Fragments of a Homo erectus skull were among deposits of vertebrate fossils found when the Indonesian seafloor was being dredged for a construction project This is the first time fossils of this species have been found on the seafloor between the islands of Indonesia, and further investigation found that land bridges once connected the islands. Evidence of Homo erectus hunting bovine ancestors and extracting bone marrow was also discovered. During the glacial period that chilled the Earth 140,000 years ago, sea levels in the Indonesian region of Sundaland were low enough for present-day islands to tower like mountain ranges with a lowland savannah stretching between them. It was an expanse of mostly dry grasslands with strips of forest edging the rivers, and animals like crocodiles, river sharks, elephants, hippos, rhinos, and carnivorous lizards flourished in the region. Sundaland was also a paradise for early humans. Long thought to have been isolated on the island of Java, two fossil fragments of a Homo erectus skull—which surfaced with recent ocean dredging in preparation for the construction of an artificial island—revealed that this hominin species migrated and spread throughout the islands when they could still walk over bridges of land. Homo erectus was first discovered in Java (and was known as 'Java Man' until the species was officially renamed), but sossilized remains had never before been found on the seafloor between what are now the islands of Java, Bali, Sumatra and Borneo. Now that examples have been dredged up, however, Harold Berghuis—an archaeologist from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, who led the investigation —thinks Homo erectus took advantage of the now-drowned land, and likely settled near the riverbanks in the region. 'Under the relatively dry Middle Pleistocene climate of eastern Java, herds of herbivores and groups of hominins on the lowland plains were probably dependent on large perennial rivers, providing drinking water and terrestrial as well as aquatic food sources,' Berghuis said in a study recently published in Quaternary Environments and Humans. These human ancestors would have had plenty to take advantage of near these ancient rivers. Trees bore fruit all year, and the ancient hominins would have been able to gather edible plants in addition to catching fish and shellfish. They may have even used mussel shells as tools—the oldest known evidence of them being used for that purpose—and engraved some of them (the most ancient human engravings have been found on shells that previously turned up in Java). The new findings show that they also hunted river turtles and terrestrial animals. Bones of river turtles and bovine ancestors showed cut marks and breakages that suggested the consumption of both meat and bone marrow. More modern human species on the Asian mainland (such as Denisovans and Neanderthals) were already known to have hunted bovids, and while no evidence for this had been found on Java, the presence of these seafloor fossils could mean that hunting methods were transferred from one species to the other. There may have even been interbreeding. Land exposed by diminished sea levels also meant that animal species from the mainland—like the extinct Asian hippo and the endangered (but still-extant) Komodo dragon—could spread to the Indonesian islands. Homo erectus marked a significant shift in human evolution—they were the earliest hominids to bear more of a resemblance to modern humans, with larger bodies, longer legs, and shorter arms relative to their torso. More muscle mass meant that they could walk and run faster than earlier hominins, and were likely more adept hunters. An increase in body size is also associated with an increase in brain size, and skulls tell us that their brains were over 50% larger than those of early Australopithecus species (though the human brain would eventually evolve to be 40% larger than that by the time Homo sapiens appeared). 'The late Middle Pleistocene age of the site is of great interest in terms of hominin evolution, as this period is characterized by a great morphological diversity and mobility of hominin populations in the region,' Berghuis and his team said. When sea levels rose, the land bridges between the islands of Sundaland were submerged, but this dredging has given us an unprecedented window into the life of Homo erectus in Indonesia. You Might Also Like Can Apple Cider Vinegar Lead to Weight Loss? Bobbi Brown Shares Her Top Face-Transforming Makeup Tips for Women Over 50
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Scientists Found Evidence of Our Ancient Human Ancestors Underwater, Suggesting a Sunken World
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." Here's what you'll learn when you read this story: Fragments of a Homo erectus skull were among deposits of vertebrate fossils found when the Indonesian seafloor was being dredged for a construction project This is the first time fossils of this species have been found on the seafloor between the islands of Indonesia, and further investigation found that land bridges once connected the islands. Evidence of Homo erectus hunting bovine ancestors and extracting bone marrow was also discovered. During the glacial period that chilled the Earth 140,000 years ago, sea levels in the Indonesian region of Sundaland were low enough for present-day islands to tower like mountain ranges with a lowland savannah stretching between them. It was an expanse of mostly dry grasslands with strips of forest edging the rivers, and animals like crocodiles, river sharks, elephants, hippos, rhinos, and carnivorous lizards flourished in the region. Sundaland was also a paradise for early humans. Long thought to have been isolated on the island of Java, two fossil fragments of a Homo erectus skull—which surfaced with recent ocean dredging in preparation for the construction of an artificial island—revealed that this hominin species migrated and spread throughout the islands when they could still walk over bridges of land. Homo erectus was first discovered in Java (and was known as 'Java Man' until the species was officially renamed), but sossilized remains had never before been found on the seafloor between what are now the islands of Java, Bali, Sumatra and Borneo. Now that examples have been dredged up, however, Harold Berghuis—an archaeologist from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, who led the investigation —thinks Homo erectus took advantage of the now-drowned land, and likely settled near the riverbanks in the region. 'Under the relatively dry Middle Pleistocene climate of eastern Java, herds of herbivores and groups of hominins on the lowland plains were probably dependent on large perennial rivers, providing drinking water and terrestrial as well as aquatic food sources,' Berghuis said in a study recently published in Quaternary Environments and Humans. These human ancestors would have had plenty to take advantage of near these ancient rivers. Trees bore fruit all year, and the ancient hominins would have been able to gather edible plants in addition to catching fish and shellfish. They may have even used mussel shells as tools—the oldest known evidence of them being used for that purpose—and engraved some of them (the most ancient human engravings have been found on shells that previously turned up in Java). The new findings show that they also hunted river turtles and terrestrial animals. Bones of river turtles and bovine ancestors showed cut marks and breakages that suggested the consumption of both meat and bone marrow. More modern human species on the Asian mainland (such as Denisovans and Neanderthals) were already known to have hunted bovids, and while no evidence for this had been found on Java, the presence of these seafloor fossils could mean that hunting methods were transferred from one species to the other. There may have even been interbreeding. Land exposed by diminished sea levels also meant that animal species from the mainland—like the extinct Asian hippo and the endangered (but still-extant) Komodo dragon—could spread to the Indonesian islands. Homo erectus marked a significant shift in human evolution—they were the earliest hominids to bear more of a resemblance to modern humans, with larger bodies, longer legs, and shorter arms relative to their torso. More muscle mass meant that they could walk and run faster than earlier hominins, and were likely more adept hunters. An increase in body size is also associated with an increase in brain size, and skulls tell us that their brains were over 50% larger than those of early Australopithecus species (though the human brain would eventually evolve to be 40% larger than that by the time Homo sapiens appeared). 'The late Middle Pleistocene age of the site is of great interest in terms of hominin evolution, as this period is characterized by a great morphological diversity and mobility of hominin populations in the region,' Berghuis and his team said. When sea levels rose, the land bridges between the islands of Sundaland were submerged, but this dredging has given us an unprecedented window into the life of Homo erectus in Indonesia. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
