Hominin on EARTH Magazine

Hard-knock hominid skeletons tell harsh tales

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 16:15:25 -0500

The malformed skull of a 2- to 3-year-old Pleistocene hominid (top) found in France shows signs of hydrocephalus, a swelling of the braincase due to excess fluid in the skull. The hole in the top of the skull is thought to have been cut postmortem. Abnormally bowed femurs (bottom) in the fossil skeleton of a 10-year-old boy found at the Sunghir site in Russia may have been caused by chronic nutritional stress or an inherited disorder. Credit: both: Erik Trinkaus/PNAS.

The Pleistocene was a hard time for hominids. Homo fossils from this period, when humans evolved and expanded from Africa and across Eurasia, are riddled with an unusual number of skeletal abnormalities. Swollen braincases, bowed femurs, twisted long bones, pronounced dwarfism and malformed teeth are just a few of the unusual skeletal features found in many Pleistocene hominid fossils. A new statistical study has confirmed that these anomalies occur at higher-than-expected rates in the Pleistocene fossil record. But whether this elevated incidence was mainly caused by nutritional stress or inbreeding, or if it’s an artifact of preservational bias, is unknown.

Down to Earth With: Paleoanthropologist and underground astronaut Lindsay Hunter

Wed, 13 Feb 2019 15:14:59 -0500

Lindsay Hunter finds a perch in the Rising Star Cave in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site in South Africa, where she helped excavate the bones of Homo naledi. Over three weeks in November 2013, Hunter and her colleagues excavated more than 1,500 fossil pieces from specimens of the previously unknown hominin species. Credit: ©Wits University/Elen Feuerriegel.

In 2013, Lindsay Hunter found herself at a personal and professional crossroads. She had gone through a divorce, left the paleoanthropology doctoral program at the University of Iowa, where she had received her master’s in 2004, and moved, along with her three dogs and two cats, to live with her parents on a farm outside Austin, Texas.

Lucy liked hanging out in trees

Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:13:48 -0400

A new study focused on Lucy's upper arm bones, which held clues revealing an arboreal, climbing lifestyle for the hominin. Credit: John Kappelman/University of Texas, Austin.

Lucy, the 3.2-million-year-old human ancestor discovered in Ethiopia in 1974, is one of the most complete early hominin skeletons ever found. Still, despite the skeleton’s completeness, debate continues about how Lucy got around: Did she spend most of her time walking on the ground or climbing in trees? In a new study, scientists studying Lucy’s upper limb bones have found that she likely spent more time in trees — and was a more capable climber — than later hominin species like Homo erectus and Homo sapiens.

Dental plaque reveals later start date for hominin cooking

Wed, 29 Mar 2017 14:00:30 -0400

The Sima del Elefante site is located near the famous Sima de los Huesos hominin site in Spain's Atapuerca Mountains. Credit: Hardy et al., The Science of Nature, December 2016.

Ancient teeth have long been a source of information about ancient diets, mainly through analyses of isotopic compositions and wear patterns. In a new study published in the Science of Nature, researchers studied microfossils of food particles extracted from the teeth of a 1.2-million-year-old unidentified hominin found at the Sima del Elefante site in northern Spain. The microfossils include traces of raw animal tissue, uncooked starch granules from grasses, pollen grains from a species of pine tree and insect fragments. The lack of charring of the recovered fibers and an absence of micro-charcoal suggest the bearer of the teeth neither cooked his or her food nor spent significant time around a fire source.

Benchmarks: January 31, 1961: Ham the chimpanzee, first hominid in space

Tue, 27 Dec 2016 19:18:39 -0500

Ham, the first hominid in space, was named after Holloman Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, N.M., where he was trained. Credit: NASA.

Early on the morning of Jan. 31, 1961, a chimpanzee named Ham, outfitted in a diaper, waterproof pants and a space suit, was sealed into a capsule and loaded onto a Mercury-Redstone 2 spacecraft in Cape Canaveral, Fla. Six hours later, Ham the Chimp, named after Holloman Aeromedical Research Laboratory at Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, N.M., where he was trained, became the first hominid to travel into space.

Hominid vs. hominin

Wed, 17 Aug 2016 10:37:49 -0400

Once genetics entered the picture, the definitions of hominids and hominins changed. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

Before genetics came along and revealed just how closely modern humans and chimpanzees are related, humans were classified in their own family, Hominidae, separate from old world monkeys, which were in the family Pongidae.

Redefining Homo: Does our family tree need more branches?

Tue, 16 Aug 2016 17:03:27 -0400

The hominin family tree is frequently revised, but researchers disagree about where many fossils should be placed on the tree. Credit: K. Cantner, AGI.

As the sole surviving species of the genus Homo, we Homo sapiens are one of the most taxonomically lonely species living on Earth today. But dig back a few thousand years or more and we find ourselves with plenty of company: Many now-extinct species shared the genus Homo, ranging from the robust Homo neanderthalensis, to the hobbit-like Homo floresiensis to the more primitive Homo habilis and Homo erectus. But do all these species, with their wide diversity of physical and cultural traits, actually belong in the same genus?

New fossils illuminate 'hobbit' evolutionary history

Wed, 08 Jun 2016 14:52:48 -0400

A reconstruction of Homo floresiensis by Atelier Elisabeth Daynes. Credit: Kinez Riza

Scientists first discovered fossils of Homo floresiensis — a species of extinct 1-meter-tall hominins nicknamed “hobbits” — in Liang Bua cave on the Indonesian island of Flores in 2004. Until now, H. floresiensis, thought to have lived between about 95,000 and 50,000 years ago based on recent evidence, was the only extinct hominin known to have lived on Flores, although artifacts discovered on the island dating to 800,000 to 1 million years ago pointed to earlier hominin habitation. Now, in two new studies published in Nature, researchers announce the discovery of hobbit-like hominin fossils found elsewhere on the island that are roughly 700,000 years old. The new remains, if confirmed, would extend the age range of the hobbit lineage, and may help researchers piece together why H. floresiensis became so small.

Ancient Indonesian tools made by mysterious inhabitants

Thu, 19 May 2016 22:12:43 -0400

These stone artifacts were found scattered on the ground near Talepu Hill on the island of Sulawesi, and date to at least 118,000 years ago. Credit: Erick Setiabudi.

The island of Sulawesi is one link in a chain of islands between mainland Asia and Australia, and was likely an important stepping stone in human dispersal from Eurasia through Oceania to Australia. Previous research has placed modern humans on Sulawesi as early as 40,000 years ago, but scientists have now dated a set of stone tools to at least 118,000 years ago, suggesting humans occupied the island far earlier than thought.

China's Red Deer Cave people may have survived until the last ice age

Mon, 18 Apr 2016 17:41:16 -0400

Artist's reconstruction of a Red Deer Cave man. Credit: Peter Schouten.

In the 1980s, a collection of bones from very small hominids was excavated from a cave in southwestern China, alongside a number of bones from a species of large red deer. Nicknamed the “Red Deer Cave people,” but not yet declared a distinct species, researchers previously dated radiocarbon in the sediments where the bones were found to about 14,000 years ago. In a new comparative study, the same team has now found that the hominids from which the bones came appear to have been similar to — although far smaller than — Homo habilis and Homo erectus, suggesting it could indeed be a new species.

Rising Star cave hominid walked its own way

Fri, 08 Jan 2016 08:04:08 -0500

The hand and foot of the newly discovered hominin species, Homo naledi. Credit: Peter Schmid/Will Harcourt-Smith.

After dozens of human-like fossils were discovered in a cave in South Africa last summer, they were declared distinct enough to be classified as a new species: Homo naledi. Two recent studies looking in detail at the new hominid’s hands and feet are revealing how different they were from other early humans.

Spanish cave reveals possible new Neanderthal ancestor

Thu, 19 Jun 2014 14:40:44 -0400

Skull 17 from the Sima de los Huesos site in Spain. Credit: ©Javier Trueba/Madrid Scientific Films.

A trove of thousands of hominin fossils unearthed from a prolific cave in northern Spain is proving a boon for paleoanthropologists studying human evolution and the early ancestors of Neanderthals. The fossils are proving difficult to categorize as a recognized species, however, raising the prospect of a new category of hominin for these Middle Pleistocene specimens.

Hominin skull discovery fuels debate about early human evolution

Thu, 17 Oct 2013 14:32:28 -0400

The face of Dmanisi Skull 5. Courtesy of Guram Bumbiashvili, Georgian National Museum

The Dmanisi Skull 5 early _Homo _cranium and herbivore fossil remains in situ at the discovery site. Courtesy of Georgian National Museum

Artist's reconstruction of the original _Homo erectus _owner of Dmanisi Skull' 5. Courtesy of J.H. Matternes

The Dmanisi site (in the upper right of the photograph), lies beneath a small medieval town about 85 kilometers from Georgia's capital Tbilisi. The site sits on top of a lava flow and covers some 50,000 square meters. Courtesy of Fernando Javier Urquijo

Five different hominid skulls have been found at Dmanisi so far, all exhibiting slightly different traits. The newest one, Skull 5 on the far right, is believed to be _Homo erectus_. The question is whether all five are _Homo erectus_ or are different species. Courtesy of M. Ponce de León and Ch. Zollikofer, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Hailed as a find for the ages, a rare skull of a 1.8-million-year-old human relative could provide answers to longstanding questions about the lineage of our species. It also fuels debate over what differentiates one hominin species from another, and could mean that Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and other early bipedal hominins may all be members of Homo erectus, rather than distinct species.

Tree-climbing hominin with opposable toes co-existed with Lucy

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:20:50 -0400

The Burtele partial foot superimposed on an outline of a gorilla foot. © The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Photo courtesy: Yohannes Haile-Selassie

When Lucy and other Australopithecines were walking around Ethiopia 3.4 million years ago, they may have encountered another hominin species that still climbed trees and also walked, but with a gait more like an ape than their bipedal neighbors. The tantalizing new discovery of a few fossil foot bones shows that at least one species retained an opposable big toe, one million years after the grasping feature was thought to have disappeared. The discovery means that two different types of locomotion co-existed during early human evolution, which sheds new light on the evolution of bipedalism and may warrant the naming of a new hominin species.

Voices: Redefining humanity through energy use

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:51:09 -0500

What is it, exactly, that distinguishes us from other species? The definition of humankind has perplexed scientists, philosophers and theorists for centuries. DNA composition differentiates species in a technical sense, but that definition is hardly satisfying. Certainly there must be something more ethereal that separates us from “lower” forms of creatures. Over the centuries, several definitions have emerged — from using tools to speaking — but have then been proven insufficient in some heuristic way. So I propose another option: manipulating energy.

Before Lucy: Older hominid Ardi challenges thinking about human evolution

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

An artist's reconstruction of _Ardipithecus ramidus_. Illustration 2009, J.H. Matternes

Reconstruction of the 'Ardi' skeleton. Illustration 2009, H.J. Matternes

Lucy, the 3.2-million-year-old Australopithecus afarensis fossil, has long been the poster child for early human evolution. But now she’ll have to share the spotlight with an even older hominid. After spending the last 15 years studying an ancient hominid species about the size of a chimpanzee, scientists revealed details about the 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus in a press conference today. Despite the similarity in size, Ardipithecus didn’t look or act like a chimpanzee, which the researchers say suggests that the last common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans was not chimpanzee-like either. As a result, they said, scientists may need to rethink some long-standing ideas about the origins of the human family tree.

Earliest fossil evidence of humans in Southeast Asia?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Archaeologists excavating Callao Cave in the Philippines. Armand Salvador Mijares

This 67,000-year-old foot bone may be evidence of the oldest-known humans in the Philippines. Armand Salvador Mijares

Modern humans reached the islands of Southeast Asia by approximately 50,000 years ago, but our ancestors’ journey was not easy. Even during times of low sea level, a voyage to some of these islands would have required crossing open water, leaving many scientists to wonder how humans arrived on the most isolated islands. Now the story is growing more complicated: A group of archaeologists has discovered a 67,000-year-old foot bone that they say represents the earliest-known presence of humans in the northern Philippines and may be among the oldest-known traces of modern humans in all of Southeast Asia — that is, if the bone truly belongs to Homo sapiens. The bone’s small size and unusual features make it difficult to determine exactly which species of Homo it was — Homo sapiens, Homo floresiensis or something else?

Highlights of 2010: What does it mean to be human?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010 helps scientists answer the age-old question

Calling someone a “Neanderthal” in the heat of an argument may not be such an insult after all. Last May, scientists announced they had completed a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome, and found evidence that Neanderthals and modern humans interbred, likely sometime 80,000 to 50,000 years ago when modern humans left Africa and ventured into Eurasia — Neanderthal territory. Those encounters left a mark in the modern gene pool: As much as 4 percent of the DNA in people with European or Asian ancestry may be Neanderthal DNA, the researchers reported in Science.

Homo erectus footprints show modern way of walking

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Fossil footprint, likely left by _Homo erectus_, found in Kenya. Image courtesy of Professor Matthew Bennett, Bournemouth University

An optical laser scan shows three footprints from the _Homo erectus_ footprint trail mixed with a range of other animal prints. Image courtesy of Professor Matthew Bennett, Bournemouth University

Bennett with the trail of fossil _Homo erectus_ footprints in northern Kenya. Image courtesy of Professor Matthew Bennett, Bournemouth University

In the Great Rift Valley in northern Kenya, researchers have discovered a cluster of footprints that look almost exactly like those you or I might leave on a sandy beach. These prints, however, were left by early hominins more than 1.5 million years ago, making them the oldest known evidence of fully modern bipedalism.

It's all in the wrist: Humans lack a knuckle-walking ancestor

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Though counterintuitive, scientists have turned their attention away from the feet and to the wrist and forearm to better understand how humans evolved upright walking, or bipedalism. African apes are humans' closest living relatives, and because these apes knuckle-walk, some paleoanthropologists have suggested that African apes and humans share a knuckle-walking ancestor. A new study, however, reveals that lumping the locomotion of all African apes together is a mistake: Knuckle-walking may have evolved more than once in the ape lineage. Therefore, the researchers say, humans probably did not evolve from a knuckle-walker but instead from a more general tree-dweller.

Move over Homo habilis: Early human evolution remapped

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

The cranium of the juvenile_ Australopithecus sedib_a. Brett Eloff, picture courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand

Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand with the _Australopithecus sediba_ skull. Picture courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand

_Australopithecus sediba_ skull reconstruction. ESRF, picture courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand

Reconstructed pelvises of the juvenile male (left) and adult female (right) _Australopithecus sediba_ specimens. Peter Schmid, courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand

Right hand of the adult female _Australopithecus sediba_ against a modern human hand. Peter Schmid, courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand

Mapping out how one species of early hominin branches to another has always been complicated by the rarity of complete specimens and lack of precise dating methods for fossils more than 50,000 years old. Now researchers studying the braincase, pelvis, hands and feet of a primitive hominin — which lived about the same time early Homo species were evolving — are taking full advantage of a rare, nearly complete assemblage of fossils and a new highly accurate dating method to once again redraw humankind’s ancient lineage.

Paleo Patrol: A hominin family reunion at the Smithsonian

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Erin Wayman (pictured in Cardiff, Wales) writes Paleo Patrol for EARTH. Spencer Wayman

Last month, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., unveiled its new (permanent) human evolution exhibit: the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins. The exhibit seeks to answer the millennia-old question, What does it mean to be human?

Paleo Patrol: Neanderthal genome offers clues on what makes us human

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Erin Wayman (pictured in Cardiff, Wales) writes Paleo Patrol for EARTH. Spencer Wayman

Did “Clan of the Cave Bear” get it right after all?

Paleo Patrol: Out of Africa and into Arabia?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

How and when did modern humans leave Africa and colonize the rest of the world? Many archaeologists would probably tell you that about 60,000 years ago, Homo sapiens walked up through Egypt, crossed the Sinai Peninsula into the Levant region of the Middle East and then continued on to Eurasia.

Paleo Patrol: Was mankind's first leap in a forest or savanna?

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Erin Wayman (pictured in Cardiff, Wales) writes Paleo Patrol for EARTH. Spencer Wayman

Last October, scientists formally introduced the world to Ardi the Ardipithecus, the well-preserved skeleton of a 4.4-million-year-old hominin found in Ethiopia. Eight months later, scientists have had time to digest the data from all 11 papers that were published in Science last fall regarding Ardi’s biology and ecology, and there is some dissent.

Questions arise over earliest evidence of human tool use

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Possibly stone tool-modified bones from Dikika, Ethiopia. Dikika Research Project

Two parallel cut marks possibly made by stone tools cutting into tissues on the rib of a cow-sized or larger ungulate. Dikika Research Project

The debate over when our ancestors first used stone tools is not over just yet. In August, researchers had reported finding scratch marks on two 3.4-million-year-old animal bones that they said were made by Australopithecus afarensis — the ancestor made famous by Lucy — scraping meat off the bones with sharp-edged stones. If true, that would push tool use back to 800,000 years earlier than previously thought. However, a new study challenges this interpretation and says that the marks were not made by early humans, but came instead from sediments grinding against the surface of the bones.

The vital statistics

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Ardipithecus ramidus was a hominid that lived in Ethiopia’s Afar region 4.4 million years ago. After spending more than a decade studying the species, scientists can now provide a sketch of what the hominid looked like:

Third hominin coexisted with modern humans and Neanderthals

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 06:41:58 -0500

Outside of Denisova Cave, where 'X-woman' was discovered. Bence Viola

Modern humans and Neanderthals lived side by side on the Eurasian landscape for tens of thousands of years — but it turns out they weren’t alone, much to researchers’ surprise. A team of researchers has found a hominin bone in a Siberian cave containing DNA that doesn’t match up with either known hominin species at that time, the researchers reported in Nature today, indicating that these humans shared the continent with a third, unknown hominin.