On 8/6/2023 12:25 PM, RonO wrote:
A new hominin fossil was described.
https://phys.org/news/2023-08-china-human-lineage.html
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047248423000908?via%3Dihub
The Phys.org article describes a mandible and partial skull. It looks
like a Homo erectus skull, but there are characteristics that are more modern. The Phys.org article claims that it might be a hybrid with a
more modern human. There is genomic evidence that Denisovans interbred
with a Homo that diverged from our lineage before Neanderthals and
Denisovans branched off, and this could be fossil evidence for the interbreeding with Denisovans. It would be nice to get DNA out of the fossil. We still do not have a Denisovan skull.
Ron Okimoto
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/10/asia/ancient-skull-china-human-evolution-intl-scli-scn/index.html
CNN has some pictures that make the skull look like a combination of Neanderthal and Homo erectus. As far as I know we do not have any
Denisovan skulls, just bone fragments and teeth, so we do not know what
a Denisovan looked like. Denisovans and Neanderthals left Africa
between 500,000 and 800,000 years ago. Consistent with the older date
some African Homo left Africa around 500,000 years ago and interbred
with Neanderthals, so Neanderthals seem to be a little more closely
related to modern humans than Denisovans. There is also the genomic
evidence that Denisovans interbred with a Homo (likely Homo erectus)
that they met in Asia. So there are a lot of things that this fossil
could represent.
Ron Okimoto
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