Homo luzonensis is the newest Hominid discovery
Scientists are dubbing it “a new branch of the human family tree.” A total of 13 fossil bones and teeth have been found in the Callao cave in northern Luzon province. The researchers have dated some of the fossils to be 67,000 years old and another at 50,000.Scientists surmise that that latter date would mean Homo luzonensiz was around the same time that Homo sapiens first began arriving in the region. And that could have spelled their doom. It is tempting to compare Homo luzonensiz man to Homo floresiensis on an Indonesian island discovered 5 years ago. The new species stood less than feet tall. However, researchers have not yet made that connection.
First major paleo-anthropology find in the Philippines
From Inquirer:
“Filipino archaeologist Armand Salvador Mijares said the discovery of the remains in Callao Cave made the Philippines an important research ground on human evolution.”
From Yahoo News:
“The Luzon and Flores discoveries demonstrate that the story of human evolution is more complicated than previously understood, with Asia offering up surprises, potentially with more to come, the researchers said.”
University of Wisconsin Professor John Hawks notes “If we have missed these species that lived less than 100,000 years ago, how much are we missing from the earlier phases of evolution?”
