Rhodesian Man name to stay: Top paleoanthropologist Chris Stringer and the distinguished Linneaus Society win the first round
Rhodesian Man, also known as the Kabwe skull, is one of the most complete and best preserved hominin skulls ever found.
From the Smithsonian:
Swiss miner Tom Zwiglaar is credited with finding the first early human fossil ever to be discovered in Africa. When Kabwe (also known as Broken Hill) was sent to Arthur Smith Woodward, Woodward assigned the specimen to a new species: Homo rhodesiensis. Today, most scientists assign Kabwe to Homo heidelbergensis.
Note – The name Homo heidelbergensis is in dispute. Some refer to it as Afro-heidelbergensis given its distinction from Homo heidelbergensis in Eurasia.
From Natural History Museum, 2020:
‘Until recently I – and many other palaeoanthropologists – argued that H. heidelbergensis existed about 500,000 years ago, and was probably the last common ancestor of our species H. sapiens evolving in Africa, and Homo neanderthalensis (the Neanderthals) which evolved in Eurasia,’ says Chris.’
A date of about 300,000 years old highlights the complexity of human evolution in Africa.’
There is also a group fighting to change the name to Homo bodisiensis. They appear to be politically motivated. Of note, the advocates for such a name change are from communist China and socialist Canada.
From pubmed.nih.gov, Sept. 2022, (Univ. of Winnipeg) et.al.,
we proposed a new species, Homo bodoensis, to replace the problematical taxa Homo heidelbergensis and Homo rhodesiensis, with the goal of streamlining communication about human evolution
we discuss further why H. rhodesiensis should be abandoned, particularly in light of the current sensitivity to using culturally inappropriate names… we provide additional clarification about the rules governing taxonomic nomenclature as outlined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature and join the growing calls for a revision to these rules.
Rhodesian Man gets backing from some key members of the paleoanthropology community
Top English men fought back against the woke crowd to keep the namesake of Rhodesia. Leftist activists thought the name was problematic because of its connection to British imperialist and humanitarian Cecil Rhodes.
Chris Stringer of the London Natural History Museum along with the distinguished [Carl] Linneaus Society pushed back hard. Stringer just doubled down. So, it now appears Rhodesian Man will not be going extinct.
“There is also a possibility that neutral and non-offensive names proposed as replacements could themselves be considered offensive as attitudes change in the future” — Linneaus Society
A statement was sent out by the Linneaus Society:
Although the commission recognizes that some scientific names may cause discomfort or offense, such as some historical figures considered by some to be racist, the commit to stable and universal nomenclature remains strong.
More:
Owing to the inherently subjective nature of making such assessments, it would be inappropriate for the Commission to assert judgments on such matters of morality, because there are no specific parameters to determine thresholds for offensiveness of a scientific name to a given community or individual, either in the present day or in the future (but see Smith et al., 2022).
There is also a possibility that neutral and non-offensive names proposed as replacements could themselves be considered offensive as attitudes change in the future, prompting further new replacement names. Moreover, any names replaced for ethical reasons would not simply disappear but would remain in the literature in perpetuity as part of taxonomic and nomenclatural synonymies.
Rhodesian Man has been saved from the woke mob. As outlined at the end of the video, Chris Stringer, very recently doubled down on his previous statements. And he took it a step further, suggesting that Homo Rhodesiensis be adopted to describe all African Hominins south of the Sahara, from 300,000 to 100,000 years ago.
“We, as Rhodesians are honored that the Linnaeus Society has agreed that the original name of Homo rhodesiensis should be retained…”
Interviewed by Subspeciest, a spokesperson for the Free Rhodesia movement expressed her appreciation to the Linnaeus Society:
My name is Mrs Liz van Rensburg, and I was born in Broken Hill in 1954.
My birth certificate states I was born in Northern Rhodesia, and I proudly consider myself a Rhodesian. Many of us lost far more than our homes during those crisis years. We no longer have a physical nation, our history has all but been destroyed, but we have a bond which spans continents.
There are very few things which still exist to commemorate our heritage. The Homo rhodesieinsis is our proudest.
We, as Rhodesians are honored that the Linnaeus Society has agreed that the original name of Homo rhodesiensis should be retained and not replaced. Thank you for this.
Ms. Van Rensburg hosts the Rhodesia Discuss group at Gab.
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