Finding showing human ancestor older than previously thought offers new insights into evolution

Eurekalert! ^ | Wednesday, June 29, 2011 | James Devitt

[SunkenCiv]

Homo erectus is widely considered a direct human ancestor -- it resembles modern humans in many respects, except for its smaller brain and differently shaped skull -- and was the first of our ancestors to migrate out of Africa, approximately 1.8 million years ago. Homo erectus went extinct in Africa and much of Asia by about 500,000 years ago, but appeared to have survived in Indonesia until about 35,000 to 50,000 years ago at the site of Ngandong on the Solo River. These late members of Homo erectus would have shared the environment with early members of our own species, Homo sapiens, who arrived in Indonesia by about 40,000 years ago.

The existence of the two species simultaneously has important implications for models about the origins of modern humans. One of the models, the Out of Africa or replacement model, predicts such overlap. However, another, the multiregional model, which posits that modern humans originated as a result of genetic contributions from hominin populations all around the Old World (Africa, Asia, Europe), does not. The late survival of Homo erectus in Indonesia has been used as one line of support for the Out of Africa model.

However, findings by the SoRT Project show that Homo erectus' time in the region ended before modern humans arrived there. The analyses suggest that Homo erectus was gone by at least 143,000 years ago -- and likely by more than 550,000 years ago... and both of these ages are older than the earliest Homo sapiens fossils in Indonesia. Thus, the authors concluded that the idea of a population of Homo erectus surviving until late in time in Indonesia and potentially interacting with Homo sapiens seems to have been disproven.

[SunkenCiv]

Keyword: javaman

• Javanese Fossil Skull Provides New Insights into Ancient Humans
• New Java Man as Controversial as Old Java Man
• Java Man's First Tools
• Homo Floresiensis: tiny toolmaker or microcephalic? (The debate continues)
• 'Java Man' takes age to extremes [ H. erectus 550,000 yrs BP? ]

[SunkenCiv]

Keyword: multiregionalism

• Peking man differing from modern humans in brain asymmetry
• New finds in Caucasus suggest non-African origin for ancient Homo species
• Humans 'left Africa much earlier'
• Stone tools 'change migration story' (Out of Africa)
• Flat-faced hominid skulls from China
• When the Sea Saved Humanity ( Preview )
• 'Java Man' takes age to extremes [ H. erectus 550,000 yrs BP? ]
• Chinese challenge to 'out of Africa' theory
• The Mystery Ape of Pleistocene Asia [ from Longgupo in Sichuan province ]
• African tribe populated rest of the world
• Did Humans Learn From Hobbits?
• Neandertal cannibalism? Maybe not
• Ancient African exodus mostly involved men, geneticists find
• Speed-Walking Across Asia
• Cro-Magnon 28,000 Years Old Had DNA Like Modern Humans
• Scientists find monkeys who know how to fish
• HOBBIT WARS (Small Islanders Show No Signs Of Growth Disorder)
• Upright Walking Began 6 Million Years Ago
• 100,000-year-old human skull found
• Human Ancestors Went Out Of Africa And Then Came Back... [1998]
• Not Breeding Obvious In Splits Of Human Evolution
• Skulls confirm we're all out of Africa
• Evidence Of Very Recent Human Adaptation: Up To 10 Percent Of Human Genome May Have Changed
• Are you part Neanderthal?
• Paper reignites hobbit debate
• Chinese people's heads becoming smaller
• Sleep With Neanderthals? Apparently We (homo Sapiens) Did
• Early Homo and associated artefacts from Asia [ Out of Africa and China? ]
• Stone -Age Tools Dug Out Of 'Tiger Hole' (90,000-Years-Old)
• Earliest hominid: Not a hominid at all?
• Scientist's Study Of Brain Genes Sparks a Backlash
• Homo Floresiensis: tiny toolmaker or microcephalic? (The debate continues)
• Indonesia's Hobbits lose their magic
• Debate on Little Human Fossil Enters Major Scientific Forum
• "Hobbit" Humans Were Diseased, Not New Species, Study Says
• Neanderthal Yields Nuclear DNA
• Ancient Islanders Get A Leg Up ('Hobbits')
• Experts Find Rare Romani DNA In Norwich Anglo Saxon Skeleton
• New Scientist : Many human genes evolved recently ( As recent as 15,000 years ago )
• Neanderthals And Humans: Perhaps They Never Met
• Evolutionary Back Story: Thoroughly Modern Spine Supported Human Ancestor
• Semi-News: Neanderthals Lived in Iranian Cave
• Java Man's First Tools
• Early Human Ancestors Walked On The Wild Side
• New analysis shows three human migrations out of Africa, Replacement theory 'demolished'
• Redating The Latest Neanderthals In Europe
• Not Out Of Africa But Regional Continuity
• Gene That Determines Skin Color Is Discovered, Scientists Report
• Scientists Find A DNA Change That Accounts For White Skin
• Ancient drought 'changed history'
• Kennewick Man, Meet Your Distant Cousins
• Prehistoric skull found in dump may be missing common ancestor of apes & humans
• African cousins behind extinction of Indians 70,000 years ago!
• On Human Diversity: Why has the genetics community discarded so many phenotypes?
• New finds of human ancestor jumble evolutionary puzzle
• Anthropologists Uncover Ancient Jawbone
• More bones of hobbit-sized humans discovered
• 27,000 Year-Old Grave of Two Babies Found (Austria)
• Big chill killed off the Neanderthals
• The Roots Of Civilization Trace Back To ... Roots
• Neanderthal Teeth Grew No Faster Than Comparable Modern Humans'
• Minatogawa People (An Asian Neanderthal?)
• Neanderthal Genome May Be Reconstructed
• Footsteps in time that add 30,000 years to history of America
• Faithful Ancestors
• 400,000-Year-Old Stone Tools Discovered In Mazandaran (Iran)
• Seafood Was The Spur For Man's First Migration
• Neanderthal femur from France
• New Evidence Challenges "Out-of-Africa" Hypothesis of Modern Human origins
• Australian Scientist Disputes 'Hobbit' Findings (Stop evolution lies - petition)
• Fossils Push Human Emergence Back To 195,000 Years Ago
• Amazing hominid haul in Ethiopia
• Genes Promoting Fertility Are Found in Europeans
• London - Red hair may be the genetic legacy of Neanderthals...
• Bones of contention(Discovery of a new species of human astounds the world,but is it what it seems?)
• New species may have relatives in next villlage
• Anthropologist Claims Humans, Neanderthals, Australopithecines All Variations on One Species
• Vikings/Norse in Minnesota
• Vikings/Norse in Minnesota
• Archaeologist Continues To Dig Up History (Meadowcroft, 16K Year Old)
• Extinct humans left louse legacy(Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens)
• Mexico Discovery Fuels Debate About Man's Origins
• The Human Family Tree: 10 Adams and 18 Eves
• Retracing the footprints of time
• In The Neanderthal Mind
• Sifting for Clues at W.Md. Dig
• Divers Find Ancient Skeleton in Mexico
• Tribe challenges American origins (South Pacific Rim peoples were 1st Americans)
• Did the First Americans Come From, Er, Australia?
• Neanderthal Life No Tougher Than That Of "Modern" Inuits
• Data Links Early Settlers To African Diaspora (Taiwan)
• Baby's First Word Filled Stone Age Papa With Pride
• Anthropology profs. debate origin of humans
• New Twist On Out-Of-Africa Theory
• The Relationship Between The Basque And Ainu
• Neanderthals Matured Faster Than Modern Man -Study
• How likely is human extinction?
• 35,000 year old "modern human" remains Discovered!
• Anthropologists Hail Romania Fossil Find (35K Y.O. Humans)
• Neanderthal Extinction Pieced Together
• Neanderthal Extinction Pieced Together
• 'Your Forefathers Were Not Neanderthals'
• Big Chill Killed Off The Neanderthals
• The Samurai And The Ainu (Read This Before Seeing The Movie "The Last Samurai")
• Fossils Bridge Gap in African Mammal Evolution
• Neanderthal 'Face' Found Loire
• Debate Heats Up On Role Of Climate In Human Evolution
• Stranger In A New Land (Archaeology)
• Fossil Hints At Primate Origins (Out-Of-Asia?)
• Migrants Poured Into Britain After Ice Age
• Neanderthal Hunters Rivalled Human Skill
• Ancient Amazon Settlements Uncovered
• Narrow Skulls Clue To First Americans
• The naked ape / As it turns out, clothes do make the man
• Why Humans and Their Fur Parted Ways
• Seeking answers to a new Mystery Ape
• Neanderthal Facial Length Issue Settled
• Debate Over a Skull [NYT Letter to Ed.]
• Anthropologist Sets The Record Straight Regarding Neanderthal Facial Length
• 'First Americans Were Australian'
• When Humans Faced Extinction
• Neandertals Not Our Ancestors, DNA Study Suggests (Whewww!!!)
• Blow to Neanderthal breeding theory
• Neanderthals 'Had Hands Like Ours'
• Gene for Red Hair May Help Suppress Pain in Women
• The Ultimate Sidebar Management Thread
• Javanese Fossil Skull Provides New Insights into Ancient Humans
• Neanderthal DNA Sequencing
• Documentary Redraws Humans' Family Tree
• Excalibur, The Rock That May Mark A New Dawn For Man
• A Rebuilt Neanderthal
• Fresh debate over human origins
• Gene Study Identifies 5 Main Human Populations
• Scientist: Oldest American skull found
• First Americans
• Genes May Be Reason For Jews' Low Alcoholism Rate
• Neanderthal Skeleton Rediscovered
• Mitochondrial DNA Mutation Rates
• Skulls Found in Africa and in Europe Challenge Theories of Human Origins
• Oldest member of human family found
• 'Astonishing' skull unearthed in Africa
• New Evidence of Neanderthal Violence
• Neanderthals 'used violence'
• Did Humans And Neanderthals Battle For Control Of The Middle East?
• Theory on origins of man gets genetic overhaul
• Calico: A 200,000-year Old Site In The Americas?
• Free Republic "Bump List" Register
• New Evidence for Multiregional Origins

[freedumb2003]

O Lord, here the (Crev)Nazgul come...

[zipper]

“Homosexual erectus” is latin for “Anthony Weiner”

[SunkenCiv]

Keyword: homoerectus

• Peking man differing from modern humans in brain asymmetry
• Unique Canine Tooth from 'Peking Man' Found in Swedish Museum Collection
• Did Peking Man wield a spear? New research suggests early humans were assembling weapons in China...
• Flat-faced hominid skulls from China
• Footprint Fossils Analyzed for Ancient Human Gait
• 'Java Man' takes age to extremes [ H. erectus 550,000 yrs BP? ]
• Ancient hominids may have been seafarers
• Progressive creationist anthropology: many reasons NOT to believe
• Prints Are Evidence of Modern Foot in Prehumans
• Discovery of Fire Pushed Back 500,000 Years
• Most Ancient Case Of Tuberculosis Found In 500,000-year-old Human; Points To Modern Health Issues
• Rise Of Man Theory 'Out By 400,000 Years'
• Homo Floresiensis: tiny toolmaker or microcephalic? (The debate continues)
• Scientists Find Skull of Human Ancestor
• Homo Erectus Ate Crunchy Food
• Archaeologist Finds 'Oldest Porn Statue' (7,200 Years Old)
• Stone age porn
• What women should want Politically correct is tiresome tyranny
• Gene Arrangement Makes Some Europeans More Fertile
• DUmmies Turn On Bill Clinton [Vicious/Losericious]
• Extinct humans left louse legacy(Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens)
• First Americans - Homo Erectus in America
• Morford: Maybe You Need A Road Trip
• Stranger In A New Land (Archaeology)

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discovery  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	This isn't a study, it's a polemic. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

[Dilbert San Diego]

But I thought that homo erectus migrated to San Francisco.

But maybe Weiner is a descendent of homo erectus also?

[freedomfiter2]

it resembles modern humans in many respects, except for its smaller brain and differently shaped skull

They’re still around today, only now they’re known as Democrats.

[Happy Rain]

I saw a picture with Obama and Wiener standing side by side and I thought Homo Erectus.

[PetroniusMaximus]

Personal, I am feeling older than previously thought.

[Happy Rain]

Ok,give us the latest—are we human because we have a big brain or do we have a big brain because we are human?

It seems to change at times.

[alstewartfan]

So, if you believed the PREVIOUS story, you were misinformed. Why is this continually changing saga reminding me of “1984”?

[Arthur McGowan]

BTW: No “new insights” into evolution are evident in the article.

[Happy Rain]

According to Darwin,the first human was a mutated species born from a less than human species. But the big brain is the key human characteristic—for homo erectus to give rise to humans,it should have had a much larger brain allowing it's human progeny to enjoy not only the larger cranium but the other human conditions,improved manual dexterity,better upright posture and more efficient running feet that HAD to develop BECAUSE of the large brain in the first place.
Otherwise its like a bird having wings because it flies--it is NOT natural selection.
Darwinism is the backbone of socialism and social engineering and they the backbone of academia and Leftist “scientific” activism. The big brain in the more evolved primate lines should be first but so far it ain't and that not only threatens Darwinism but socialist dogma itself. The spontaneous appearance of the large hominid brain AFTER the traits dependent on it appear is,quite frankly,a terrifying prospect to the Left that may invite perhaps metaphysical considerations. Homo erectus,though not our ancestor according to the “scientific method” MUST be our ancestor so that man can be kept on the proggresive lathe.

[FlingWingFlyer]

If Darwin was right, why didn’t DemocRATs ever evolve? They’re still stuck on stupid.

[SunkenCiv]

I don’t think of it as a scientific study — the article also claims that multiregionalism is disproved by the authors’ rearrangement of dating (which isn’t a new rearrangement anyway) and replacement is verified — and that’s just a manifestation of a political agenda.

[SunkenCiv]

If you’re not fossilized, you’re doing okay.

[Cheburashka]

If Darwin was right, why didn’t DemocRATs ever evolve? They’re still stuck on stupid.

---

Because there are Republicans around to protect them from the results of stupidity. Idiocracy isn't just a movie, it's a way of life. Whether you believe in evolution or not.