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Skeletons in The Closet Part 2

Neanderthals evolved in Europe and western Asia and were well-adapted to cold climates. Homo erectus inhabited eastern Asia for nearly 2 million years, making it the most enduring human species. On the island of Java, Homo soloensis was suited to the tropics, while on Flores, humans underwent dwarfing over generations as resources were limited, resulting in the unique Homo floresiensis. In 2010, genetic analysis of a finger bone found in Siberia revealed an entirely new species, Homo denisova. While these humans evolved elsewhere, evolution in East Africa also continued, giving rise to species such as Homo rudolfensis, Homo ergaster, and ultimately Homo s

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55 views3 pages

Skeletons in The Closet Part 2

Neanderthals evolved in Europe and western Asia and were well-adapted to cold climates. Homo erectus inhabited eastern Asia for nearly 2 million years, making it the most enduring human species. On the island of Java, Homo soloensis was suited to the tropics, while on Flores, humans underwent dwarfing over generations as resources were limited, resulting in the unique Homo floresiensis. In 2010, genetic analysis of a finger bone found in Siberia revealed an entirely new species, Homo denisova. While these humans evolved elsewhere, evolution in East Africa also continued, giving rise to species such as Homo rudolfensis, Homo ergaster, and ultimately Homo s

Uploaded by

Madame Moseille
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Skeletons in the Closet

Humans in Europe and western Asia evolved into Homo


neanderthalensis (‘Man from the Neander Valley), popularly referred to
simply as ‘Neanderthals’. Neanderthals, bulkier and more muscular
than
us Sapiens, were well adapted to the cold climate of Ice Age western
Eurasia. The more eastern regions of Asia were populated by Homo
erectus, ‘Upright Man’, who survived there for close to 2 million
years,
making it the most durable human species ever. This record is
unlikely
to be broken even by our own species. It is doubtful whether Homo
sapiens will still be around a thousand years from now, so 2 million
years
is really out of our league.
On the island of Java, in Indonesia, lived Homo soloensis, ‘Man from
the Solo Valley’, who was suited to life in the tropics. On another
Indonesian island – the small island of Flores – archaic humans
underwent a process of dwarfing. Humans first reached Flores when
the
sea level was exceptionally low, and the island was easily accessible
from the mainland. When the seas rose again, some people were
trapped
on the island, which was poor in resources. Big people, who need a
lot of
food, died first. Smaller fellows survived much better. Over the
generations, the people of Flores became dwarves. This unique
species,
known by scientists as Homo floresiensis, reached a maximum height
of
only one metre and weighed no more than twenty-five kilograms.
They
were nevertheless able to produce stone tools, and even managed
occasionally to hunt down some of the island’s elephants – though, to
be
fair, the elephants were a dwarf species as well.
In 2010 another lost sibling was rescued from oblivion, when
scientists excavating the Denisova Cave in Siberia discovered a
fossilised
finger bone. Genetic analysis proved that the finger belonged to a
previously unknown human species, which was named Homo
denisova.
Who knows how many lost relatives of ours are waiting to be
discovered
in other caves, on other islands, and in other climes.
While these humans were evolving in Europe and Asia, evolution in
East Africa did not stop. The cradle of humanity continued to nurture
numerous new species, such as Homo rudolfensis, ‘Man from Lake
Rudolf’, Homo ergaster, ‘Working Man’, and eventually our own
species,
which we’ve immodestly named Homo sapiens, ‘Wise Man’.
The members of some of these species were massive and others were
dwarves. Some were fearsome hunters and others meek plant-
gatherers.
Some lived only on a single island, while many roamed over
continents.
But all of them belonged to the genus Homo. They were all human
beings.
It’s a common fallacy to envision these species as arranged in a
straight line of descent, with Ergaster begetting Erectus, Erectus
begetting the Neanderthals, and the Neanderthals evolving into us.
This
linear model gives the mistaken impression that at any particular
moment only one type of human inhabited the earth, and that all
earlier
species were merely older models of ourselves. The truth is that from
about 2 million years ago until around 10,000 years ago, the world
was
home, at one and the same time, to several human species. And why
not? Today there are many species of foxes, bears and pigs. The earth
of
a hundred millennia ago was walked by at least six different species
of
man. It’s our current exclusivity, not that multi-species past, that is
peculiar – and perhaps incriminating. As we will shortly see, we
Sapiens
have good reasons to repress the memory of our siblings.

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