New human ancestor classified - Homo bodoensis

[shunyadragon]

Source: https://www.livescience.com/new-human-species-named-bodoensis

Newly named human species may be the direct ancestor of modern humans

homo bodoensis lived more than half a million years ago.

Scientists have named a new species that may have been the direct ancestor of modern humans.

The newly proposed species, Homo bodoensis — which lived more than half a million years ago in Africa — may help to untangle how human lineages moved and interacted across the globe.

Although modern humans, Homo sapiens, are the only surviving human lineage, other human species once roamed Earth. For example, scientists recently discovered that the Indonesian island Flores was once home to the extinct species Homo floresiensis, often known as "the hobbit" for its miniature body.

Deciding whether a set of ancient human fossils belongs to one species or another is often a challenging problem open to heated debate. For instance, some researchers suggest that skeletal differences between modern humans and Neanderthals mean they were different species. However, other scientists argue that because there is recent abundant genetic evidence that modern humans and Neanderthals once interbred and had fertile, viable offspring, Neanderthals should not be considered a single species.

© Copyright Original Source

[rogue06]

Bit more

Source: New species of human ancestor named: Homo bodoensis

An international team of researchers, led by University of Winnipeg palaeoanthropologist Dr. Mirjana Roksandic, has announced the naming of a new species of human ancestor, Homo bodoensis. This species lived in Africa during the Middle Pleistocene, around half a million years ago, and was the direct ancestor of modern humans.

The Middle Pleistocene (now renamed Chibanian and dated to 774,000-129,000 years ago) is important because it saw the rise of our own species (Homo sapiens) in Africa, our closest relatives, and the Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) in Europe.

However, human evolution during this age is poorly understood, a problem which paleoanthropologists call "the muddle in the middle." The announcement of Homo bodoensis hopes to bring some clarity to this puzzling, but important chapter in human evolution.

The new name is based on a reassessment of existing fossils from Africa and Eurasia from this time period. Traditionally, these fossils have been variably assigned to either Homo heidelbergensis or Homo rhodesiensis, both of which carried multiple, often contradictory definitions.

"Talking about human evolution during this time period became impossible due to the lack of proper terminology that acknowledges human geographic variation" according to Roksandic, lead author on the study.

Recently, DNA evidence has shown that some fossils in Europe called H. heidelbergensis were actually early Neanderthals, making the name redundant. For the same reason, the name needs to be abandoned when describing fossil humans from east Asia according to co-author, Xiu-Jie Wu (Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China).

Further muddling the narrative, African fossils dated to this period have been called at times both H. heidelbergensis and H. rhodesiensis. H. rhodesiensis is poorly defined and the name has never been widely accepted. This is partly due to its association with Cecil Rhodes and the horrendous crimes carried out during colonial rule in Africa -- an unacceptable honour in light of the important work being done toward decolonizing science.

The name "bodoensis" derives from a skull found in Bodo D'ar, Ethiopia, and the new species is understood to be a direct human ancestor. Under the new classification, H. bodoensis will describe most Middle Pleistocene humans from Africa and some from Southeast Europe, while many from the latter continent will be reclassified as Neanderthals,

The co-first author Predrag Radovic (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, Serbia) says, "Terms need to be clear in science, to facilitate communication. They should not be treated as absolute when they contradict the fossil record."

The introduction of H. bodoensis is aimed at "cutting the Gordian knot and allowing us to communicate clearly about this important period in human evolution," according to one of the co-authors Christopher Bae (Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa).

Roksandic agrees: "Naming a new species is a big deal, as the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature allows name changes only under very strictly defined rules. We are confident that this one will stick around for a long time, a new taxon name will live only if other researchers use it."



Source

© Copyright Original Source

The full paper, Resolving the “muddle in the middle”: The case for Homo bodoensis sp. nov. can be read by clicking on the hyperlink. The abstract from it is below

Abstract

Recent developments in the field of palaeoanthropology necessitate the suppression of two hominin taxa and the introduction of a new species of hominins to help resolve the current nebulous state of Middle Pleistocene (Chibanian) hominin taxonomy. In particular, the poorly defined and variably understood hominin taxa Homo heidelbergensis (both sensu stricto and sensu lato) and Homo rhodesiensis need to be abandoned as they fail to reflect the full range of hominin variability in the Middle Pleistocene. Instead, we propose: (1) introduction of a new taxon, Homo bodoensis sp. nov., as an early Middle Pleistocene ancestor of the Homo sapiens lineage, with a pan-African distribution that extends into the eastern Mediterranean (Southeast Europe and the Levant); (2) that many of the fossils from Western Europe (e.g. Sima de los Huesos) currently assigned to H. heidelbergensis s.s. be reassigned to Homo neanderthalensis to reflect the early appearance of Neanderthal derived traits in the Middle Pleistocene in the region; and (3) that the Middle Pleistocene Asian fossils, particularly from China, likely represent a different lineage altogether.

And a couple of images

eva-768x851.jpg
Partial cranium
Scale Bar = 5cm



177122d9-ceef-4774-8044-160201e7ad33.jpg

[rogue06]

I should note that Wikipedia already has a pretty good write up: Homo bodoensis

[TheLurch]

Abstract
Instead, we propose: (1) introduction of a new taxon, Homo bodoensis sp. nov., as an early Middle Pleistocene ancestor of the Homo sapiens lineage, with a pan-African distribution that extends into the eastern Mediterranean (Southeast Europe and the Levant); (2) that many of the fossils from Western Europe (e.g. Sima de los Huesos) currently assigned to H. heidelbergensis s.s. be reassigned to Homo neanderthalensis to reflect the early appearance of Neanderthal derived traits in the Middle Pleistocene in the region; and (3) that the Middle Pleistocene Asian fossils, particularly from China, likely represent a different lineage altogether.

Wow, lumping and splitting at the same time? I'm not sure if that will unify paleontologists or enrage them.

[shunyadragon]

Wow, lumping and splitting at the same time? I'm not sure if that will unify paleontologists or enrage them.

It is likely that the real history of human as well as all evolution is lumping and splitting.

[shunyadragon]

What does MRCA stamd for?

[TheLurch]

What does MRCA stamd for?

Most recent common ancestor.