They discovered a new human species in the Philippines

The badysis of 13 fossil remains (teeth, phalanges of foot and hand, fragments of femur) discovered in the cave of Callao and belonging to at least three individuals, including a child, led the scientists to consider that it was a new species, which they called Homo luzonensis.

Present at the same time "elements or very primitive characters similar to those of Australopithecus and other, modern, close to those of Homo sapiens", explains Florent Detroit, paleoanthropologist at the Musée de l 'Homme in Paris and lead author of the study published in the journal Nature. This makes it a mosaic species, he says.

This one Homo luzonensis "was probably small, judging by the size of his teeth" although "it is not a sufficient argument" to affirm, says the researcher.

The Homo luzonensis, who is not a direct ancestor of modern man, would be a neighboring and contemporary species of Homo sapiensbut with a number of primitive features. Two of the discovered fossils have been badyzed with the Uranium Series dating method and date from 50,000 years ago and 67,000 years ago respectively.

These are the oldest human remains of the Philippines, preceding the first Homo sapiens, discovered 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, discovered on the island of Palawan, southwest of the archipelago.

First at the level of the teeth. The premolars of Homo luzonensis current similarities with those of the Australopithecus (hominins from Africa disappeared two million years ago) and other primitive Homo species such as Homo habilis or Homo erectus. These teeth, for example, have two or three roots while those of the Homo sapiens they usually have one, sometimes even two, the researchers say.

On the other hand, the molars are very small and their simple morphology resembles that of modern men. "An individual who possesses these combined characteristics can not be clbadified in any of the known species up to now"concludes Florent Detroit.

The bones of the foot are also very surprising. The proximal phalanx has a very pronounced curve and very developed insertions of the muscles guaranteeing the flexion of the foot. It does not resemble the phalanx of Homo sapiens but that of the Australopithecus, probably bipedal and arboreal.

"We do not say at all that Homo luzonensis lived in trees because the evolution of the Homo type shows that this genus is characterized by a strict status for two million years"says Detroit.

The "reappearance" of primitive characters in Homo luzonensis may be explained by island endemism, according to him.

Throughout the period Quaternary of Luzon It was an island. If the hominins were there, they had to find a way to cross the sea.

According to the researcher, the results of the study "They show very clearly that the evolution of the human species is not linear". "It's more complex than we thought until recently."

It is one of a kind "remarkable discovery" it "will undoubtedly spark many scientific debates," said Matthew Tocheri of Lakehead University in Canada, in a commentary published in Nature.

Florent Detroit believes that some colleagues might question "the legitimacy of describing a new species from such a small set of fossils".

But according to him, "It does not matter to create a new species". This allows us to look at these fossils that look "different". "If in the future, colleagues show that we are wrong and that these remains correspond to a species that we already knew, what we will do, nothing happens, it will be forgotten".