They found remains of a new human species in the Philippines

A group of experts from the Museum of Natural History in Paris, France, discovered 13 human fossils in a cave in the Philippines, suggesting the existence of a new hominid, dubbed Homo Luzonensis, who inhabited the island of Luzon at the end of the Pleistocene.

The discovery was reported in a study published in the latest issue of the journal Nature. Scientists have uncovered several bones of feet and hands, a piece of femur and teeth of ancient hominids in the cave of Callao.

Fossils provide evidence showing the existence of a new species of hominids that lived more than 50,000 years ago.

One of the hypotheses retained is that the newly discovered specimens come from Homo Erectus, a bipedal species that had left Africa and lived in Southeast Asia before Homo Luzonensis and Floresiensis, according to El País .

In detail

The remains that were unearthed are tiny, compared to modern humans, and suggest that these hominids had a height of less than 1.20 meters. In this line, it is suggested that the Homo Luzonensis was probably something smaller than the Floresiensis, discovered in 2004 and nicknamed the "Hobbit".

According to scientists, both species have been isolated in small areas, which has probably reduced their size due to limited resources.

The teeth of 'Homo luzonensis & # 39; Discoveries in Callao Cave (Philippines) (Callao Cave Archeology Project)

The teeth of the new hominid, in particular, represent an enigma for the researchers, because they mix characteristics that had not been observed until now in different species, according to El País.

Research continues

Scientists plan to continue digging in Callao Cave and, although they believe that DNA will not have been preserved under the hot and humid climate of Asia, they hope to extract proteins from the bones which will deepen the knowledge of these hominids.