Researchers find evidence of the existence of a new human species

Researchers say they found fossil bone and teeth of one previously unknown human species in the northern Philippines.

Scientists have named the species Homo luzonensis in honor of the island of Luzon, where the discovery was made. Researchers recently reported this discovery in a study published in Nature.

A team from the Philippines, France and Australia discovered the first fossil bones in 2007 in Callao Cave, Cagayan. Province.

The Philippine archaeologist Armand Salvador Mijares led the research effort. He presented the discovery at a press conference at the University of the Philippines, outside Manila.

There were six pieces of bone – feet, hands and legs – belonging to at least three people. Seven teeth were also found.

Another Filipino archaeologist, Eusebio Dizon, said that these human remains were the oldest found in the Philippines.

It is not thought that the species is a direct ancestor of modern humans, but rather an ancient and distant relative. The researchers said that tests showed that two of the fossils were between 50,000 and 67,000 years old.

An examination of the bones led the researchers to decide that they belonged to a member of the Homo sapiens species still unknown. They reported that one of the bones of the toe and the shape of the teeth differed from those previously observed in Homo sapiens.

Scientists said the fossils suggest that the bodies of the species were probably smaller than modern humans.

Florent Detroit is at the National Museum of Natural History of France in Paris. He co-directed the study. He told the French news agency AFP: "From the beginning, we realized the unusual characteristics of these fossils. "

After many examinations, said Detroit, the scientific team was able to confirm "that it was something special, unlike all previously described species …"

Matthew Tocheri works in the Department of Anthropology at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Canada. He was not part of the study. He said Nature that bones and teeth "create a strong argument for novelty".

The discovery marked the second time in the 21^st century that a new human species has been identified in Southeast Asia. In 2004, fossils from another group, called Homo floresiensis, were discovered on the Indonesian island of Flores. This species – sometimes referred to as "hobbits" – was found about 3,000 kilometers from the Luzon discovery.

Detroit explained that the links between Homo luzonensis and other species of the Homo family were not yet clear. He said that he may have down from an earlier human parent, Homo erectus. Homo erectus is generally considered to be the first species of Homo to have expanded outside of Africa.

Some scientists have suggested that "hobbits" found in Indonesia could have evolved of Homo erectus.

Tocheri told The Associated Press that he thought it was possible. But he also said that the discovery of the Philippines could provide evidence of another theory. It is possible, he said, that an unknown creature other than Homo erectus also left Africa to reach Europe and Asia and all of two created a new island species.

I am Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English from reports from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse and Nature magazine. Ashley Thompson was the editor.

We want your news. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

A flawless stay

________________________________________________________________

Words in this story

fossil – not. part of an animal or plant from there are thousands of years, preserved in the rock

previously – adv. before the current time

Province – not. division of a country that has its own government

characteristics – not. quality that does something different from other things

go down – v. develop from an ancestral heritage

evolve – v.develop from other forms of life over many years