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If these bones could talk

The Homo floresiensis find proved how little we know about our species. Tim Radford meets Chris Stringer, who is piecing together the messy evidence of human evolution ... Guardian

China Contests Out of Africa Claims

Africa's "Eve," the theorized first modern human, may have been preceded by "Jianshi Man," a possible human ancestor recently found in China that lived between 2.15-1.95 million years ago, according to a report from China's Xinhuanet news service.

Jianshi Man is China's oldest hominid. He may challenge the "Out of Africa" theory of modern human origins, which holds that hominids evolved in Africa, resulting in modern humans who left the continent 100,000-200,000 years ago.

The reason for the challenge is that scientists recently have found other evidence for human evolution spanning thousands of years in China, although the finds have yet to be analyzed by experts outside of the country ... Discovery Channel

Human evolution at the crossroads

Scientists are fond of running the evolutionary clock backward, using DNA analysis and the fossil record to figure out when our ancestors stood erect and split off from the rest of the primate evolutionary tree.

But the clock is running forward as well. So where are humans headed? ... MSNBC.com

Out of Africa and straight to the beach

Modern humans emerged just once out of Africa - and headed straight for the beach - new genetic research suggests.

Most scientists agree that modern humans left Africa relatively recently, and it was traditionally thought that the route taken was northwards, overland into the Middle East and beyond.

But by measuring genetic variation in an isolated population in southeast Asia, Vincent Macaulay at the University of Glasgow, UK, and a team of international colleagues, conclude that the dispersal actually took a southern coastal route.

“It looks likely that a founder population crossed the Red Sea, and spread to Australia via India and southeast Asia, taking a southern route along the coast,” says Macaulay ... New Scientist

In Kansas, Darwinism Goes on Trial Once More

Kansas is poised to push through new science standards this summer requiring that Darwin's theory be challenged in the classroom ... The New York Times

Fastest-evolving genes in humans and chimps revealed

The most comprehensive study to date exploring the genetic divergence of humans and chimpanzees has revealed that the genes most favoured by natural selection are those associated with immunity, tumour suppression, and programmed cell death ... New Scientist Breaking News

Hobbits Alive?

The feud over Homo floresiensis, the little people of Indonesia, centers on whether they were an extinct diminutive species that evolved from some ancient hominid, such as Homo erectus, or whether they were just pygmy humans, perhaps suffering from some disease. The leading skeptic, paleoanthropologist Teuku Jacob, has claimed that there are pygmies living not far from where the fossils were found, on the island of Flores ... Corante

Pygmy found near home of hobbits

Indonesian scientists have found a community of pygmy people in the eastern island of Flores.

The community is near a village where Australian scientists discovered a dwarf-sized skeleton last year and declared it a new human species.

The latest discovery will likely raise more controversy over the finding of Homo floresiensis, claimed by Australian scientists Mike Morwood and Peter Brown in September. They nick-named the skeleton a hobbit.

Kompas daily reported yesterday that the pygmy community had been found during an April 18-24 expedition in the village of Rampapasa, about 1km from the village of Liang Bua, where the species called Homo floresiensis was found.

The newspaper quoted Koeshardjono, a biologist who discovered the pygmy village, saying 77 families had been found there.

Teuku Jacob, a professor at Gadjah Mada University, who led the human anthropology research team, said 80 per cent of the Rampapasa villagers were small, with most male adults under 145cm and female adults about 135cm ... Herald Sun

Jawbone hints at earliest Britons

A piece of jawbone that has lain in Torquay Museum, Devon, for nearly 80 years could be the oldest example of a modern human yet found in Europe.

The Kent's Cavern specimen was thought to be about 31,000 years old, but re-dating shows it is actually between 37,000 and 40,000 years old.

However, the early dates lead the team behind the research to wonder if the jawbone is actually from a Neanderthal.

A new examination of the fragment along with DNA analysis could sort this out ... BBC NEWS

Ancient jaw bone raises questions over early man

New research has revealed Britain's oldest fragment of modern human - a jaw bone unearthed in the Westcountry - is 6,000 years older than previously thought. Carbon dating had indicated the piece of jaw bone, with only three teeth, originated around 31,000 years ago. But the specimen was recently deemed suspect, because it had been strengthened with paper glue some time around its excavation from Kents Cavern, Torquay, in 1927.

The find was made by the Torquay Natural History Society, and identified by Sir Allen Keith, the top human anatomist of his day. But only in the 1980s was its significance recognised. Now, Dr Roger Jacobi of the British Museum and Dr Tom Higham from the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit have conducted new research. Their findings indicate the piece actually dates back between 37,000 and 40,000 years ... Stone Pages Archaeo News