Red Deer Cave People May Be New Species

Human bones belonging to at least five individuals have been found at Red Deer Cave in Yunnan Province and at Longlin in Guangxi Province in China. They are fairly recent, dating to between 11,500 and 14,500 years ago. But these bones show features that makes scientists think they might be from a species different from Homo sapiens. Team co-leader Darren Curnoe from the University of New South Wales says that will be a hard call to make, as there is still no agreed-upon definition of Homo sapiens.

The skulls and teeth from the two locations are very similar to each other, suggesting they are from the same population.

But their features are quite distinct from what you might call a fully modern human, says the team. Instead, the Red Deer Cave people have a mix of archaic and modern characteristics.

In general, the individuals had rounded brain cases with prominent brow ridges. Their skull bones were quite thick. Their faces were quite short and flat and tucked under the brain, and they had broad noses.

Their jaws jutted forward but they lacked a modern-human-like chin. Computed Tomography (X-ray) scans of their brain cavities indicate they had modern-looking frontal lobes but quite archaic-looking anterior, or parietal, lobes. They also had large molar teeth.

So far there are several theories about the Red Deer Cave people, which you can read at the BBC report. Link -via the Presurfer