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| Homo luzonensis
Détroit, Mijares, Corny, Daver, Zanolli, Dizon, Robles, Grün & Piper, 2019
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Abstract
A hominin third metatarsal discovered in 2007 in Callao Cave (Northern Luzon, the Philippines) and dated to 67 thousand years ago provided the earliest direct evidence of a human presence in the Philippines. Analysis of this foot bone suggested that it belonged to the genus Homo, but to which species was unclear. Here we report the discovery of twelve additional hominin elements that represent at least three individuals that were found in the same stratigraphic layer of Callao Cave as the previously discovered metatarsal. These specimens display a combination of primitive and derived morphological features that is different from the combination of features found in other species in the genus Homo (including Homo floresiensis and Homo sapiens) and warrants their attribution to a new species, which we name Homo luzonensis. The presence of another and previously unknown hominin species east of the Wallace Line during the Late Pleistocene epoch underscores the importance of island Southeast Asia in the evolution of the genus Homo.
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| Fig. 2: Fossil remains of Homo luzonensis from Late Pleistocene sediments at Callao Cave. |
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| Fig. 1: Geographical location of Callao Cave. |
Order Primates Linnaeus, 1758
Suborder Anthropoidea Mivart, 1864
Superfamily Hominoidea Gray, 1825
Family Hominidae Gray, 1825
Tribe Hominini Gray, 1825
Genus Homo Linnaeus, 1758
Homo luzonensis sp. nov.
Etymology. The species name is derived from the island of Luzon, where the specimens were discovered.
Locality. The type locality is Callao Cave, in the Callao Limestone formation in the Peñablanca region of northern Luzon, the Philippines.
Florent Détroit, Armand Salvador Mijares, Julien Corny, Guillaume Daver, Clément Zanolli, Eusebio Dizon, Emil Robles, Rainer Grün and Philip J. Piper. 2019. A New Species of Homo from the Late Pleistocene of the Philippines. Nature. 568; 181–186. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1067-9
Previously unknown human species found in Asia raises questions about early hominin dispersals from Africa nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01019-7
UP researchers co-discover new human species in Luzon
New species of early human found in the Philippines https://phys.org/news/2019-04-species-early-human-philippines.html via @physorg_com
