Weekly Reality Report

February 18, 2024

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The Weekly Reality Report is published every Sunday morning for paying subscribers. It includes a roundup of the previous week’s articles on Reality’s Last Stand, a reading list of interesting opinion pieces with summaries from around the web, relevant news headlines to keep you informed, and a special Moment of Zen.

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The Latest Steps of Human Evolution

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A new paper in the journal Quaternary Environments and Humans by Walter Neves and colleagues furthers our understanding of human evolution, particularly focusing on the later periods. Over the past twenty years, new discoveries and technologies have expanded our knowledge of where and how early humans lived, including finding new fossil remains and reevaluating the age of existing ones with more precise methods. These developments have sparked new discussions about how Neanderthals and modern humans (Homo sapiens) interacted, the search for their common ancestor, and the broader picture of human lineage evolution.

The researchers conducted a detailed study comparing the skull shapes (cranial morphology) of 86 well-preserved fossil specimens from Europe, Africa, and Asia dating back to the last 500,000 years. They used 25 different measurements to analyze the skulls and applied statistical methods to examine the relationships between different ancient human species, including the varied forms grouped under the term “Homo heidelbergensis.”

Their findings challenge the idea that all these specimens could belong to a single species and add evidence to the theory that modern humans originated in Africa. This work not only sheds light on the complex paths of human evolution but also contributes to ongoing debates about our origins and the diversity of ancient humans.

Read the full paper.