• 'Pit of Bones' Yields Oldest Known Human DNA

  By GILLIAN MOHNEY | ABC News – Wed, Dec 4, 2013 5:41 PM EST

• Researchers have uncovered a new clue about human origins after discovering the oldest known human DNA in a legendary Spanish archeological site called Sima de los Huesos, or the "Pit of Bones." 

   Researchers were able to extract DNA from a leg bone that was estimated to be 400,000 years old.  After extracting the DNA from a femur bone, Matthias Meyer, who published his findings in a study in the journal Nature, was able to replicate the entire genome for the ancient human relative.

• The genetic sequence surprised researchers, who thought it was likely that the sequence would reveal that remains were related to the Neanderthals. Instead, the genetic sequence revealed that this early human species is related to another genetic cousin of modern humans,the mysterious Denisovans. 

   Little is known about the Denisovans, who are thought to have been common throughout the regions now known as Asia and Eastern Europe. This early human species was discovered after genetic sequencing was used to map DNA through the ancient pinkie bone of a girl in 2010. 

   Anthropologists and genetic experts said the findings from the Pit of Bones could help shed light on how early human species evolved and spread across different continents.

• "This places what we have to assume from the genetic sequence is an earlier branch of our family that goes back even further" in time, said Kenneth Kidd, professor of genetics at the Yale University School of Medicine. Kidd said since the DNA was from 400,000 years ago, this mysterious human relative likely predated most Neanderthals. 

   Kidd explained that one reason there is little known about the Denisovans is that "the Neanderthals may have annihilated the Denisovans," similar to how the Neanderthals died off as modern humans became more populous. 

   If you're wondering if you're related to the ancient DNA, Kidd said there is no evidence that the Denisovans provided any genetic material for the modern human race.

• Theodore Schurr, professor of anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania, said the findings were significant since it showed clearly how DNA mapping was changing the field of anthropology. Schurr said solely from the skeletal remains researchers thought the human species appeared to be related to Neanderthals. 

   "This is also significant because it's the DNA coming from the oldest remains," said Schurr. "It's interesting to compare the skeletons to the genetics because the stories may not match up."

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• Earliest human footprints outside Africa found in Britain

• London (AFP) - Footprints left by ancient humans 800,000 years ago have been found in Britain, the earliest evidence of such markings outside Africa, scientists said Friday.

    

  Researchers discovered the footprints, which were left by both adults and children, in ancient estuary mud at Happisburgh in Norfolk, eastern England.

• But the question of exactly what type of ancient humans left their footprints in the sands of time remains a mystery.

  They may have been related to people of a similar period in history found in Atapuerca in Spain, assigned to the species Homo antecessor, or Pioneer Man, said Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum.

  "These people were of a similar height to ourselves and were fully bipedal," he said.

  Homo antecessor apparently became extinct in Europe 600,000 years ago and was perhaps replaced by the species Homo heidelbergensis, followed by the Neanderthals from about 400,000 years ago, and eventually modern humans some 40,000 years ago.

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• Human evolution

  
   

  Human evolution is the lengthy process of change by which people originated from apelike ancestors. Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years.
• Humans are primates. Physical and genetic similarities show that the modern human species, Homo sapiens, has a very close relationship to another group of primate species, the apes.
• Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa.
• Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans.

• Paleoanthropology

  
   

  Paleoanthropology is the scientific study of human evolution. Paleoanthropology is a subfield of anthropology, the study of human culture, society, and biology. The field involves an understanding of the similarities and differences between humans and other species in their genes, body form, physiology, and behavior. Paleoanthropologists search for the roots of human physical traits and behavior. They seek to discover how evolution has shaped the potentials, tendencies, and limitations of all people. For many people, paleoanthropology is an exciting scientific field because it investigates the origin, over millions of years, of the universal and defining traits of our species. However, some people find the concept of human evolution troubling because it can seem not to fit with religious and other traditional beliefs about how people, other living things, and the world came to be. Nevertheless, many people have come to reconcile their beliefs with the scientific evidence.

• The process of evolution

  
   

  The process of evolution involves a series of natural changes that cause species (populations of different organisms) to arise, adapt to the environment, and become extinct. All species or organisms have originated through the process of biological evolution. In animals that reproduce sexually, including humans, the term species refers to a group whose adult members regularly interbreed, resulting in fertile offspring -- that is, offspring themselves capable of reproducing. Scientists classify each species with a unique, two-part scientific name. In this system, modern humans are classified as Homo sapiens.
• Evolution occurs when there is change in the genetic material -- the chemical molecule, DNA -- which is inherited from the parents

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• Hominini

   

   

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
•  

  Evolutionary tree of the Hominoidea : after an initial separation from the main line of Hylobatidae (current gibbons), some 18 million years ago, the line of Pongidae broke away, leading to the current orangutan, while the Hominidae split later in Gorillini and Hominini.

• Hominin History

     

  Walk around the world with some ancient relatives

• Hominins are classified as a tribe (Hominini) of primates, a type of mammal. Hominins are part of the family, or larger group of primates, called hominids. Hominids include orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees, and human beings. All hominins are hominids, but very few hominids are hominins.
  
  According to paleontologist Lee Berger, hominins are primates that share characteristics such as "bipedalism, reduced canine size, and increasing brain size."

   

   

   

  The only hominins alive today are human beings. There are many, many extinct hominins, a fraction of which are represented here. Fossilized remains of extinct hominin species have been found in parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia, many dating back millions of years. Launch the GeoStory above to find out more.

• Hominin DNA baffles experts

   
   
  Analysis of oldest sequence from a human ancestor suggests link to mystery population.
   
                  
   
  •       Ewen Callaway
   
     
  04 December 2013
• Another ancient genome, another mystery. DNA gleaned from a 400,000-year-old femur from Spain has revealed an unexpected link between Europe’s hominin inhabitants of the time and a cryptic population, the Denisovans, who are known to have lived much more recently in southwestern Siberia.

• How did humans evolve into the big-brained, bipedal ape that we are today? This article examines the fossil evidence of our 6 million year evolution.

• 
  

   

   

  Introduction

   

   

  Darwin's great insight, and the unifying principle of biology today, is that all species are related to one another like sisters, cousins, and distant kin in a vast family tree of life. The implications are breathtaking; if we could travel back far enough in time, we would find common ancestors between ourselves and every other living organism, from porcupines to flamingoes to cactuses. Our immediate evolutionary family is comprised of the hominoids, the group of primates that includes the "lesser apes" (siamangs and gibbons) as well as the "great apes" (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans). Among the great apes, our closest relatives are the chimpanzees and bonobos (Figure 1). The fossil record, along with studies of human and ape DNA, indicate that humans shared a common ancestor with chimpanzees and bonobos sometime around 6 million years ago (mya). We begin this discussion of our species' evolution in Africa, near the end of the geological time period known as the Miocene, just before our lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees and bonobos.

• History of Humans on Planet Earth

  By K. Kris Hirst
• Archaeologists study humans and human behaviors, and the data they produce help us to understand the past, present and future. The time lines they study begin with the hominin called Australopithecus and continue down to the present day. Here you'll find resources on archaeological information gathered about all of these time periods.

• Discovery of Early Hominins
• His insistence on the correctness of the theory of evolution   led to his dismissal from this conservative religious university in 1910.    Consequently, he returned to being a medical doctor in a rural town in South Africa but continued paleontological research in his spare   time.  In   1934, at the age of 68, he retired from his medical practice and joined the staff of the Transvaal Museum in   Pretoria as a paleoanthropologist.  The rest of his life was spent   searching for early hominin fossils.   
• In 1948, Robert Broom found more   paranthropoid fossils at   Swartkrans     cave   in South Africa.  Following that excavation, he dedicated the rest of   his life to writing everything known about all of the early hominins.    He   completed this compendium work in 1951.  He was 85 years old and ill.    As he finally finished his writing, he reportedly said "now it is done and   so am I."  He died a few minutes later.

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