One of the most puzzling mysteries in human paleontology has been at least tentatively solved. The discovery of unusual human remains at the Red Deer Cave of Southwest China in 2012 has piqued the curiosity of both academic experts and the general public, but the recent find of a slightly younger bone (Longlin specimen) that appears to be from a hybrid of the Red Deer Cave People and modern humans may rewrite our understanding of prehistory.
A paper by Darren Curnoe et al. describing the recent research on the Maludong thigh bone was published in the journal PLOS one on December 17th.
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More on China’s Red Deer cave people
The research project was led by Curnoe (Univ. of New South Wales) and Prof. Ji Xueping (Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology), and included a number of paleontologists and other experts from institutions in China and Australia. The researchers highlight that this new find from Maludong offers confirmation that the Red Deer Cave people were a distinct group of pre-modern humans that lived in Southwest China around 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.
Earlier research demonstrated that the bones and teeth of the Red Deer cave people’s remains had remarkable similarities to archaic humans. This is quite puzzling as virtually all archaic humans had gone extinct by around 50,000 years ago, and the Red Deer Cave remains date between about 14,000 and 11,000 years ago.
Moreover, the anatomy of the bones was truly unique and never seen before in the archaeological record.
Initial theories about the Red Deer Cave people suggested they were a very early modern human population, perhaps settling in the region over 100,000 years ago and then becoming isolated. Or perhaps they were a late surviving archaic species that had managed to hang on in an isolated environment until the end of the Ice Age in Southwest China.
The most likely possibility is that were archaic humans still around at that time in Southwest China who interbred with modern humans, or it’s also possible the hybrid features persisted longer after interbreeding due to the isolation or even through the action of natural selection or genetic drift.
The new study provides the latest research on a thigh bone from Maludong, about six kilometers southwest of the city of Mengzi, close to the Vietnam border.
The Maludong thigh bone is around 14,000 years old, and it strongly resembles those of ancient species like early Homo erectus or Homo habilis, living around 1.5 million years ago in Africa.
The Maludong femur is quite small. The shaft is narrow, and the outer layer of the shaft thin, The walls of the shaft are reinforced in areas of high strain, the femur neck is long, and the place of muscle attachment for the primary flexor muscle of the hip is very large and faces backwards.
The body mass reconstructs to around 50 kilograms, which is quite small by pre-modern and Ice Age human hunter-gatherer standards.
Curnoe concludes by emphasizing the current study is only based on one bone, which means the conclusions must be considered tentative.
That said, he clearly remains enthusiastic about the research: “Still, when seen in the context of the archaic looking skull bones and teeth from Maludong, our results are very compelling.”
New Longlin specimen is likely from a hybrid archaic/modern human
Curnoe et al. also recently published another new study about the Longlin or Laomaocao Cave specimen (found in 2012), which had been considered to be Red Deer Cave people, but turns out to be a hybrid between the Red Deer Cave people ad modern humans.
Curnoe notes: “We’re now treating it as part of a separate group, distinct from the bones from Red Deer Cave, or Maludong, and one that we now think is indeed very likely to be a hybrid. And direct dating on human bone now confirms that the specimen is only 10,500 years old.”
Updated on
Vacuums are inherently not stable, hence the initial conditions. The laws of physics as we know them did not apply to that hot radioactive soup of wanna-be protons. Inflation (with its cosmic microwave background) and evolution (fossils) have shown enough evidence that they are no longer theories. Explain the rise of VRSA and MRSA, anti-biotic resistant strains of bacteria that have evolved in the last 40 years, if not through evolution.
“I refuse to prove that I exist,” says God, “for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing.”
“But,” say Man, “the Babel fish is a dead giveaway, isn’t it? It could not have evolved by chance. It proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don’t. QED.”
“Oh dear,” says God, “I hadn’t thought of that” and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.” — Douglas Adams, from “A Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
Dr. Arv Edgeworth
The “big bang” theory is not supported by science. It violates
three known laws of science. It is promoted as an explosion from a state
of nothingness. That violates the scientific Law of Inertia,the First
Law of Thermodynamics, and the Law of Cause and Effect.
Newton’s Law of Inertia states if something is at rest, it will
remain in that state, unless acted upon by an outside force or agent. If
something is moving in a straight line it will continue to do so unless
acted upon by an outside force or agent such as gravity or wind, etc. A
state of nothingness is like a state of perfect rest. If you leave
nothingness alone long enough, guess what will happen. Nothing! What
would be required to change that state of nothingness? It would have to
be acted upon by an outside force or agent. That is what theists say
happened. A change in a state of nothingness would require it.
The same goes for the Law of Cause and Effect. The effect is the
beginning of the universe coming out of a state of nothingness. It has
to have a cause. That cause has to be equal to or greater than the
effect itself. The theists win that one too.
The First Law of Thermodynamics states matter/and or energy cannot be
created or destroyed. What is implied is matter and energy will not
come out of a state of nothingness through natural causes. A cause that
is beyond nature is required. Chalk up another win for the theists.
Planet earth is supposed to be near the center of that fictitious
explosion, yet our planet is perfectly designed to support life. The
Bible says God formed the earth to be inhabited. That would not be the
result of an explosion. I could go on about the complexity of the human
body and everything in this amazingly complex world we live in.
The theories of chimp to man and small dino to bird evolution do not
hold up to scientific scrutiny. There are ten times as many differences
as there are similarities between them. Evolutionary scientists are not
trying to put these theories to the test, they are only looking for
evidence to support what they already want to believe. That isn’t
science. Evolution is a fairy tale for grownups that don’t understand
real science, and only want to come up with an alternative to “In the
beginning God created.”
There are two major philosophical worldviews: naturalism and theism.
Although theism fits the facts much better, naturalism is the
philosophical worldview that is being promoted in the public schools,
hiding behind the guise of “science.” “The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God.” They even have their own national holiday, April 1st
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