Neanderthals from the same species as modern humans?

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Believe It Or Not, They're

All The Same Species

By Robert Matthews

Science Correspondent

12-25-4

 

It is one of the best-known stories in science: the evolution of mankind

from ape-like creatures to modern humans via knuckle-grazing cave-dwellers.

Now it has been blown apart by the first comprehensive study of all the

fossils, which has revealed that they are probably all variants of Homo

sapiens.

 

The discovery comes as fossil-hunters in Indonesia continue to defend claims

to have found yet another new species of human, dubbed "Hobbit Man". If

true, the diminutive creature would join such famous specimens as Lucy, Java

Man and the Neanderthals in the complex family tree of mankind.

 

The findings have significant implications for the often bitter debates

between fossil-hunters about the significance of their finds. While they no

longer bicker over the so-called "Missing Link" - the now-derided idea of a

creature linking humans to chimpanzees - experts continue to argue over the

relationship between Australopithecines and early humans, and between

Neanderthals and modern humans.

 

The number of human species claimed by fossil-hunters now stands at around

10, while the total number of human-like species exceeds 50. Such claims

have long been based on supposedly significant differences in sizes and

shapes of fossil bones. Now they have all been thrown into doubt by research

showing that the differences lie within the range expected for just a single

species.

 

Professor Maciej Henneberg, of the University of Adelaide, a world authority

on fossil human anatomy, made the discovery after analysing the skull sizes

and estimated body weights for all of the 200 identified specimens of

human-like fossils known as hominims. These span the entire history of

humans, from the emergence of so-called Australopithecines with an upright

stance more than four million years ago to neolithic modern humans from

around 10,000 years ago.

 

Prof Henneberg found that the fossils show clear evidence of evolution, with

substantial increases in both skull sizes and body-weight. However, he also

found that the fossils show no evidence of being anything other than a

single species which had grown bigger and smarter over time. According to

Prof Henneberg, the much-vaunted differences in fossil size used to identify

"new" species all lie within the normal range expected for one species.

 

Plotted out as a graph, they form the classic bell-shaped curve found using

data from modern humans.

 

Reporting his findings in the current issue of the Journal of Comparative

Human Biology, Prof Henneberg concludes: "All hominims appear to be a single

gradually evolving lineage containing only one species at each point in

time."

 

The findings have big implications for the often bitter debates between

fossil-hunters about the significance of their finds. Experts have long

bickered over the relationship between Australopithecines and early humans,

and between Neanderthals and modern humans.

 

Prof Henneberg has said that the new results suggest such disputes are

meaningless, as they ignore the possibility of huge differences within the

same species.

 

He said they also raise doubts about the reliability of bones in identifying

new human species: "There is no precise way in which we can test whether

Julius Caesar and Princess Diana were members of the same species of Homo

sapiens".

 

According to Prof Henneberg, the study highlights the scant evidence for so

many of the claimed new species of human. "Considering that there are only

about 200 specimens in total, if these really do represent ten different

species, that makes an average of just 20 specimens per species". He added

that only a single skull had been found for the "Hobbit Man" of Indonesia.

 

Other authorities hailed Prof Henneberg's findings as a much-needed reality

check. "Clearly there is a need to be more aware of the possibility of

variation - but that is not the inclination today," said Geoffrey Harrison,

emeritus professor of biological anthropology at the University of Oxford.

"It has been a problem because the discoverers have usually put so much

effort into finding the evidence, so they want it to be important".

 

Professor Chris Stringer, a leading expert on human fossils at the Natural

History Museum, London, said even Neanderthals were not significantly

different in skull or body size from modern humans. However, he added that

they do differ in other details, such as inner ear bones.

 

He said: "The argument they are a different species is, of course, only a

hypothesis, but comparisons of skull shape published recently certainly show

they are as different from us as monkeys and apes are different from each

other".

 

According to Prof Henneberg, there are fewer than 30 examples of

Neanderthals on which to base any conclusions. What evidence there is,

however, is consistent with Neanderthals being from the same species as

modern humans.

 

He added that the never-ending announcements of new species said more about

those making the claims than about human evolution. "The problem is there

are far more palaeontologists than fossil specimens".

 

© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.