The discovery centers around teeth: that of a member of the genus Homo, of which we are a part, found next to the tooth of Australopithecus, the last in a line of apes that became humans. The team of paleontologists who found the teeth are following protocol and not inferring anything about how the two species interacted, but the fact is that the Homo tooth was the older of the two, showing that human evolution wasn’t linear.
That headline is really… rough. It underscores the very reason why evolution-deniers misunderstand the concept of evolving from another species. I’ve said it so many times: Science journalists are almost always terrible at their job.
azimir@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
For anyone who actually works with evolutionary systems and models: yup, that’s how it would work. I’m glad they found evidence that the models aren’t overturned, though likely tuned by the new info.
These are phenomenal finds. Great work, slow diggers!
JohnnyEnzyme@piefed.social 4 days ago
Maybe I'm not quite getting it, but with mutations and natural selection happening on a never-ending basis, isn't this exactly what's to be expected with just about every life form on the planet?
One set doesn't necessarily swiftly disappear (or at all) with the arrival of a new species, right? Especially the more widespread is their habitat, I should think.
Or is this case more about helping to shore up the record for Homo, specifically?
azimir@lemmy.ml 4 days ago
You’re getting it just fine. This is exactly what’s expected in many cases as speciation occurs. Usually the two branches diverge, but still overlap in the timeline. Over time they either both survive and continue to diverge, or one (or both) dies out.
artifex@piefed.social 4 days ago
Yeah, it's well understood that homo didn't just magically start existing and that caused all of its ancestors to suddenly disappear, but the headline makes it seem like that part was in doubt. (FWIW, I originally read the "staggering" part to be the find itself -- like, what are the odds that you find a cache of various ancient hominid teeth together?)