Check out this article from The Boston Globe.
The article, titled "Humans, Chimps May Have Bred After Split," begins as follows:
Boston scientists released a provocative report yesterday that challenges the timeline of human evolution and suggests that human ancestors bred with chimpanzee ancestors long after they had initially separated into two species.
Later in the article, there is the following:
Pilbeam helped discover an early human ancestor known as Toumai, which walked on two legs and is thought to have lived in present-day Chad 6.5 million to 7.4 million years ago. The new report, published in today's issue of the journal Nature, estimates that final break between the human and chimpanzee species did not come until 6.3 million years ago at the earliest, and probably less than 5.4 million years ago.
This contradiction could be resolved, Reich said, if early creatures like Toumai then interbred with chimpanzee ancestors, leaving a population of hybrids that developed into today's humans.
Now, it is far from clear that this is actually what happened (some issues are raised in the articles), but the possibility is extremely intriguing, and I have a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart just knowing how certain people's stomachs are churning now. I am extremely happy that this possibility has been raised, and very much I look forward to future research exploring this possibility!
1 day ago
8 comments:
But I thought "Planet of the Apes" was set in the FUTURE.
Well, we could be moving through time in a periodic fashion---kind of like Groundhog's Day, but with a much longer period.
I mean Groundhog Day.
Okay, I'm so sorry. I've been trying to resist this, but I just can't take it anymore.
"Your mom!"
Lemming: Is that supposed to make sense in the context of anything that's been written? It seems completely random to me...
I think Lemming is making a subtle insinuation that you are yourself a chimp-human hybrid... Hopefully for a generic "you" rather than you=Mason.
Naturally people have already gone in the same direction about Dear Leader, posting the usual selection of Bush and chimpanzee head shots for comparison.
Justin, are you insinuating that he's half human?
Oh, yeah, and beyond that, Justin hit the nail on the head.
The website BushOrChimp.com is a classic. I remember when I first heard about it a couple years ago. I approve of it mightily.
Post a Comment