newjerseynewsroom.com

BY NICOLE JAMES

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Scientists believe they have proof that challenges the popular theory that the human race in its current form evolved from ancient primates in a singular, linear progression.

A recent archaeological find in the northern part of Kenya produced three human fossils. The research done on the fossils adds to the hypothesis that argues there were once multiple species of humans co-existing in Africa approximately 2 million years ago.

The three fossils, aged between 1.78 and 1.95 million years old, consist of a face and two jawbones with teeth according to BBC News. These bones differ from the ones belonging to the Homo erectus, the human ancestor from whom modern humans descend.

Responsible for the important Kenyan findings is a team led by Meave Leakey. Leakey is the daughter-in-law of the famous scientist Louis Leakey. She and her team found facial bones from one organism and two jawbones from two different organisms, totaling three different species altogether. They are certain that these bones are not another example of the Homo erectus, because the bones’ composition does not match that of the erectus. With no similarities to draw from, that team of scientists says these discoveries must come from another flat-faced species with large teeth, according to the National Post.

There is a debate over whether or not these fossils are a good enough indication of varying species of humans existing at one time. 40 years ago, another Kenyan discovery made by Leakey sparked the same skepticism, according to The Huffington Post. In 1972, she found a skull belonging to a type of human, dubbed the Homo Rudolfensis, that had a flatter face and housed a larger brain than the skull discovered 10 years prior to that, which belonged to the Homo Habilis. According to the Huffington Post, while Leakey and her team argued that the H. Rudolfensis was indeed a separate specimen from the H. Habilis, other scientists said there was not enough evidence to back up that claim due to the fact that no Rudolfensis fossil contained both the face and the lower jar. Such details are needed in order to make an accurate comparison between the two groups of fossils.

As was the case with the discovery made 40 years ago, scientists are dismissing these new findings as another separate type of human, noting there still is not enough evidence to make such claims. Leakey is standing her ground, however, pointing out the distinctive differences in shape between the profiles of the collective Homo fossils.

“I feel pretty confident that we’re not just dealing with variation in one species,” she said.

The interesting and perhaps controversial research has been published in Nature International Weekly Journal of Science.