Mount Toba had erupted about 74,000 years ago.

The explosion had covered all of South Asia in ash, blocked sunlight and stagnated growth.

Recently discovered African fossils contained rock shards from the same explosion.

Remnants of human activity showed not all life had been wiped off.

About 74,000 years ago, a super-volcano in Sumatra erupted with consequences that were close to an apocalypse. Most experts were under the impression that this 'volcanic winter' had managed to nearly wipe out humankind; but the recent discovery of fossils excavated from African soil, about 5,600 miles away from the scene of this catastrophe, prove otherwise.

The eruption of the Mount Toba – a caldera along the lines of the modern-day Indonesian island – had managed to blanket all of South Asia with ash, blocked out the sun and even choked the growth of vegetation in the region.

This posed an immediate threat to the existence of the section of the human population that relied on wildlife for their survival. Life, however, found a way believes a group of scientists, who claim that a resilient group of people made it through, all the way in Africa, where glass shards released from the explosion had managed to reach.

While certain scientists are still sceptical, this new research provides sufficient support to prove that the effects of the super volcano's eruption were, in fact, widespread enough to span the Indian Ocean.

But, in the years following the eruption, human life continued to grow along this affected belt too. Human activity seemed to have increased upon the southern tip of Africa, leading scientists to believe that a certain group of humans actually survived the Volcanic Winter that had threatened the entire race.

This conclusion was based on the discovery of tephra – rock shards ejected by the volcano. Glass tephra was found in two dig sites on the south coast of South Africa. Incidentally enough, this was at the same level as remnants of human activity.

These shards were compared to samples around the Toba and it was discovered that the two were from the same explosion. Gene Smith, professor emeritus of geology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and lead author of the study, supervised the chemical analysis of both the samples.

"Glass shards are a form of tephra that preserve a record of the chemical composition of the lava erupted during the eruption. The shapes and sizes of the shards also provide information about the nature of the eruption," Smith shared with Inverse. "We can tell quite a bit about a volcanic eruption by studying products ejected from the volcano."

Researchers involved in the study suggested that coastal resources were relatively less affected by the explosion's disastrous aftermath, than that of the resources found further inland.

But the evidence of human life along that belt doesn't show just basic survival: human activity actually increased there, which can be attributed to groups of people moving to the coastal regions after the inland areas were suffering stagnated wildlife from the volcanic winter.

"It is possible that people moved out of terrestrial locations and into this more productive coastal zone," Curtis Marean, Ph.D., professor of archaeology at Arizona State University and one of the study's authors shared with Inverse. "Think of it as a refuge."

But much like those experts who aren't so convinced about the theory of humans surviving the volcanic winter, certain scientists believe the global consequences of the Mount Toba explosion weren't all that catastrophic, to begin with.

"Some big events like Toba happen to be obvious to us in geology," John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, shared with Gizmodo. "But they were actually fairly small in the scheme of things. Hominin [people of the Homini tribe from Africa] populations were resilient and able to adapt to the kind of small-scale climate changes caused by eruptions."

Surprisingly enough, despite our ancestors having not just survived, but flourished after the almost-apocalyptic instance, Smith believes if something similar were to happen in modern times, we couldn't expect the same aftermath in terms of human life.

"Hunter-gatherer economies are very resilient, but I don't think the complex modern economies are," he says. "A Toba-like event is a civilization killer for us. Perhaps our study will waken people up to the potential of volcanic catastrophe."

The study was published in the journal, Nature. </s> Grieving relatives prayed and cast flower petals into the volcanic lake where a ferry sank last month in one of Indonesia’s worst maritime accidents, as the search for more than 160 missing passengers was called off Tuesday.

The vessel was believed to be operating illegally with no manifest and not enough life jackets when it disappeared into the depths of Lake Toba, a picturesque tourist spot in Sumatra.

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Just three passengers have been confirmed dead, with 21 survivors. There are 164 others — including children — listed as missing.

Some people lost whole families when the doomed vessel went down and hundreds of mourners have spent the past two weeks keeping vigil by the shore.

On Tuesday, tearful relatives gathered to lay wreaths and attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new memorial as the search was wrapped up.

Others prayed or boarded rescue boats to toss petals into the crater lake, but the decision to end the search was painful for many.

“We lost our two very dear children — both have left us,” Soleh, who uses only one name, said after laying a stone in memory of his kids at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Authorities have pinpointed the boat at some 420 metres (1,475 feet) below the surface of the lake by using remotely operated underwater vehicles.

But Toba’s vast depths pose a massive challenge to rescuers who do not have the necessary equipment to recover the boat or the many bodies thought to be trapped inside.

“Even if it was possible, it would take a very long time with high risks,” said Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, Indonesia’s coordinating minister for maritime affairs.

Officials met with the families to explain that the search was going to be called off.

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Lake Toba, which fills the crater of a supervolcano that exploded in a massive eruption tens of thousands of years ago, is one of the world’s deepest lakes, plunging to around 500 metres in places.

The traditional wooden boat could have been carrying five times the number of passengers it was built to hold, along with dozens of motorcycles, officials have said.

Five suspects have been named, including the boat’s captain, as well as local port and transportation officials.

In a separate incident Tuesday, at least a dozen people died in a ferry accident off the coast of Indonesia near Sulawesi island.

Maritime accidents are common in Indonesia, where many people depend on boats to get around the 17,000 island archipelago nation. /vvp

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MOST READ </s> A team of international scientists has found the oldest record of life on Earth in Northern Quebec, dating back at least 3.8 billion years.

Our solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago. Scientists believe that about 4.3 billion years ago, water already existed at the surface. However, what isn't known is when the earliest life emerged. Recent research has found life at 3.4 billion years and, most recently 3.7 billion years.

The discovery was made in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt in Northern Quebec in rock known as "banded iron formations." These formations existed billions of years ago, a result of organisms reacting with dissolved iron in the water that covered the planet. They appear in rock as red or white layers.

While there is some debate as to whether or not the the age of the rock in the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt is 3.8 billion years old or 4.3 billion years old, Jonathan O'Neill, assistant professor at the University of Ottawa's Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, believes it to be on the older side. But even if the rock is younger than that, it would still make their finding the oldest record of life on Earth, by 100 million years.

"It's impressive," O'Neill said. "We now have evidence in rock that I can hold in my hand that we had life already established extremely early on the Earth."

Discoveries such as this one greatly help scientists better understand the early Earth. O'Neill said that scientists had previously theorized that Earth was a truly inhospitable place at this young geological age, a searing, active world with molten lava lakes incapable of supporting any surface water or life. However, O'Neill said that recent research is painting a far different picture.

"Within the last 15, 20 years, we have more and more evidence that that's not the case," he said. "Very quickly after its formation, the Earth became closer to what it is today. We already have evidence of water at the surface of the Earth by about 4.3 billion years ago."

And it's in that water, together with thermal activity below where life began to flourish, first as microorganisms.

Below the surface water, the ocean crust would have been literally bubbling with activity: with hydrothermal vents, the water heated by volcanic activity.

"There's a lot of hot water circulating through these rocks that are full of elements, full of minerals … we think this is the ideal environment where life could have started on Earth. You have the perfect conditions for life to start."

Today, that process continues in deep parts of our oceans.

The rocks found in Quebec, reveal tiny, tubular structures of hematite. Hematite, a type of iron oxide, is one of the most common minerals on Earth.

These structures could also have been created by temperature and pressure rather than organisms. However, upon closer examination, the research team discovered the structures were similar to those found at thermal vents today. As well, they were found together with other minerals that are found in biological matter.

The researchers hope that this finding could also help in the search for life on other planets.

"These discoveries demonstrate life developed on Earth at a time when Mars and Earth had liquid water at their surfaces, posing exciting questions for extra-terrestrial life," Michael Dodd of University College London and first author of the paper published in Nature said. "Therefore, we expect to find evidence for past life on Mars 4,000 million years ago, or if not, Earth may have been a special exception." </s> No-go warning as Japan volcano erupts for first time in 250 years

A volcano in southern Japan erupted for the first time in 250 years on Thursday, spewing steam and ash hundreds of metres into the air, as authorities warned locals not to approach the mountain.

“There is a possibility that (Mount Io) will become more active,” said Makoto Saito, an official from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), confirming the eruption.

In a televised press conference, he warned residents in the area to stay away from the mountain, part of the Mount Kirishima group of volcanoes, as major ash deposits spread from the crater.

It was the first eruption of the mountain since 1768, the JMA said.

The agency warned that large flying rocks could fall over a three-kilometre (two-mile) radius.

The eruption threw smoke and ash 400 metres (1,300 feet) into the air.

Footage captured by the JMA and local media showed thick white and grey smoke rising from several areas of the mountain.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, adding that the government was “taking all possible measures” to prevent damage and casualties.

The eruption occurred a few kilometres (miles) away from Shinmoedake, which featured in the 1967 James Bond film “You Only Live Twice” and erupted in March.

Japan, with scores of active volcanoes, sits on the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire” where a large proportion of the world’s earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

In January, a Japanese soldier was killed and several other people injured after an eruption near a popular ski resort in northwest of Tokyo.

On September 27, 2014, Japan suffered its deadliest eruption in almost 90 years when Mount Ontake, in central Nagano prefecture, burst unexpectedly to life.

An estimated 63 people were killed in the shock eruption which occurred as the peak was packed with hikers out to see the region’s spectacular autumn colours.

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This post was syndicated from The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper – Nigeria and World News. Click here to read the full text on the original website. </s> A discovery of ancient fossils suggests that humans may have hobbit-sized ancestors.

Archeologists made the discovery in Callao cave on Luzon island in the northern Philippines, according to a study published in the journal Nature. The new species, named Homo luzonensis, stood no taller than four feet and was adept at climbing trees. The fossils date back 50,000 to 70,000 years ago.

Archeologists uncovered seven teeth, two hand bones, three foot bones, and one thigh bone, which they thought belonged to two adults and one child, The Guardian reported. The size of the teeth, which are small, is what led experts to think members of the species were short in stature. The presence of a curved toe indicates that they climbed trees while also being able to walk on two feet — a trait that dates back only to one other ancient species from 2 to 3 million years ago.

Florent Détroit, co-author of the report, said the discovery challenged the commonly accepted narrative of human evolution that suggests the Homo erectus species did not leave Africa until about 1.5 million years ago. In addition, it has been generally accepted that our human ancestors began moving away from Africa about 50,000 years ago. Détroit said the discovery indicated that the evolution of human history was much more intricate than what we have believed.

“We now know that it was a much more complex evolutionary history, with several distinct species contemporaneous with Homo sapiens, interbreeding events, extinctions,” Détroit said, adding that the new species will eventually prove that Homo sapiens were “definitely not alone on Earth.”

How the species arrived on an island in the Philippines is a mystery. The island is not connected to the mainland, which causes many experts to think they arrived by accident through a natural event, such as a tsunami.

Détroit, of the Natural History Museum in Paris, challenged that notion, pointing out that other evidence suggests that the new species had settled on other nearby islands.

Archaeologist Katerina Douka of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany said she did not want to jump the gun about the new species, Science News reported. Until DNA can be extracted from the fossils, there is a chance that they may be a product of interbreeding between earlier Homo species, which would create a hybrid, not a new species.

Another theory is that the Homo erectus species lived on the islands and simply adapted to its surroundings over thousands of years, suggested paleoanthropologist María Martinón-Torres.

However, the combination of “climbing-ready hand and foot bones” are “unique and unknown so far,” Torres said, which could support the notion that the species is new. </s> Scientists are reporting the discovery of a previously unknown species of ancient human that lived in the Philippines over 50,000 years ago. Evidence suggests the new species, named Homo luzonensis, was exceptionally tiny—and possibly even smaller than the famous Hobbit species uncovered on the island of Flores in 2004.



The story of human evolution just got a hell of a lot messier—and considerably more fascinating—owing to the discovery of a previously unknown human species. Bits of teeth and bone pulled from Callao Cave on the Philippine island of Luzon point to the existence of a distinctly human species, one deserving of the Homo designation in terms of its genus. At the same time, however, the fossils found in Callao Cave exhibit features unlike anything ever seen before, thus warranting the declaration of a completely new human species, Homo luzonensis. The details of this astonishing discovery were published today in Nature.

Needless to say, this is a huge deal. New human species tend to not be discovered on a regular basis. The discovery of Homo luzonensis, with its curious set of physical characteristics, is telling us some surprising new things about human evolution and what happened to the pioneering hominins who left Africa so long ago.

This story begins in 2010 with the important discovery of a single human foot bone, dated at 67,000 years old, in Callao Cave. The exact species could not be determined, but it was the first direct evidence of a human presence in the Philippines. As an important aside, we’ve since learned that hominins—the sub-group of primates that are more closely related to us than to chimpanzees and bonobos—were living in the Philippines as long as 709,000 years ago.

Indeed, the story of human evolution is getting increasingly complicated. Hominins first appeared in Africa some 6 to 7 million years ago, with the first evidence of a hominid presence in Eurasia dating back about 1.8 million years ago, likely the archaic human known as Homo erectus. Incredibly, this dispersal happened long before our species, Homo sapiens, emerged; we finally entered onto the scene 300,000 years ago, spilling into Eurasia about 100,000 years later. There, we joined two other human species, the Neanderthals and Denisovans.



Most extinct hominins are not our direct ancestors, but they’re our very close relatives. Each species went on its own evolutionary journey, adapting to their new circumstances and environments in different ways. By around 50,000 to 60,000 years ago, there were multiple human species living at the same time, doing their own thing at various locations in both Africa and Eurasia.

The scientists who found the human foot bone in the Philippines, a team led by Florent Détroit from the National Museum of Natural History in France and Armand Mijares from the University of the Philippines, kept working at Callao Cave in an effort to find more clues. These ongoing excavations resulted in the discovery of 12 new hominin elements, including teeth, a partial thigh bone, and several hand and foot bones. These fossils belonged to three different individuals, two adults and one child. No genetic evidence could be extracted from the specimens, and sadly, no skulls were found. These remains were pulled from the same stratigraphic layer as the foot bone found in 2010, dating these individuals to the same time period.

Analysis of the bones and teeth suggested a previously unknown species of human. Also, these hominins appear to have been exceptionally small. The authors of the new study suspect H. luzonensis was subject to an evolutionary process known as insular dwarfism, in which a species’ body size becomes significantly reduced over time on account of limited access to resources. A similar thing likely happened to Homo floresiensis, an extinct human species popularly known as the Hobbit. The remains of these diminutive humans, who stood no taller than around 3 feet and 7 inches (109 centimeters), were discovered on the island of Flores in Southeast Asia back in 2004. The discovery of Homo luzonensis—who may have been shorter than the Hobbits—may signify the presence of yet another human species moulded by insular dwarfism—a rather astounding discovery, to say the least. It’s important to point out, however, that insular dwarfism in H. luzonensis remains a distinct, yet unproven, possibility. As the authors noted in the study, “further discoveries and more definitive evidence are needed.”

The Hobbits and H. luzonensis bear striking similarities, and they were around at roughly the same time, but their evolutionary relationship is not known. It’s conceivable that both human species are descendents of H. erectus, and that both ended up isolated on their respective islands.

In terms of the distinct physical differences observed in H. luzonensis, the most notable were seen in their teeth and foot bones. Their molars, in particular, were unlike anything ever seen before in a human species. Writing in an accompanying News & Views article, anthropologist Matthew Tocheri from Lakehead University in Thunderbay, Ontario, described how their teeth exhibited both ancient and modern features.



This is unbelievably fascinating, but the story gets even more intriguing—and potentially even more confusing.

The third metatarsal—the long bone in the middle toe—in H. luzonensis is exceptionally strange, bearing an uncanny resemblance to those seen in Australopithecus—an ancient human ancestor that lived in Africa some 3 million years ago and never left Africa. Well, at least to the best of our knowledge. H. luzonensis also featured hand bones similar to those of Australopithecus.

There are at least two possible explanations for this odd toe bone, neither of which seem wholly plausible.



Crazy theory number one: Conventional thinking has it that Homo erectus was the only hominin species to have left Africa during the Early Pleistocene, the period between 2.58 to 0.78 million years ago. The evidence found in Callao Cave would seem to suggest that we’ve got it all wrong, and that other hominins, including groups more closely related to Australopithecus (or even Australopithecus itself!), made their way into Eurasia during this period. More evidence is needed to back this extraordinary possibility.

Crazy theory number two: An intriguing aspect about the H. Luzonensis third metatarsal is that it allows for more curved toes. This is significant because curved toes are great for tree climbing and hanging from branches. Australopithecus, a suspected tree climber, was equipped with this particular physical feature, and it would seem to suggest the same for H. luzonensis. But if H. Luzonensis is not closely related to Australopithecus, then why the curved toes and hands? It’s possible that some hominins retained their tree-climbing abilities for much longer than is conventionally appreciated. Another possibility is convergent evolution, in which similar physical characteristics appear in unrelated species. Should this be the case, if would mean that, after thousands of years of upright, bipedal locomotion, H. Luzonensis was returning to an arboreal existence, and evolving the requisite physical characteristics. It’s a mind-blowing theory, no doubt, but again, one in desperate need of further evidence.

“The discovery of H. luzonensis underscores the complexity of the evolution, dispersal and diversity of the genus Homo outside of Africa, and particularly in the islands of Southeast Asia, during the Pleistocene,” the authors appropriately conclude in the new study.

Paleontologist Adam Brunn, a researcher at Griffith University and an expert in the hominin colonization of southeast Asia, had been hearing rumours about the Luzon fossils for years, saying it’s “brilliant” to finally seeing the new findings published.

“It’s not everyday a new human species is discovered. To describe one, to add a new relative to our family tree, is an enormous privilege—and a huge responsibility,” explained Brunn in an email to Gizmodo. “The discovery team has done a very meticulous and commendable job describing these new fossils, and their naming of a new species, in my opinion, is valid. This is a truly sensational finding.”

Gerrit van den Bergh, a senior lecturer at the University of Wollongong’s Centre for Archaeological Science, said the researchers were “justified” in their decision to name the new species. He said it’s fascinating that Luzon is now the second known island, after Flores, in which a distinct human species existed before the arrival of H. sapiens.

“These insular species may have evolved on each island in perfect isolation, and you could say that their evolutionary pathway has gone in a completely different direction as those of their counterparts on mainland Asia, for example Homo erectus or the Neanderthals,” wrote van den Bergh, who wasn’t involved with the new study, in an email to Gizmodo. “Most notably they became very small bodied, which is what also happened to other large mammals that became stranded on islands, such as various fossil pygmy elephants that we know once inhabited many islands in the Mediterranean and Island Southeast Asia.”

Anthropologist Dean Falk from Florida State University had few quibbles with the new paper, but the one issue she did raise was beyond the control of the researchers: their inability to find a skull. Despite this major limitation, she “became convinced that the authors have identified hominins with unique dental features combined with at least some features of hands and feet that resemble Australopithecus,” adding that these “specimens may, indeed, represent a previously unidentified species,” wrote Falk in an email to Gizmodo.

The small teeth of H. luzonensis, she added, suggests they had small bodies, but we can’t know for sure. That said, “insular dwarfism would not be at all surprising on the island.”

“You gotta love the curved hand and feet bones, and I don’t have a problem with speculating that their owners might have spent a good deal of time in trees,” Falk told Gizmodo. “Could it be that—at least some—hominins continued to sleep in tree nests until very recently, at least geologically speaking?”

Ultimately, however, the story of human evolution just got a lot more “bushier,” she said.

No kidding. And a lot more interesting, if that’s even possible. As this new paper beautifully illustrates, the unfolding human origin story is turning out to be absolutely incredible. </s> Humankind's tangled shrub of ancestry now has a new branch: Researchers in the Philippines announced today that they have discovered a species of ancient human previously unknown to science.

The small-bodied hominin, named Homo luzonensis, lived on the island of Luzon at least 50,000 to 67,000 years ago. The hominin—identified from a total of seven teeth and six small bones—hosts a patchwork of ancient and more advanced features. The landmark discovery, announced in Nature on Wednesday, makes Luzon the third Southeast Asian island in the last 15 years to bear signs of unexpectedly ancient human activity.

“For a long, long time, the Philippine islands [have] been more or less left [out]," says study coauthor and project leader Armand Mijares, an archaeologist at the University of the Philippines Diliman and a National Geographic grantee. But H. luzonensis flips the script, and it continues to challenge the outdated idea that the human line neatly progressed from less advanced to more advanced species.

Human Origins 101 The story of human evolution began about seven million years ago, when the lineages that lead to Homo sapiens and chimpanzees separated. Learn about the early human species that belong in our family tree and how the natural selection of certain physical and behavioral traits defined what it means to be human.

“This new discovery made me thrilled,” Yousuke Kaifu, a paleoanthropologist at Tokyo's National Museum of Nature and Science who was not part of the new study, says via email. “It further highlights remarkable diversity of archaic (primitive) hominins once present in Asia, in a way beyond my expectation.”

Aida Gómez-Robles, a paleoanthropologist at University College London who reviewed the study before publication, is hesitant to unequivocally say the find represents a new species. But she adds that all possibilities to explain the unusual fossils are equally intriguing.

“It’s absolutely one of the most important findings that [will] be out in a number of years,” she says.

Digging deeper into Asia's past

Decades ago, the story of Asia seemed far more straightforward, if incomplete. Paleoanthropologists knew that archaic hominins such as Homo erectus ventured over land bridges into parts of what is now Indonesia nearly a million years ago. But farther east, it was thought that these hominins ran into ocean currents considered impassable without boats.

Luzon seemed especially difficult for ancient hominins to reach, as it had never been connected to the mainland by land bridges, so archaeologists thought that digging into deeper, older layers of soil wouldn't yield much. When Mijares first excavated Callao Cave in 2003, he found 25,000-year-old evidence of human activity—but he didn't dig any deeper than about four feet down.

“Most Southeast Asian archaeologists would only excavate cave sites up to two meters, and they would stop,” Mijares says.

Pull Quote He called me up and said, Hello mate, you've got human remains. And I said, Really? Then we'll go grab a beer! Armand Mijares, University of the Philippines Diliman

That all changed in 2004, when researchers unveiled Homo floresiensis—a diminutive hominin, also known as the “hobbit,” that inhabited the Indonesian island of Flores until 50,000 years ago. Inspired, Mijares returned to Callao Cave in 2007 to literally dig deeper.

The team excavated more than five feet of clay below where they had stopped digging in 2003, with no fossils in sight. But then they found a layer of breccia, a type of rock formed from a jumble of other materials. Tantalizingly, this layer contained fragments of bone that had washed into the cave long ago. At first, the bones seemed to include only animals such as deer and pigs. But under closer inspection, one piece stood out: a nearly complete foot bone that looked human. The team sent the fossil to Philip Piper, a coauthor of the new study, who was looking through the animal remains.

“He called me up and said, Hello mate, you've got human remains,” Mijares says. “And I said, Really? Then we'll go grab a beer!”

In 2010, Mijares and his colleagues unveiled the 67,000-year-old fossil, which they tentatively suggested belonged to a small-bodied member of Homo sapiens, making it perhaps the oldest sign of our species anywhere in the Philippines at the time. But Mijares suspected that it might actually belong to a new species, maybe even a Luzon analog to H. floresiensis. The team needed more fossils to be sure.

Human origins Over millions of years, Africa, Asia, and Europe incubated a dazzling array of ancient human relatives. Today only one branch of the family tree remains: us. Homo luzonensis Homo sapiens Today The newest addition A toe bone found in a cave in the Philippines in 2007 appeared to belong to our genus, Homo. Additional specimens, including more toe bones, teeth, finger bones, and a femur shaft, point to a new species. One million years ago (mya) Two mya Homo Three mya Long lower legs were adapted to walking and running; smaller teeth and larger brains in later H. erectus could indicate they hunted and ate more meat. Four mya Australopithecines Early species were adapted to climbing as well as bipedalism; later species had more specialized diets of tough, fibrous food. Jason treat, NGM STAFF SOURCES: LEE BERGER, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND (WITS); JOHN HAWKS, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON; Florent Détroit, Armand Salvador Mijares, And Others, Nature, 2019 Human origins Over millions of years, Africa, Asia, and Europe incubated a dazzling array of ancient human relatives. Today only one branch of the family tree remains: us. Four million years ago (mya) Three mya Two mya One mya Today Homo luzonensis Homo H. floresiensis Long lower legs were adapted to walking and running; smaller teeth and larger brains in later H. erectus could indicate they hunted and ate more meat. Denisovans H. neanderthalensis H. heidelbergensis Homo sapiens H. naledi H. erectus H. rudolfensis H. sp. (species unknown) H. habilis Kenyanthropus platyops Australopithecus anamensis The newest addition A. sediba A toe bone found in a cave in the Philippines in 2007 appeared to belong to our genus, Homo. Additional specimens, including more toe bones, teeth, finger bones, and a femur shaft, point to a new species. A. afarensis A. garhi A. africanus A. boisei A. aethiopicus A. robustus Australopithecines Early species were adapted to climbing as well as bipedalism; later species had more specialized diets of tough, fibrous food. Jason treat, NGM STAFF SOURCES: LEE BERGER, UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND (WITS); JOHN HAWKS, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON; Florent Détroit, Armand Salvador Mijares, And Others, Nature, 2019

Something old, something new

As luck would have it, excavations uncovered two more toe bones along with seven teeth, two finger bones, and part of a femur on return trips to Callao Cave in 2011 and 2015. In all, the remains represent at least three individuals.

The small fossils' curves and grooves reveal an unexpected mix of both ancient and more advanced traits. The teeth's small sizes and relatively simple shapes, for instance, point to a more “modern” individual, but one upper premolar has three roots—a trait found in fewer than 3 percent of modern humans. And one foot bone resembles those of the ancient australopithecines, a group that includes the famous human relative Lucy, who trekked across Africa roughly three million years ago.

View Images Five of the seven teeth attributed to Homo luzonensis. The teeth have small sizes and relatively simple shapes, but one premolar has three roots, which is uncommon among modern humans. Photograph Courtesy of © Callao Cave Archaeology Project

View Images This foot bone, attributed to Homo luzonensis, is unusually curved—a trait more commonly seen in more ancient cousins of modern humans, such as Africa's australopithecines. Photograph Courtesy of © Callao Cave Archaeology Project

“I agree with [the] authors that the combination of features is like nothing we have seen before,” says María Martinón-Torres, the director of Spain's National Research Center on Human Evolution.

New York University anthropologist Shara Bailey, an expert on ancient teeth, notes that South Africa's Homo naledi—discovered by a team including National Geographic grantee Lee Berger—also has features that look both ancient and modern. She takes the two discoveries as a sign that “mosaic” evolution was more common among hominins than once thought.

Martinón-Torres further suggests that the mix of dental features somewhat resembles that seen in 15,000-year-old hominin remains from Dushan in southern China, which she and her colleagues recently described. Along with H. luzonensis, the discoveries join recent finds hinting that by 12,000 years ago, as the Pleistocene epoch drew to a close, hominins in Asia had a startling amount of diversity.

What's in a name?

While many scientists laud the research for its thoroughness, defining a species from just 13 small bones and teeth is tricky. Though the scientists attempted to extract DNA, they were unsuccessful, as is common for samples that have stewed for millennia in the heat and humidity of tropical locales.

The small stature of H. luzonensis could also cause some traits of the bones to appear more primitive than they truly are, says John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who was not involved in the study. This muddles comparisons of this species to other known hominins. While there are compelling features, and he thinks the case for a new species is reasonable, his overall take is: “I really wish there were more bones.”

Other researchers are more confident in holding up H. luzonensis as a new species.

“The discovery team has done a very meticulous and commendable job describing these new fossils, and their naming of a new species, in my opinion, is valid,” Griffith University archaeologist Adam Brumm, an expert on H. floresiensis who wasn't involved with the study, says in an email. “This is a truly sensational finding.”

Lead study author Florent Détroit, a lecturer at France's National Museum of Natural History, adds that “species” are human-made categories that aim to clarify evolutionary history, not necessarily hard-and-fast biological realities.

“[If] in the future, colleagues are able to show that we were wrong because the fossils can enter one of the already known hominin species, we will just lump it and forget about it, but in the meantime, I am convinced it is the way we had to do it,” he says via email.

Tools of the trade

However the new hominin is ultimately defined, researchers are excited by hints that our ancient relatives in the Philippines were engaging in some very familiar activities, including signs of tool use.

The 2010 paper that introduced the Callao cave foot bone—which is now considered a part of H. luzonensis—mentions that a deer bone found in the same sediments bears what look like stone-tool cut marks. Michael Petraglia, a paleoanthropologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, takes the bone as a sign that H. luzonensis was a proficient toolmaker and hunter.

There's also evidence that H. luzonensis, or another ancient hominin, lived on Luzon even further back in time. In 2018, Mijares and his colleagues announced the discovery of stone tools and a butchered rhinoceros skeleton that are more than 700,000 years old, found not too far from Callao Cave. Because of the time gap between the remains and the tool site, however, it's tough to say whether the stone tool users were predecessors of H. luzonensis or an unrelated hominin.

Raft of possibilities

While evolution sculpted H. luzonensis into a small form similar to that of H. floresiensis, we don't know which island conditions drove the differences between the two species. Also, while a barrage of studies makes clear that interspecies unions happened regularly, we don't know whether H. luzonensis ancestors interacted or bred with other hominin species that lived in Asia at the time, such as the enigmatic Denisovans.

“You could see this as kind of a natural experiment in human evolution,” says Gerrit van den Bergh of the University of Wollongong, an expert on H. floresiensis.

Another major unknown is how the ancestors of H. luzonensis even reached the Philippines. In 2016, researchers unveiled stone tools on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi that date to between 118,000 and 194,000 years old—or at least 60,000 years older than the island's oldest known modern humans. Taken alongside the remains from Flores and Luzon, the sites suggest that ancient hominin dispersal throughout the region wasn't necessarily as rare—or as accidental—as researchers once thought.

“If rhinos can swim and get to places, certainly we can think of erectus, floresiensis, and luzonensis not necessarily just swimming but at least rafting, if not boating,” Petraglia says. “It's just pure speculation, but you could posit that and make some convincing arguments.”

One thing remains clear: Southeast Asia probably was home to more hominin species than current fossils let on. For his part, Mijares is continuing to look for other signs of H. luzonensis, including a current search at Luzon's Biak na Bato National Park, done with support from the National Geographic Society. Through it all, Mijares sees the future for H. luzonensis—and for Asian anthropology—as bright. </s> Tokyo (AFP) - A volcano in southern Japan erupted for the first time in 250 years on Thursday, spewing steam and ash hundreds of metres into the air, as authorities warned locals not to approach the mountain.

"There is a possibility that (Mount Io) will become more active," said Makoto Saito, an official from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), confirming the eruption.

In a televised press conference, he warned residents in the area to stay away from the mountain, part of the Mount Kirishima group of volcanoes, as major ash deposits spread from the crater.

It was the first eruption of the mountain since 1768, the JMA said.

The agency warned that large flying rocks could fall over a three-kilometre (two-mile) radius.

The eruption threw smoke and ash 400 metres (1,300 feet) into the air.

Footage captured by the JMA and local media showed thick white and grey smoke rising from several areas of the mountain.

There were no immediate reports of injuries, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, adding that the government was "taking all possible measures" to prevent damage and casualties.

The eruption occurred a few kilometres (miles) away from Shinmoedake, which featured in the 1967 James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" and erupted in March.

Japan, with scores of active volcanoes, sits on the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire" where a large proportion of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded.

In January, a Japanese soldier was killed and several other people injured after an eruption near a popular ski resort in northwest of Tokyo.

On September 27, 2014, Japan suffered its deadliest eruption in almost 90 years when Mount Ontake, in central Nagano prefecture, burst unexpectedly to life.

An estimated 63 people were killed in the shock eruption which occurred as the peak was packed with hikers out to see the region's spectacular autumn colours. </s> Indonesia has ended searching one of the world's deepest lakes for the bodies of dozens of victims after a ferry capsized in rough weather two weeks ago.

Search and rescue officials say after "intense" discussions with victims' families the end of the search was being marked on Tuesday with prayers and the scattering of flowers on Lake Toba.

The overcrowded wooden ferry sank in the volcanic crater lake on June 18.

The full scale of the tragedy took days to unfold as the boat didn't have a passenger manifest.

Officials at one point said more than 190 people were missing.

The official toll on Tuesday was 21 survivors, 3 bodies found and 164 people missing, presumed drowned.
A study is released suggesting that humanity flourished even after Lake Toba erupted 74,000 years ago.