'Enigma Man' may be new human species that lived until 11,000 years ago

Fresh light on China's Red Deer Cave People raises big questions.

Has an Australian scientist been instrumental in helping discover a new species of human? And what does this mean for our understanding of human evolutionary history? These are two questions at the heart of a new documentary screening this week on ABC1.



Vídeo YouTube por Electric Pictures el 25/5/2014 añadido a Paleo Vídeos > Prehistoria Universal > L.R.2.7 nº 1.


With Enigma Man we follow the groundbreaking research of Aussie paleoanthropologist Darren Curnoe and his Chinese colleague, paleontologist Ji Xueping.

Their study of ancient human remains found in a remote cave in South-west China looks at the idea there may have been another species of human existing alongside our ancestors as recently as 11,000 – 14,000 years ago.

Dubbed the '‘Red Deer Cave people’', these ancient people, or, more precisely, their remains – so similar, yet so physically different from us – are much, much younger than our Neanderthal relatives, posing some seriously interesting questions. Were they really another human species? And if so, what happened to them? Why did they die out? How did they live? And what were their interactions with our own early relatives?

These are indeed big questions, Curnoe  says, and that's what makes the search for answers so fascinating.

“The documentary is about the process of deciding: do we have a new species or not?” Curnoe, who is Associate Professor of evolutionary biology in the School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences at UNSW, explains. [...] smh.com.au

Entrada relacionada (2012)


Actualización 16-08-14: Full video. ENIGMA MAN: A Stone Age Mystery
URL: http://vodlocker.com/hr1pcw2olvsz