"Inhabitants of mid-Pleistocene Africa may belong to a new species of human, Homo bodoensis," an international group of paleontologists led by specialists from the University of Winnipeg revealed. An article was published in the journal Evolutionary Anthropology Issues News and Reviews.
Previously known remains belonged to other species, which created problems in identifying and classifying the finds.
According to science, Homo bodoensis lived in Africa during the Middle Pleistocene, about 500 thousand years ago, and was a direct ancestor of modern humans. They re-evaluated the remains of famous people of this period from Africa and Eurasia. Previously these fossils were considered to be the remains of Heidelberg or Rhodesian man. However, there was confusion about these species. For example, it is likely that some of the human remains in Heidelberg after DNA analysis revealed that these were the remains of Neanderthals. Very little is known about the Rhodesian man, and the criteria by which this or that remains can be identified are very vague.
According to the new estimate, some of the remains may be reclassified as Neanderthal remains. Others may be combined into one species - Homo bodoensis. This category is found in most people of the Middle Pleistocene - from Africa and some of Southeast Europe.
