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#evolution

18 posts17 participants0 posts today

This paper using gene sequences to track linguistic 'capacity' is from a #Chomskyite perspective (eg Tattersall among authors) pinning #language #evolution to #genetic #mutation!

But even chimps and bonobos have significant 'capacity' so the key question would be #social conditions which liberate that capacity.

We know from the #ochre record that #ritual culture had become #PanAfrican by 140,000 years ago. This date needs to catch up! They have shell beads in Morocco already.

frontiersin.org/journals/psych

FrontiersFrontiers | Linguistic capacity was present in the Homo sapiens population 135 thousand years ago

1.4-million-year-old skull fragments linked to mystery human ancestor.

@Gizmodo reports: "The fragmentary facial bones belong to Homo affinis erectus, an esoteric offshoot of our family tree that inhabited Spain more than one million years ago."

flip.it/L-sAAR

Gizmodo · 1.4-Million-Year-Old Skull Fragments Linked to Mystery Human AncestorThe fragmentary facial bones belong to Homo affinis erectus, an esoteric offshoot of our family tree that inhabited Spain more than one million years ago.

OTD, only 100 years ago, March 13, 1925.

Tennessee, USA, legislature enacted what was called Butler Act:

“Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”

Less than three months later, high-school teacher John T. Scopes was charged with violating state law by teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

The law was repealed only in 1967.

Is anything changed there?

depts.washington.edu/genomicss

britannica.com/event/Scopes-Tr

The oldest human face from western #Europe, a 1.4 MA old type of #Homoerectus, #Atapuerca, N Spain

'Excavations at Sima del Elefante paint a picture of lush meadows and woodlands more than 1.1m years ago with oaks, pines, juniper and hazel trees in abundance. Rivers cutting through the landscape drew water voles and mice, hippos, bison and deer. Quartz and flint tools have also been recovered alongside animal bones bearing cut marks from butchering.'

##hominin #evolution #SimadelElefante

theguardian.com/science/2025/m

The Guardian · Bone fragments of oldest known human face in western Europe found in SpainBy Ian Sample

'Pink' is the oldest ancient human 'face' ever found in Western Europe
By Anna Salleh

Bone fragments discovered in Spanish cave are putting a face to the earliest ancient humans to arrive in Western Europe, more than a million years ago.

abc.net.au/news/science/2025-0

ABC News · Fossil face bones discovered in Spanish cave may belong to first ancient humans in Western EuropeBy Anna Salleh

Deep-sea fish study reveals evolutionary marvels in Earth's hadal zone phys.org/news/2025-03-deep-sea

#Evolution and genetic adaptation of fishes to the deep sea sciencedirect.com/science/arti

"they confirmed a century-old hypothesis about deep-sea #fish evolution involving two distinct pathways. 'Ancient survivors' colonized the deep sea before the #Cretaceous mass #extinction, while 'new immigrants' account for the majority of modern #DeepSea species that emerged after the #MassExtinction."