VOA慢速英语--研究人员发现新人类物种的证据

Researchers Find Evidence of New Human Species

Researchers say they have found fossil bones and teeth of a previously¹ unknown human species in the northern Philippines.

Scientists named the species Homo luzonensis after the island of Luzon, where the discovery was made. Researchers recently reported the finding in a study published in Nature.

A team from the Philippines, France and Australia found the first fossil bones in 2007 in Callao Cave, in Cagayan province.

Filipino archeologist Armand Salvador Mijares led the unearthing² effort. He showed off the discovery at a news conference at the University of the Philippines, outside Manila.

There were six pieces of bone - from the feet, hands and leg – belonging to at least three individuals. Seven teeth were also found.

Another Filipino archaeologist, Eusebio Dizon, said the human remains³ were the oldest ever found in the Philippines.

The species is not believed to be a direct ancestor of modern-day humans, but rather a distant ancient relative. Researchers said tests showed that two of the fossil pieces were between 50,000 and 67,000 years old.

An examination of the bones led the researchers to decide they belonged to a previously unknown member of the Homo sapiens species. They reported that one of the toe bones and the shapes of the teeth differed from what has been seen in Homo sapiens before.

The scientists said the fossils suggest the bodies of the species were likely smaller than modern-day humans.

Florent Détroit is with France’s National Museum of Natural History in Paris. He co-led the study. He told the French press agency AFP, "From the beginning, we realized the unusual characteristics of these fossils.”

After much examination, Détroit said, the scientific team was able to confirm "that this was something special, unlike any previously described species…”

Matthew Tocheri is with Lakehead University’s Department of Anthropology⁴ in Thunder Bay, Canada. He was not part of the study. He told Nature that the bones and teeth “create a strong argument that this is something new.”

The discovery marked the second time in the 21st century that a new human species has been identified in Southeast Asia. In 2004, fossils of another group, called Homo floresiensis were found on the Indonesian island of Flores. That species –sometimes described as “hobbits” – was found about 3,000 kilometers from the Luzon discovery.

Détroit said it is not yet clear how Homo luzonensis is related to other species within the Homo family. He said it may have descended⁶ from an earlier human relative, Homo erectus. Homo erectus is generally considered the first Homo species to have expanded outside Africa.

Some scientists have suggested the “hobbits” found in Indonesia may have evolved from Homo erectus.

Tocheri told the Associated Press he thinks that is possible. But he also said the Philippines discovery may provide evidence of another theory. It is possible, he said, that some unknown creature other than Homo erectus also moved out of Africa and reached Europe and Asia, and that both created new island species.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

Words in This Story

fossil – n. part of an animal or plant from thousands of years ago, preserved in rock

previously – adv. before the present time

province – n. division of a country that has its own government

characteristic – n. quality that makes something different from other things

descend⁵ – v. develop from an ancestral heritage

evolve – v.develop from other forms of life over many of years

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 unearthing   

发掘或挖出某物( unearth的现在分词 )； 搜寻到某事物，发现并披露

参考例句：

• And unearthing the past often means literally and studying the evidence. 通常，探寻往事在字面上即意味着——刨根究底。
• The unearthing of "Peking Man" was a remarkable discovery. “北京人”的出土是个非凡的发现。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

5 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

6 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。