"What we can say is that they're small-bodied, how small we don't know. Small because their teeth are very small," he said.

The fossils were determined to be 50,000-67,000 years old, which means the Homo luzonensis predates the Homo sapiens found on Palawan, estimated to be 30,000-40,000 years old.

This would make the Homo luzonensis the earliest human remains to be found in the Philippines.

Mijares said the Homo luzonensis did not live or die in Callao Cave. "The creatures did not die [in Callao Cave]. It was actually washed in the cave. They were actually not using the cave," Mijares said.

"They were just wandering around and they probably died there... the bones washed in the cave," he said.

Mijares said more questions are begging for answers following the discovery of the Homo luzonensis.

"We need to do more work. Digging this time period takes a long time, and perseverance, and patience. It's just the start of what we discovered," Mijares said, expressing hope that the team "will discover more" skeletal remains that will shed light on the issue.

Aside from Mijares, the team of scientists also included Florent Detroit of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and researchers from the University of Bordeaux, Paul Sabatier University and the University of Poitiers in France, as well as Griffith University in Australia. 

• 上一页
• 1
• 2
• 全文阅读