Homo luzonensis

Homo luzonensis is an extinct species of archaic

humans in the genus Homo.[1] In 2007, a third
metatarsal bone (MT3) was discovered in Callao
Cave, Luzon, Philippines by Filipino archaeologists
Armand Mijares and Philip J. Piper and initially identified
as modern human by Florent Détroit. This find was
dated using uranium series ablation to an age of
66,700 ± 1000 years before present, while associated
faunal remains and a hominin tooth found in 2011
delivered dates of around 50,000 years ago.[2]
 Homo luzonensis
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene,
0.07–0.065 Ma
↓

PreЄ Є OS D C P T J K Pg N

CCH1, a 67,000 year old fossil third metatarsal bone

attributed to Homo luzonensis.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae

Subfamily: Homininae

Tribe: Hominini

Genus: Homo
Species: H. luzonensis
Binomial name

Homo luzonensis
Détroit et al., 2019

In 2019, Armand Mijares et al. described the

subsequent discovery of "twelve additional hominin
elements that represent at least three individuals that
were found in the same stratigraphic layer of Callao
Cave as the previously discovered metatarsal" and
identified the fossils as belonging to a newly
discovered species, Homo luzonensis, on the basis of
differences from previously identified species in the
genus Homo. This included H. floresiensis and H.
sapiens.[2][3][4] However, some scientists think
additional evidence is required to confirm the fossils
as a new species, rather than a locally adapted
population of other Homo populations, such as H.
erectus or Denisovan.[5]

Description
Interior of Callao Cave on Luzon in the Philippines, where the fossil
remains were found.

Although the initial hypothesis of human migration to

the Philippines proposed the use of land bridges during
the last ice age, modern bathymetric readings of the
Mindoro Strait and Sibutu Passage suggest that
neither would have been fully closed (which correlates
with the Philippines being biogeographically separated
from Sundaland by the Wallace Line[note 1]) and a sea
crossing has always been necessary to reach Luzon
and other oceanic islands of the Philippines.
Five of seven fossilized teeth ascribed to H. luzonensis.

The small sizes of the hominins' molars suggest that it

may have undergone island dwarfing, similar to H.
floresiensis,[5] although no estimate of its height is
currently possible. An expert not associated with the
study commented that the curvature of its digits
suggests it may have climbed trees.[5]

The fossil human remains were associated with the

remains of deer (Cervus mariannus), wild pig, and an
extinct bovine.[2] Some of the animal bones exhibit
potential cut marks, suggesting that they were
butchered.[6] Much earlier stone tools and the almost
complete fossilized skeleton of a butchered
rhinoceros dating back to c. 700,000 years ago were
found by Thomas Ingicco and colleagues in the nearby
San Pedro site in Rizal, Kalinga.[7]

Discovery
On May 5, 2007, a research team from the Philippines,
France, and Australia discovered a third metatarsal
bone during the excavation of Callao Cave.[8] The
morphological characteristics of the fossil were
unequivocally classified as belonging to the genus
Homo, making it the oldest evidence of the presence
of the genus in the Philippines at the time. The
scientific description of the fossil in 2010 identified the
fossil as belonging to H. sapiens. In 2011, fossil
phalanges from the finger and toe, along with five
fossil molars, were discovered and were also
attributed to H. sapiens.

In April 2019, in a study by Florent Détroit et al., the

fossils were attributed to a distinct species of archaic
human, dubbed Homo luzonensis. The fossils are
currently housed in the National Museum of the
Philippines.

Significance
The 2019 Nature article describing H. luzonensis noted
that: "The presence of another and previously
unknown hominin species east of the Wallace Line
during the Late Pleistocene epoch underscores the
importance of island Southeast Asia in the evolution
of the genus Homo."[2]
See also
Denisovan – Paleolithic-era taxon of the genus
Homo
Neanderthal – Extinct species of the genus Homo
Tabon Man – Oldest undisputed Homo sapiens
fossil ever found in the Philippines

Notes
1. Technically, they are separated by Huxley's
revision of the Wallace Line, which originally
was drawn to the east of the Philippines.

References
1. Gaglioti, Frank (August 21, 2019). "New human
species discovered in the Philippines" . World
 Socialist Web Site. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
2. Détroit, F.; Mijares, A. S.; Corny, J.; Daver, G.;
Zanolli, C.; Dizon, E.; Robles, E.; Grün, R. & Piper,
P. J. (2019). "A new species of Homo from the
Late Pleistocene of the Philippines". Nature. 568
(7751): 181–186. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1067-
9.
3. Grün, Rainer; Eggins, Stephen; Kinsley, Leslie;
Moseley, Hannah & Sambridge, Malcolm
(December 2014). "Laser ablation U-series
analysis of fossil bones and teeth".
Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology. 416: 150–167.
doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2014.07.023 .
4. Zimmer, Carl (April 10, 2019). "A New Human
Species Once Lived in This Philippine Cave –
Archaeologists in Luzon Island have turned up
the bones of a distantly related species, Homo
luzonensis, further expanding the human family
tree" . The New York Times. Retrieved April 10,
2019.
5. Wade, L. (April 10, 2019). "New species of
ancient human unearthed in the Philippines" .
Science. 364. doi:10.1126/science.aax6501 .
6. Manalo, Kathryn 2011. Preliminary Identification
of Cut Mark Morphology on Animal Bones:
Methods & Applications. Master Thesis,
University of the Philippines Diliman.
7. Ingicco, T.; van den Bergh, G. D.; Jago-on, C.;
Bahain, J.-J.; Chacón, M. G.; Amano, N.;
Forestier, H.; King, C.; Manalo, K.; Nomade, S.;
Pereira, A.; Reyes, M. C.; Sémah, A.-M.; Shao, Q.;
Voinchet, P.; Falguères, C.; Albers, P. C. H.; Lising,
M.; Lyras, G.; Yurnaldi, D.; Rochette, P.; Bautista,
A. & de Vos, J. (2018). "Earliest known hominin
activity in the Philippines by 709 thousand years
ago". Nature. 557 (7704): 233–237.
doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0072-8 .
8. Mijares, A. S.; Détroit, F.; Piper, P.; Grün, R.;
Bellwood, P.; Aubert, M.; Champion, G.; Cuevas,
N.; De Leon, A.; Dizon, E. (2010). "New evidence
for a 67,000-year-old human presence at
Callao Cave, Luzon, Philippines". Journal of
 Human Evolution. 59 (1): 123–132.
doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.04.008 .

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