Biology Reference
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recent finding of a modern foot by Haille- Selassie from the Cleveland Natural History
Museum and Leakey team among the layers of Australopithecus suggesting that maybe more
modern hominins and also habilis and erectus existed in the same strata based on footprints in
the latter. As an aside, Homo sapiens species were named by Carl Linnaeus, who came from a
few miles from where my father's Swedish family is from, near Nydala and Vaxjo. Homo
sapiens is the species, indicating they could interbreed, and had similar characteristics (genus)
as Homo, but this point is debated by many. For example, many consider that Neanderthals are
a subspecies of the sapiens species as maybe rhodesiensis, denisovans, floresiensis,
heidelbergensis, and even ergaster. Part of the problem is that, as Darwin pointed out, the
transitional animals between Australopithecus and Homo species have to be discovered.
Geneticists believe that based on mitochondrial DNA, Eve lived 200,000 years ago, and that
130,000 years ago the San diverged from other humans. Confounding this is the archaeological
report from December 2010 that relatively modern humans were found in a cave in Israel
dating back to 400,000 years ago. The Tel Aviv archaeologist, Professor Gopher, discovered
remains at the Qesem cave that proved based on the teeth of these Homos that they used flint,
fire, hunted, shared meat, used cutting tools, and mined for raw flint like modern humans. This
has challenged the Out of Africa theory because the time line is 200,000 to 400,000 years ago.
There is other research showing that 74,000 years ago, related to a global catastrophe, perhaps
during a large volcanic eruption such as Toba, and climatic changes, most humans were killed.
This was a genetic choke point during which maybe as few as 30 to 50 people stayed alive. In
South Africa there is also the cave research down in the Cape (Blombos, Klasies River,
Border Cave and many more), particularly the South East suggesting that humans may have
existed 100,000 to 200,000 years ago in that area. Indeed, there is some evidence that when the
oceans were at a lower level from water being tied up in the large northern icecaps, people
lived in areas now up to 100 meters under present ocean levels, and these were the few people
that survived through at least one of the genetic chokepoints. At Blombos, there appears to be
an early calendar, writing format, and also detailed knowledge of how to scientifically make
paints. Henshilwood who has done a lot of research in the cave found evidence that abalone
shells were used to make paint from ochre, heated animal bones, charcoal, and quartz. And at
Border Cave, also researched by Raymond Dart, looking out over the Lebombo Plain was
supposedly inhabited by humans as far back as 200,000 years ago. Some believe the
assemblage of artifacts in the Wonderwerk cave floor date back 2million years and fires were
used after a million years ago to cook food, including meat. Who were these bipeds? These are
the enigmas with different time lines depending whose literature you read.
She related Jack Alan, my other old professor of anatomy, is still alive and in his 90s. He
was very kind to us as medical students. Professor Ann Andrews did a lot of research on
embryology and was also the sister of a very close friend of ours, Bill Andrew who was one
the Albert Schweitzer like doctors at Shongwe.
We also talked about research at Wits and how difficult it has become. My interest was
particularly the combination of anatomy and physiology research. The marvel of the human
body is that just as form follows function, so anatomy follows physiological demands. Our
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