From a species possibly more intelligent than man to another human-like group that may have
existed as recently as 12,000 years ago, today we look at: STRANGE Extinct Human Species!
Number 8.
“The Denisovans”- Traces of DNA from the mysterious archaic species known as the Denisovans,
who are believed to have lived between 765,000 and 550,000 years ago, can be found in several
groups of modern humans.
In fact more is known about their DNA than is known about their physical traits.
The only bones that have been found from the Denisovans are two teeth, a finger bone and
toe bone.
From these tiny samples scientists were able to find that they were most likely a species
that splintered from Neanderthals after Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens split.
Small remnants of their DNA can be found today in Tibetans, Aborigines, as well as other
native tribes of Oceania and Southeast Asia.
Anthropologists believe that Tibetans in particular may have received The Denisovans’ enhanced
ability to adapt to cold weather.
The Denisovans might actually be a product of these two species interbreeding.
Further discoveries of Denisovan remains could possibly give us a more exact timeline of
man’s migration from Asia to the Americas as their genes have recently been found in
the Inuit people’s of Greenland.
Because of the lack of bones available to paleontologists they're hesitant to declare
Denisovans their own species.
Number 7.
“Homo Naledi”- Homo naledi is believed to have been a close cousin of Homo sapiens
that was more primitive on the evolutionary scale yet lived during the same time as our
direct ancestors.
A more recent discovery, scientists were stunned when they found out, via carbon dating, that
the Naledi may have lived as recently as 100,000 years ago!
They are considered less evolved than homo sapiens as they retained more ape-like traits
like smaller bodies, smaller skulls and tiny brains.
Even though their brains were smaller they were still found to perform mentally advanced
rituals such as burying their dead, making jewelry and forging weapons for hunting.
Because they seem so far behind on the timeline of evolution, some scientists think that they
may have started out more advanced, or similar to homo sapiens, but then regressed to be
more ape-like.
Like many of the species on this list they probably went extinct to the growing population
of the more advanced humans who likely hogged their resources and had superior survival
tactics.
There are some fringe anthropologists who believe that Naledi may actually be a species
that Homo sapiens evolved from, but most data says otherwise.
Number 6.
“Homo Erectus”- Homo erectus, whose name translates to ‘upright man’, lived an
estimated 1.89 million to 143,000 years ago and maybe have been either a direct ancestor
of man or its own species.
Either way this close relative is known for many evolutionary firsts.
It has been deduced that Homo erectus was probably the first species of homo to eschew
life in the trees and walk the earth on two legs.
It also may have been the first of its kind to harness the power of fire and to use tools
to cut meat from the bones of animals, which they possibly cooked.
They even developed primitive versions of axes and spears and were considered family
oriented, caring for young and old alike, living in tribes.
Erectus dwelled mainly in Africa and Asia and tt had an average height of 5-6 feet tall
and weight of 80-150 pounds which was larger than its more ape-like predecessors.
It also has the distinction of living on Earth longer than any other species of the genus
Homo.
Because of the wide variety of shapes and sizes their remains have been found in, scientists
debate whether they were all one single species with degrees of variability like modern man,
or several different species.
Some consider the Homo erectus who dwelled in Africa to be their own species known as
Homo ergaster.
Number 5.
“Homo Neanderthalensis”- Homo Neanderthalensis or Neanderthals are probably one of the most
famous species of man other than own.
This is due to their dwelling for thousands of years alongside Homo Sapiens and having
similar and perhaps even superior brain capacity.
Before Homo sapiens eventually overtook or bred them into extinction, they were our closest
relatives.
Many people today still have small percentages of Neanderthal in their DNA.
Neanderthals as an independent species lived from about 40,000 to 400,000 years ago in
Europe and Central Asia.
Like our other close cousins, The Denisovans, they were better adapted to cold climate and
isolation than Homo sapiens.
What’s more impressive is they lived in areas that are still considered cold but did
it during the Ice Age.
To adapt to the cold, their bodies evolved to be stocky and short which is conducive
to retaining heat.
Neanderthals had an average height of just over 5 feet and a weight of 130 lbs.
They also had much larger noses than ours, this helped them to heat up the air they were
breathing in.
Their heads were a bit larger than that of homo sapiens as were their braincases.
This may signal that if they hadn’t gone extinct they could have become much more intelligent
than modern man.
There are several other signs that point to their intelligence such as their crafting
of jewelry and advanced clothing for the time.
They also may have been the first species on earth to practice ordaining burial sites
with flowers or gifts.
Number 4.
Homo Heidelbergensis- Homo heidelbergensis lived all over Europe, Africa and maybe even
as far as China.
Heidelbergensis is the probably the best candidate to be the species that fathered Homo sapiens,
Neanderthals and The Denisovans as it has the common traits of all three and lived at
a time just before these three species came about.
Compared to their ancestors and other species of homo at the time they had significantly
larger braincases and faces that were flatter.
They had very large brow ridges to go along with their stubby faces and like the Neanderthals
had short wide bodies that helped them stay warm.
Their average height was 5.5 feet tall and their average weight was around 120 pounds.
However, at one specific dig site in South Africa paleoanthropologists claimed that they
have found bones from a group of Heidelbergensis that would have been 7 feet tall on average.Their
enhanced brain size allowed them to be the first of our ancestors to hunt large animals
using more advanced spears than that of homo erectus.
Heidelbergensis is also considered the first species of man to build shelters such as primitive
huts or tricked-out caves.
They are widely believed to be a direct descendant of Homo erectus, specifically Homo ergaster,
so it is very possible that they used an even more developed method of communication than
Ergaster.
Number 3.
“Red Deer Cave People”- The fossils of the pre-historic Red Deer Cave People are
some of the most mysterious remains ever found.
Anthropologists and paleontologists have been puzzled by the age of the bones, found in
southwestern China, as they appear to have been from as recent as 12,000 years ago.
This is long after other hominid species (beside that of Homo sapien) are believed to have
gone extinct.
Scientists have several theories on who these people are.
They could be a product of the interbreeding between Homo sapiens, neanderthals, denisovans
or another archaic species.
They could also have been a species that dates back millions of years that somehow became
isolated and didn’t evolve as fast as other hominids.
Lastly, they could be another branch off of Heidelbergensis who evolved much differently
than the others.
The strangest thing to think about is the fact that while this species was living, modern
humans were using bows and arrows, domesticating livestock, building permanent settlements
and creating early art such as pottery, painting and music.
Number 2.
“Homo Floresiensis”- Homo Floresiensis is another species that lived during the same
time frame as modern man, yet it has some even stranger features.
They have so far only been found on the island of Flores in Indonesia and due to their extremely
small stature (having an average height of three and a half feet) they are referred to
by scientists as Hobbits, deriving their name from JRR Tolkien’s fantasy literature.
They didn’t live in nearly as close a time period as the Red Deer Cave People, but with
the youngest fossil being an estimated 40,000 years old they may have crossed paths with
homo sapiens and possibly been wiped out by them.
Other than their small size they had other strange features such as large teeth, big
feet, inconspicuous chins and backwards sloping foreheads.
They also had tiny brains, but despite this they were able to hunt game such as Pygmy
elephants and fight off predators like huge prehistoric Komodo dragons.
These hobbits also may have had campfires.
There are two prevailing theories of how this species came to be so small: A) they descended
from homo erectus and were products of an process of evolution called ‘island dwarfism’
which happens when species living on an isolated area with little resources, evolve to be smaller
so they don’t need as much food to survive.
Or B) they are descended from a sister species that is yet to be discovered and was small
before coming to Indonesia.
Number 1.
“Homo Gautengensis” Discovered in 2010, Homo gautengensis might be the first species
in the genus homo.
It is thought to have lived between 2 million and 600,000 years ago which would put it in
existence parallel to that of Australopithecus which had been speculated as being the last
of our ape-like ancestors before human traits developed.
The discovery of Gautengensis now casts doubts on that theory.
If a species had already developed these traits it probably came from a different ape species.
There is evidence that they use simple tools and may have used fire to cook their food.
While they are considered to have had a diet that consisted of more fruits and vegetables
than their ancestors, they also dined on meat occasionally.
The most shocking thing is the type of meat they were thought to have eaten regularly:
their relatives.