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So pulled from rewrite team for human evolution.
From “Human ‘missing link’ fossils may be jumble of species,” New Scientist:
ONE of our closest long-lost relatives may never have existed. The fossils of Australopithecus sediba, which promised to rewrite the story of human evolution, may actually be the remains of two species jumbled together.
The first fossils of A. sediba were found at Malapa, South Africa, in 2008. At 2 million years old, they show a mix of features, some similar to the ape-like australopithecines, others more like our genus, Homo. To its discoverers, this hotchpotch means A. sediba was becoming human, and that the Homo genus first evolved in South Africa, not east Africa as is generally thought.
But a new analysis suggests A. sediba didn’t exist. “I think there are two different hominin genera represented at Malapa,” says Ella Been at Tel Aviv University in Israel. One is an Australopithecus and one an early Homo. We can’t yet tell if the australopithecine remains are distinct enough to call them a new species, Been says. More.
All these chopping and changing stories have a central theme: Humans evolved randomly over a long period of time from a shrew-like creature into our current state. The evidence for that is always falling apart and is always dutifully reconstructed.
Watch for my upcoming Science Fictions series on human evolution at Evolution News & Views (it will be linked here at Uncommon Descent). – O’Leary for News
From a friend: While we are at it, “let’s clear out Homo habilis too.” Probably because “Skull 1470 has long been notorious for its ability to assume different shapes depending on how it is reconstructed.” See also: Contemplating Bill Nye’s 51 skull slide
Sediba two years ago:
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Note: Sometimes it feels surreal that some people lose their faith over stories about human evolution. They can’t be reading the real stories. The real stories sound more like this one. What people should be losing their faith in is pop culture’s current certainties and its general outlook.