Newly Released Images Show 3 Early Human Species
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The BBC has released new images showcasing early human species as part of its upcoming science series, Human.
Why It Matters
This release is significant for both scientists and the public, providing historically accurate reconstructions that bring to life key moments in our ancestry.
What To Know
The series, presented by paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi, will explore the story of human evolution over the past 300,000 years. The series explores how human beings went from being one of many life forms to being the dominant life form on the planet.
Al-Shamahi has been able to tell the story thanks to breakthroughs in DNA technology and fossil evidence. The reconstructions offer both educational value and a window into the evolutionary journey that shaped modern humans' origins and survival strategies.
The 3D models revealed depict Homo floresiensis, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals), and the earliest known Homo sapiens.
New images show scientific reconstructions of, on the left, Homo erectus, and, on the right, Homo floresiensis.
New images show scientific reconstructions of, on the left, Homo erectus, and, on the right, Homo floresiensis.
BBC Studios
Early Human Species Brought to Life:
Homo erectus lived between 1.89 million and 110,000 years ago, was the first to walk with a modern gait, and likely used fire. Originally native to Africa, they later migrated into Asia and possibly Europe.
lived between 1.89 million and 110,000 years ago, was the first to walk with a modern gait, and likely used fire. Originally native to Africa, they later migrated into Asia and possibly Europe. Homo floresiensis , dubbed "the Hobbit" for its small stature, existed from around 700,000 to 50,000 years ago. Their remains have been found only on the Indonesian island of Flores.
, dubbed "the Hobbit" for its small stature, existed from around 700,000 to 50,000 years ago. Their remains have been found only on the Indonesian island of Flores. Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthals) emerged about 430,000 years ago and survived until roughly 40,000 years ago. They adapted to cold Eurasian environments and interbred with Homo sapiens.
(Neanderthals) emerged about 430,000 years ago and survived until roughly 40,000 years ago. They adapted to cold Eurasian environments and interbred with Homo sapiens. Earliest Homo sapiens fossils originate from Jebel Irhoud in Morocco, dating to about 300,000 years ago, showing features that bridge earlier hominins and modern humans.
On the left, an image of an early Homo sapien, while on the right, an image shows a Neanderthal.
On the left, an image of an early Homo sapien, while on the right, an image shows a Neanderthal.
BBC Studios
The models were crafted using photogrammetry, fossil data, and the latest advances in archaeological science to depict what these species may have looked like tens of thousands of years ago.
The series will feature five episodes: The First of Us, Into the Unknown, Last Humans Standing, Discovering the Americas and A Great Gamble.
What People Are Saying
Paleoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi told the BBC: "For millennia we have been the most dominant form of life on this planet, so it is easy to think that we were always destined for greatness. But a revolution in ancient DNA technology and the latest fossil finds from dig sites across the world are forcing us to accept that our species' story is far more extraordinary than we could ever imagine."
What's Next
The series will debut on July 14.
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Today, at least 2 billion people worldwide are estimated to consume insects as part of traditional diets, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. The study also noted that, according to historical accounts, many indigenous peoples such as the Inuit 'viewed thoroughly putrefied, maggot-infested animal foods as highly desirable fare, not starvation rations.' Many such groups, according to the study, 'routinely, often intentionally, allowed animal foods to decompose to the point where they were crawling with maggots, in some cases even beginning to liquify, and inevitably emitting a stench so overpowering that early European explorers, fur trappers, and missionaries were sickened by it.' Knud Rasmussen, a polar explorer from Greenland, recorded the following culinary experience, cited in the study, in his 1931 book 'The Netsilik Eskimos: Social Life and Spiritual Culture.' 'The meat was green with age, and when we made a cut in it, it was like the bursting of a boil, so full of great white maggots was it. To my horror my companions scooped out handfuls of the crawling things and ate them with evident relish. I criticised their taste, but they … said, not illogically: 'You yourself like caribou meat, and what are these maggots but live caribou meat? They taste just the same as the meat and are refreshing to the mouth.' The study also noted that maggots are not unknown in Western culinary traditions, noting the Sardinian cheese casu marzu is replete with the larvae of cheese skipper flies. Beasley said that Northern latitude groups still process these foods today and consume them safely when prepared following traditional practices. Beasley's research on modern-day corpses was exploratory and had several limitations, she cautioned. The work, which involved small sample sizes, focused on human muscle tissue, not the tissue or organs of animals that might have been hunted by Neanderthals. What's more, the fly larvae, which came from three different families, might have differed from those that existed in the late Pleistocene, which ended around 11,000 years ago. The study also didn't account for the wide variety of climates and temperatures that would have had an effect on stored meat in the Stone Age. She also added that the human body tissue wasn't cooked, processed or prepared in any way. Beasley has spoken with researchers in Alaska in the hopes of connecting with native groups that would be interested in sharing traditional food preparations. Her goal is to better understand how that might affect the nitrogen level. The new research has 'opened a fascinating line of inquiry' into the culinary practices of Stone Age hunter-gatherers such as Neanderthals, said Wil Roebroeks, professor emeritus of paleolithic archaeology at Leiden University in the Netherlands. He wasn't involved in the research. 'It certainly gives a fresh — if that is the right word here — perspective on Neanderthal and other Late Pleistocene humans' diets,' Roebroeks added. Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
