“Talking about human evolution during this period has become practically impossible due to a lack of proper terminology that takes into account the geographical differences of humans,” said Dr. Mirjana Ruksandik, professor of anthropology at the University of Winnipeg in Canada. study and a co-author of the study team.
Recent DNA evidence has shown that some fossils in Europe H. heidelbergensis They were actually early Neanderthals, which makes the name unnecessary. For the same reason, the name heidelbergensis should be abandoned when describing human fossils from East Asia, said co-author Xiu-Jie Wu of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing.
What makes the whole story even more mysterious is the fact that sometimes African fossils from this period H. heidelbergensis Sometimes Rhodesian man. H. Rhodesian It is not well defined and the name is not widely accepted.
This is partly due to its association with Cecil Rhodes and the horrific crimes committed during the colonial rule of Africa, making the name an unacceptable homage as the decolonization of science is underway.
