Path: ...!news.misty.com!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!news.quux.org!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Primum Sapienti <invalide@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups: sci.anthropology.paleo
Subject: Re: Homo erectus adapted to steppe-desert climate extremes one
 million years ago
Date: Sun, 2 Feb 2025 22:09:44 -0700
Organization: sum
Lines: 76
Message-ID: <vnpj35$147js$1@dont-email.me>
References: <vmkph4$2t3pe$4@dont-email.me> <vmp8i5$2gp$1@sunce.iskon.hr>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Injection-Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:09:57 +0100 (CET)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="a20ecc6b6ad3410851ca79b4863304e5";
	logging-data="1187452"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18KtWStL8u72OXvVQUslQ0S"
User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 6.1; WOW64; rv:91.0) Gecko/20100101
 Firefox/91.0 SeaMonkey/2.53.18.2
Cancel-Lock: sha1:o9To1rKzSve5muHAGnda8wfpVIQ=
In-Reply-To: <vmp8i5$2gp$1@sunce.iskon.hr>
Bytes: 4335

Mario Petrinovic wrote:
> On 20.1.2025. 7:12, Primum Sapienti wrote:
>>
>> https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01919-1
>>
>> Abstract
>> Questions about when early members of the
>> genus Homo adapted to extreme environments
>> like deserts and rainforests have
>> traditionally focused on Homo sapiens. Here,
>> we present multidisciplinary evidence from
>> Engaji Nanyori in Tanzania’s Oldupai Gorge,
>> revealing that Homo erectus thrived in
>> hyperarid landscapes one million years ago.
>> Using biogeochemical analyses, precise
>> chronometric dating, palaeoclimate
>> simulations, biome modeling, fire history
>> reconstructions, palaeobotanical studies,
>> faunal assemblages, and archeological
>> evidence, we reconstruct an environment
>> dominated by semidesert shrubland. Despite
>> these challenges, Homo erectus repeatedly
>> occupied fluvial landscapes, leveraging
>> water sources and ecological focal points
>> to mitigate risk. These findings suggest
>> archaic humans possessed an ecological
>> flexibility previously attributed only to
>> later hominins. This adaptability likely
>> facilitated the expansion of Homo erectus
>> into the arid regions of Africa and Eurasia,
>> redefining their role as ecological
>> generalists thriving in some of the most
>> challenging landscapes of the Middle
>> Pleistocene.
>>
>> "Within the context of Engaji Nanyori,
>> evidence of Homo erectus’ adaptability to
>> extreme and highly variable mid-Pleistocene
>> climates becomes apparent amidst arid
>> conditions, reduced plant cover, and
>> frequent ecological disturbances due to
>> fire. Fossil pollen analysis, from a
>> semidesert plant community characterized
>> by a considerable proportion of gymnosperms
>> compared to angiosperms (10:1), with
>> Gnetales being the dominant order, reveals
>> the presence of at least six species of
>> xeric ephedroid shrubs. Notably, the
>> pollen record is predominantly composed of
>> Ephedripites pollen, primarily produced by
>> Ephedra, a genus known for its
>> drought-resistant characteristics
>> indicative of peri-Saharan ecosystems."
> 
>          Our earliest ancestors, Ouranopithecus, Graecopithecus, were 
> found in exactly that type of environment, described as "impoverished". 

Ouranopithecus and Graecopithecus were
quite separated from erectus in time
and space.


> So, what's the bloody fuzz, do those scientists know anything at all?
>          Homo antecessor was found in Spain, 1.2 mya. Jesus Christ, 
> what's wrong with today's science? We were adapted to impoverished 
> environment 9.6 mya, and to cold Europe 1.2 mya, and now this guy is 
> "discovering America". My god. Not strange that they have stupid theories.
>          The stupid idea was that only Homo sapiens was "smart enough" 
> to do that, so all the previous species were, simply, neglected. Stupid 
> scientists.

Staring off into space and asserting that
an assumption is true is the AA way of
doing things. Actually doing *research* and
confirming or disproving something is
anathema to them.