john hawks weblog

paleoanthropology, genetics and evolution

The Hawks weblog mailbag

Mon, 2007-07-23 22:15 -- John Hawks

I always get the most interesting mail right after any kind of news interview. Here's the best from last week:

I am wondering, after reading your comments in a news article about the origins of mankind, what makes anyone in your field of study believe that mankind originated on this planet? No one to date has, to the best of my knowledge, made any verifiable direct links to homo erectus, or any other of the monkeys from several million years ago. In fact, Homo Sapiens can only be traced back a few hundred thousand years before the link disappears with no further direct trace.

I would like to submit to you that Earth has been invaded five (5) times by humanoids from different civilizations. Evidence from these invasions is evident if you would care to look outside your own little nook. Wake up young man, and study what is in front of your eyes. The evidence is in South America, Northern Africa (Sahara region), China/Mongolia, and believe it or not, the South Pole.

Though I realize that you most likely won't check it out, I can guarantee that within the next 30 years events will bring this e-mail back to mind for you. By then, it will probably be too late to turn our path from the road it is on. So be it.

Wake up young man, and study what is in front of your eyes! Gretchen has been saying that to me all week. Different accents. Jack Black, W. C. Fields, that crazy dude from Network. You get the picture.

Neandertals

For years, I've worked on their bones. Now I'm working on their genes. Read more about the science studying these ancient people.

Denisova

From a finger bone of an ancient human came the record of a completely unexpected population. My lab is working on the science of the Denisova genome.

Acceleration

The advent of agriculture caused natural selection to speed up greatly in humans. We're uncovering some of the ways that populations have rapidly changed during the last 10,000 years.

Malapa

Just outside Johannesburg, the Malapa site is producing some of the most exciting finds in human evolution. This site is the headquarters of the Malapa Soft Tissue Project.