#anthropogeny

Razib Khan, Here be humans

Razib Khan, Here be humans

Over the last twenty years, genomics, ancient DNA and paleoanthropology have joined forces to completely overhaul our understanding of the origin of our species. The true diversity and complexity of human evolution over the last few hundred millennia surpasses even the most unhinged imaginings we might have hazarded just a short generation ago. But greater clarity has left us with a messier and less elegant narrative. Our species’ status, it turns out, is “complicated.”

Those that stayed close were also then guided into creating more new elves. After all, even if they reproduced their children took years to grow, while new proto-elves could be brought into instruction right away. The area right around the well had a large number of these second generation of elves, created this time from creatures the proto-elves liked. These were instinctual likes, for the proto-elves were little smarter than their constituent creatures but more confident, naturally following the commands of the Ents.

To this end they were instructed to go to the well of life, where they could place wild animals in and spawn suitable creatures. These are the proto elves, and the first creatures placed in were the creatures that the Ents and their dryads could easily grab. The very smallest and the largest, insects and deer alike. These creatures, when placed into the pool, after emerging were most suitable for the needs of the Ents. Similar to the practical design of the dryads, but at the same time more bound to the needs and limits of flesh. Ultimately though they were capable of learning skills and listening to the instructions of the ents.

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The CARTA symposia are always free, there are delicious snacks, and I am usually in attendance.  What more could you ask for?

When did “behaviorally modern humans” (BMHs)—i.e., us, the single species that has taken over the planet using our unusual cognitive abilities—first arise? We do not know for sure, but anthropogeny, which takes a systematic approach to explaining human origins, offers some clues.