Human Ancestors May Have Bucked an Evolutionary Trend

A cast of the skull of homo floresiensis, one of the hominin species analyzed in the latest study. In evolution, competition is thought to be a zero-sum game. One species adapts and survives. Another doesn’t and dies off. AConventional wisdom in evolutionary theory has held that climate has driven the rise and fall of various hominin species. In most vertebrates, interspecies competition also plays an important role. That role has been discounted in human ancestors, according to the study.

But when she looked at the later “Homo” groups of hominins, van Holstein noticed a finding she called bizarre. Her analysis showed that competition between Homo species appeared to result in even more species.Her analysis explains why the hominin fossil record can sometimes appear uneven. Several more hominin species than previously assumed were likely co-existing, and potentially competing.

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