Homo luzonensis

Homo luzonensis
Temporal range: Late Pleistocene,
CCH6a–e, molar and premolar teeth
CCH1, a 67,000 year old third metatarsal bone
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Suborder: Haplorhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Family: Hominidae
Subfamily: Homininae
Tribe: Hominini
Genus: Homo
Species:
H. luzonensis
Binomial name
Homo luzonensis
Détroit et al., 2019[1]

Homo luzonensis, also locally called "Ubag" after a mythical caveman,[2][3] is an extinct, possibly pygmy, species of archaic human from the Late Pleistocene of Luzon, the Philippines. Their remains, teeth and phalanges, are known only from Callao Cave in the northern part of the island dating to before 50,000 years ago. They were initially identified as belonging to modern humans in 2010, but in 2019, after the discovery of more specimens, they were placed into a new species based on the presence of a wide range of traits similar to modern humans as well as to Australopithecus and early Homo. In 2023, a study revealed that the fossilized remains of the Callao Man has been found out to be (134,000 ± 14,000) years old[4] and much older than previously known.

Their ancestors, who may have been Asian H. erectus or some other even earlier Homo, would have needed to have made a sea crossing of several miles at minimum to reach the island. Archaic human presence on Luzon dates to as early as 771,000 to 631,000 years ago.[5] The inhabitants of the cave dragged in mainly Philippine deer carcasses, and used tools for butchering.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Détroit2019 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Panela, Shai (April 12, 2019). "Fossils Of Ancient Human Species Unearthed In The Philippines". Asian Scientist.
  3. ^ Gascon, Melvin. "Philippine cave discovery: Meet 'Homo luzonensis'". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
  4. ^ Rainer Grün, Chris Stringer, Direct dating of human fossils and the ever-changing story of human evolution. Quaternary Science Reviews, Volume 322, 2023, 108379, ISSN 0277-3791
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ingicco2018 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).