Golden age for discovering new species of humans

The World

Neanderthals, our shorter, stockier humanoid cousins, died out roughly 40,000 years ago. We know about them because lots of Neanderthal bones have been found in Europe. A chilly climate there helps preserve fossils. There’s also plenty of well-financed European institutions to study those bones. But as The World’s Patrick Winn reports, scientists are starting to realize that — when it comes to ancient species of humans — Southeast Asia might have a lot to teach us about who we came from as a species.

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