News Anthropology

Thigh bone adds to mystery over 14,000-year-old Homo species

Leg fossil from Chinese cave raises controversial possibility of hybrid humans

bones from Red Deer Cave

THIGH PUZZLER  A newly described upper leg bone, shown here from two angles, from China’s Red Deer Cave (entrance shown, right) raises the controversial possibility that a now-extinct Homo species interbred with Homo sapiens, represented by these skull, jaw and tooth fossils from the same cave. 

D. Curnoe and Ji Xueping

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

A 14,000-year-old upper leg bone found in southwest China may come from a prehuman line of hominids that survived in East Asia long enough to mate with Homo sapiens, a controversial study concludes.