Turkana Boy is probably the most famous specimen of Homo erectus.
Joel Kontinen
Heraclitos of Ephesus (ca. 535-475 BC) was a Greek philosopher who taught that everything was continually changing. Unfortunately, his writings have been lost so we only have a general idea of what he might have said. According to Plato, Heraclictos nevertheless taught the idea of inevitable change.
Heraclitos’ view is seen to be true in the ever-changing idea of human ancestors. Fossils that were once thought very ape-like are gradually become more human-like. A case in point is that of Homo erectus , which was originally described as an ape man. Called Peking Man, Homo erectus was paraded as a missing link between men and apes.
However, with the passing of years, even the Darwinists’ view of our supposed grandfather has changed radically. Today, many Evolutionists accept him as almost completely human.
Recently (March 2008), Scientific American published an article that speculated whether even more change had occurred. John Whitfield, who wrote the article, quotes Murray Cox of the University of Arizona. Cox and his research team studied the X chromosome of modern humans and concluded that Homo erectus may have survived until about 30 000 years ago and lived at least 15 000 years with Homo sapiens.
Cox suggests that modern man and erectus exchanged genes. The title of the Scientific American article is even more revealing: ”Lovers, Not Fighters? New genetic signs that modern humans mated with Homo erectus.” In practice this would mean that they belong to the same species.
Last year science journals disclosed that Homo erectus and Homo habilis, which was believed to more ape-like, also lived at the same time. This refutes the old text book story of Homo habilis evolving into Homo erectus, which evolved into Homo sapiens.
Although dating methods are often grossly inaccurate, the new study nevertheless suggests that human-ape hybrids are figments of imagination. Fossils do not support the view that ape men have ever existed.
A related devolopment has occurred in the view of our "grandmother" Lucy. Read more here.
Source
Whitfield, John. 2008. Lovers, not fighters? New Genetic signs that modern humans mated with Homo erectus. Scientific American 298:3, 12-13 (March 2008).
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