Word: africanus
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...that bear an uncanny resemblance to skulls from the hominid genus Australopithecus, which lived in Africa from roughly 4 million to 1.5 million years ago. The best-known australopithecene fossils are the 3.2 million-year-old A. afarensis Lucy, discovered in Ethiopia, and the 3 million-year-old A. africanus Taung Child, unearthed in South Africa. (See pictures of South Africa, fifteen years...
...Falk and the others identified seven specific features of Flo's brain that seem to be more-evolved versions of key characteristics of the much older A. africanus brain. "Over the entire cerebral cortex, there are advanced features that make it look like a very fancy brain," says Falk. "H. floresiensis was clearly there a long time, because it developed its own features...
...developed in such a small brain case. A prime indicator of increasing human intelligence has long been thought to be increasing brain size. However, Falk says, the hobbit's skull is a bit of a mishmash of characteristics in terms of who it resembles. "Its brain sorts with africanus, yet its outside skull features look like Homo erectus," she says...
...anyone discovers a new hominid, a lot of people come along and say it's an ape or a diseased human." Gee, who says the critics haven't shaken his belief that a new species has been found, cites the example of another hotly debated discovery, that of Australopithecus africanus in 1924, the so-called "missing link" between apes and human ancestors. "Nature published that paper too and all the great and good in the scientific establishment refused to believe it." It took 25 years, but eventually the discovery was accepted, Gee says, noting that it will be a while...
...only when one player had won six games. Such matches could take months, because great chess masters are so evenly matched that 80% of tournament games end in draws. Victories come at rare intervals; six wins can take forever. Not this time. Fischer conducted a campaign unrivaled since Scipio Africanus leveled Carthage. He beat two challengers six games in a row, which, combined with wins before and after, produced a streak of 20 straight victories against the very best--something never seen before and likely never to be seen again...