head lice reveals our relation with pre historic man
6 October 2004
by Richard
Conan-Davies
|
It seems that head lice genetics may be a clue to two different species of humans interacting with each other. According to researcher from the University of Utah , it is thought that about 25,000 years ago a now-extinct species of early human came into direct contact with modern humans. This was determined by the discovery of two genetically seperate types of head lice were foundduring the research. But each type of lice evolved on different types of humans. The leader of the study ,Dale Clayton, a professor of biology at the University of Utah explained that "We've discovered the 'smoking louse' that reveals direct contact between two early species of humans," probably in Asia about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago" Dr. Clayton further explained that "In order for the archaic human lice to still exist on modern humans, archaic and modern humans had to coexist in time and space," This kind of research adds to our understanding of how humanoids evolved and moved around the world. |
 Image: Vincent S. Smith, University of Glasgow  |
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