Mary Leakey nasceu há 105 anos

Mary Leakey (London, 6 February 1913 – Nairobi,  9 December 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct ape now believed to be ancestral to humans, and also discovered the robust Zinjanthropus skull at Olduvai. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff. After the death of her husband she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field.

Mary Leakey was born Mary Douglas Nicol on 6 February 1913 in London, England to Erskine Edward Nicol and Cecilia Marion (Frere) Nicol. Since Erskine worked as a painter, specializing in watercolor landscapes, the Nicol family would move from place to place, visiting numerous locations in the USA, Italy, and Egypt, where Erskine painted scenes to be sold in England. Erskine Nicol developed an amateur enthusiasm for Egyptology during his travels. Mary Leakey was a direct descendant of antiquarian, John Frere, and cousin to archaeologist, Sheppard Frere, on her mother's side. The Frere family had been active abolitionists in the British colonial empire during the nineteenth century and established several communities for freed slaves. Three of these communities remained in existence as of Mrs. Leakey's 1984 autobiography: Freretown, Kenya, Freretown, South Africa, and Freretown, India. She also was a distant relative of baronet Henry Bartle Frere.

The Nicols spent much of their time in southern France. Mary became fluent in French. She identified more with the adventurous spirit of her father, going for long walks and explorations with him and having long talks. She disliked her governess and had less sympathy for her mother.

In 1925, when Mary was 12, the Nicols stayed at Les Eyzies at a time when Elie Peyrony was excavating one of the caves there. Peyrony did not understand the significance of much of what he found, and was not excavating scientifically during that early stage of archaeology. Mary received permission to go through his dump. It was there that her interest in prehistory was sparked. She started a collection of points, scrapers, and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification.

That winter, the family moved to Cabrerets, a village of Dordogne, France. There she met Abbé Lemozi, the village priest, who befriended her and became her mentor for a time. The two toured Pech Merle cave to view the prehistoric paintings of bison and horses.

Through Gertrude, Mary met Louis Leakey, who was in need of an illustrator for his book, Adam's Ancestors. While she was doing that work they became romantically attached. They shared common interests and values: a love of freedom and dislike for rules, an egalitarian frame of mind extending even to animals, a desire for adventure, and a passion for archaeology. Louis was still married when he started living with Mary, which caused a scandal that ruined his career at Cambridge University. They were married when Louis' wife Frida divorced him in 1936.

From then until about 1962 Louis and Mary faced trying circumstances together. Early in their relationship he nursed her through double pneumonia. They had three sons: Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1949. The boys received much of their early childhood care at various anthropological sites. Whenever possible the Leakeys excavated and explored as a family. The boys grew up with the same love of freedom their parents had. Mary would not even allow guests to shoo away the pet hyraxes that helped themselves to food and drink at the dinner table. She smoked very much, first cigarettes and then cigars, and dressed as though on excavation.

Louis was not always faithful to Mary, as he had not been to Frida. In 1960 they agreed that Mary would become director of excavations at Olduvai. From then on she operated more or less independently, taking over the dig. After Louis became known as a womanizer the intimate side of the marriage was effectively over. For example, Louis became briefly involved with Dian Fossey. Meanwhile, Mary's life consisted mainly of her children, her dogs, and her archaeology. Louis died on 1 October 1972 of a heart attack. Mary continued the family's archaeological work.

Mary carried on after Louis, becoming a powerful and respected figure. By then Richard had decided to become a palaeoanthropologist. She helped his career significantly. Her other two sons opted to follow other interests.

Replica of an Parantropus (Australopithecus) boisei skull, discovered by Mary Leakey, in 1959

Mary died on 9 December 1996 at the age of 83, a renowned palaeoanthropologist, who had not only conducted significant research of her own, but had been invaluable to the research careers of her husband Louis Leakey and their sons Richard, Philip and Jonathan.

  

Leakey served her apprenticeship in archaeology under Dorothy Liddell at Hembury in Devon, England, 1930-1934, for whom she also did illustrations. In 1934 she was part of a dig at Swanscombe where she discovered the largest elephant tooth known up to that time in Britain, but needed assistance to identify it.

The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago.

The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island, in October 1948.

Their next discovery, in 1959, was a 1.75 million-year-old Australopithecus boisei skull, catalogued as OH 5. They also found a less robust Homo habilis skull and bones of a hand. After reconstructing the hand, it was proven the hand was capable of precise manipulation. Many more remains were found at this site. In 1965 the husband and wife team uncovered a Homo erectus skull, dated at one million years old.

After Mary's husband died, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here, at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Hominin fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species of other animals and one new genus.

From 1976 to 1981 Leakey and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this discovery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications.

 

Replica of Laetoli footprints, exhibit in the National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan

  

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Mary Leakey nasceu há um século

Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct ape now believed to be ancestral to humans, and also discovered the robust Zinjanthropus skull at Olduvai. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff. After the death of her husband she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field.

Mary Leakey was born Mary Douglas Nicol on 6 February 1913 in London, England to Erskine Edward Nicol and Cecilia Marion (Frere) Nicol. Since Erskine worked as a painter, specializing in watercolor landscapes, the Nicol family would move from place to place, visiting numerous locations in the USA, Italy, and Egypt, where Erskine painted scenes to be sold in England. Erskine Nicol developed an amateur enthusiasm for Egyptology during his travels. Mary Leakey was a direct descendant of antiquarian, John Frere, and cousin to archaeologist, Sheppard Frere, on her mother's side. The Frere family had been active abolitionists in the British colonial empire during the nineteenth century and established several communities for freed slaves. Three of these communities remained in existence as of Mrs. Leakey's 1984 autobiography: Freretown, Kenya, Freretown, South Africa, and Freretown, India. She also was a distant relative of baronet Henry Bartle Frere.

The Nicols spent much of their time in southern France. Mary became fluent in French. She identified more with the adventurous spirit of her father, going for long walks and explorations with him and having long talks. She disliked her governess and had less sympathy for her mother.

In 1925, when Mary was 12, the Nicols stayed at Les Eyzies at a time when Elie Peyrony was excavating one of the caves there. Peyrony did not understand the significance of much of what he found, and was not excavating scientifically during that early stage of archaeology. Mary received permission to go through his dump. It was there that her interest in prehistory was sparked. She started a collection of points, scrapers, and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification.

That winter, the family moved to Cabrerets, a village of Dordogne, France. There she met Abbé Lemozi, the village priest, who befriended her and became her mentor for a time. The two toured Pech Merle cave to view the prehistoric paintings of bison and horses.

Through Gertrude, Mary met Louis Leakey, who was in need of an illustrator for his book, Adam's Ancestors. While she was doing that work they became romantically attached. They shared common interests and values: a love of freedom and dislike for rules, an egalitarian frame of mind extending even to animals, a desire for adventure, and a passion for archaeology. Louis was still married when he started living with Mary, which caused a scandal that ruined his career at Cambridge University. They were married when Louis' wife Frida divorced him in 1936.

From then until about 1962 Louis and Mary faced trying circumstances together. Early in their relationship he nursed her through double pneumonia. They had three sons: Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1949. The boys received much of their early childhood care at various anthropological sites. Whenever possible the Leakeys excavated and explored as a family. The boys grew up with the same love of freedom their parents had. Mary would not even allow guests to shoo away the pet hyraxes that helped themselves to food and drink at the dinner table. She smoked very much, first cigarettes and then cigars, and dressed as though on excavation.

Louis was not always faithful to Mary, as he had not been to Frida. In 1960 they agreed that Mary would become director of excavations at Olduvai. From then on she operated more or less independently, taking over the dig. After Louis became known as a womanizer the intimate side of the marriage was effectively over. For example, Louis became briefly involved with Dian Fossey. Meanwhile, Mary's life consisted mainly of her children, her dogs, and her archaeology. Louis died on 1 October 1972 of a heart attack. Mary continued the family's archaeological work.

Mary carried on after Louis, becoming a powerful and respected figure. By then Richard had decided to become a palaeoanthropologist. She helped his career significantly. Her other two sons opted to follow other interests.

Replica of an Parantropus (Australopithecus) boisei skull discovered by Mary Leakey in 1959

Mary died on 9 December 1996 at the age of 83, a renowned palaeoanthropologist, who had not only conducted significant research of her own, but had been invaluable to the research careers of her husband Louis Leakey and their sons Richard, Philip and Jonathan.

Leakey served her apprenticeship in archaeology under Dorothy Liddell at Hembury in Devon, England, 1930-1934, for whom she also did illustrations. In 1934 she was part of a dig at Swanscombe where she discovered the largest elephant tooth known up to that time in Britain, but needed assistance to identify it.

The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago.

The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island, in October 1948.

Their next discovery, in 1959, was a 1.75 million-year-old Australopithecus boisei skull, catalogued as OH 5. They also found a less robust Homo habilis skull and bones of a hand. After reconstructing the hand, it was proven the hand was capable of precise manipulation. Many more remains were found at this site. In 1965 the husband and wife team uncovered a Homo erectus skull, dated at one million years old.

After Mary's husband died, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here, at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Hominin fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species of other animals and one new genus.

From 1976 to 1981 Leakey and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this discovery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications.

in Wikipédia

A matriarca da família Leakey nasceu há 99 anos

Mary Leakey (6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996) was a British archaeologist and anthropologist, who discovered the first fossilized Proconsul skull, an extinct ape now believed to be ancestral to humans, and also discovered the robust Zinjanthropus skull at Olduvai. For much of her career she worked together with her husband, Louis Leakey, in Olduvai Gorge, uncovering the tools and fossils of ancient hominines. She developed a system for classifying the stone tools found at Olduvai. She also discovered the Laetoli footprints. In 1960 she became director of excavation at Olduvai and subsequently took it over, building her own staff. After the death of her husband she became a leading palaeoanthropologist, helping to establish the Leakey tradition by training her son, Richard, in the field.

Mary Leakey was born Mary Douglas Nicol on 6 February 1913 in London, England to Erskine Edward Nicol and Cecilia Marion (Frere) Nicol. Since Erskine worked as a painter, specializing in watercolor landscapes, the Nicol family would move from place to place, visiting numerous locations in the USA, Italy, and Egypt, where Erskine painted scenes to be sold in England. Erskine Nicol developed an amateur enthusiasm for Egyptology during his travels. Mary Leakey was a direct descendant of antiquarian, John Frere, and cousin to archaeologist, Sheppard Frere, on her mother's side. The Frere family had been active abolitionists in the British colonial empire during the nineteenth century and established several communities for freed slaves. Three of these communities remained in existence as of Mrs. Leakey's 1984 autobiography: Freretown, Kenya, Freretown, South Africa, and Freretown, India. She also was a distant relative of baronet Henry Bartle Frere.

The Nicols spent much of their time in southern France. Mary became fluent in French. She identified more with the adventurous spirit of her father, going for long walks and explorations with him and having long talks. She disliked her governess and had less sympathy for her mother.

In 1925, when Mary was 12, the Nicols stayed at Les Eyzies at a time when Elie Peyrony was excavating one of the caves there. Peyrony did not understand the significance of much of what he found, and was not excavating scientifically during that early stage of archaeology. Mary received permission to go through his dump. It was there that her interest in prehistory was sparked. She started a collection of points, scrapers, and blades from the dump and developed her first system of classification.

That winter, the family moved to Cabrerets, a village of Dordogne, France. There she met Abbé Lemozi, the village priest, who befriended her and became her mentor for a time. The two toured Pech Merle cave to view the prehistoric paintings of bison and horses.

Through Gertrude, Mary met Louis Leakey, who was in need of an illustrator for his book, Adam's Ancestors. While she was doing that work they became romantically attached. They shared common interests and values: a love of freedom and dislike for rules, an egalitarian frame of mind extending even to animals, a desire for adventure, and a passion for archaeology. Louis was still married when he started living with Mary, which caused a scandal that ruined his career at Cambridge University. They were married when Louis' wife Frida divorced him in 1936.

From then until about 1962 Louis and Mary faced trying circumstances together. Early in their relationship he nursed her through double pneumonia. They had three sons: Jonathan in 1940, Richard in 1944, and Philip in 1949. The boys received much of their early childhood care at various anthropological sites. Whenever possible the Leakeys excavated and explored as a family. The boys grew up with the same love of freedom their parents had. Mary would not even allow guests to shoo away the pet hyraxes that helped themselves to food and drink at the dinner table. She smoked very much, first cigarettes and then cigars, and dressed as though on excavation.

Louis was not always faithful to Mary, as he had not been to Frida. In 1960 they agreed that Mary would become director of excavations at Olduvai. From then on she operated more or less independently, taking over the dig. After Louis became known as a womanizer the intimate side of the marriage was effectively over. For example, Louis became briefly involved with Dian Fossey. Meanwhile, Mary's life consisted mainly of her children, her dogs, and her archaeology. Louis died on 1 October 1972 of a heart attack. Mary continued the family's archaeological work.

Mary carried on after Louis, becoming a powerful and respected figure. By then Richard had decided to become a palaeoanthropologist. She helped his career significantly. Her other two sons opted to follow other interests.

Mary died on 9 December 1996 at the age of 83, a renowned palaeoanthropologist, who had not only conducted significant research of her own, but had been invaluable to the research careers of her husband Louis Leakey and their sons Richard, Philip and Jonathan.

Leakey served her apprenticeship in archaeology under Dorothy Liddell at Hembury in Devon, England, 1930-1934, for whom she also did illustrations. In 1934 she was part of a dig at Swanscombe where she discovered the largest elephant tooth known up to that time in Britain, but needed assistance to identify it.

The years 1935 to 1959, spent at Olduvai Gorge in the Serengeti plains of Northern Tanzania, yielded many stone tools from primitive stone-chopping instruments to multi-purpose hand axes. These finds came from Stone Age cultures dated as far back as 100,000 to two million years ago.

The Leakeys unearthed a Proconsul africanus skull on Rusinga Island, in October 1948.

Their next discovery, in 1959, was a 1.75 million-year-old Australopithecus boisei skull, catalogued as OH 5. They also found a less robust Homo habilis skull and bones of a hand. After reconstructing the hand, it was proven the hand was capable of precise manipulation. Many more remains were found at this site. In 1965 the husband and wife team uncovered a Homo erectus skull, dated at one million years old.

After Mary's husband died, she continued her work at Olduvai and Laetoli. It was here, at the Laetoli site, that she discovered Hominin fossils that were more than 3.75 million-years-old. She also discovered fifteen new species of other animals and one new genus.

From 1976 to 1981 Leakey and her staff worked to uncover the Laetoli hominid footprint trail which was left in volcanic ashes some 3.6 million years ago. The years that followed this discovery were filled with research at Olduvai and Laetoli, the follow-up work to discoveries and preparing publications.

in Wikipédia

Finalmente dá para perceber alguns comportamentos de certos deputados

Artigo da revista "Science"

Há um bocadinho de Neandertal dentro de nós

 

Svante Pääbo, investigador do Instituto Max Planck de Antropologia Evolutiva de Leipzig, na Alemanha

O debate durou anos: o homem moderno (nós) e o Homem de Neandertal, hoje extinto, ter-se-iam cruzado e procriado juntos – ou não? Hoje a questão foi definitivamente arrumada pela genética, com a publicação na "Science" do primeiro rascunho do genoma dos Neandertais. A resposta? Sim! A criança do Lapedo teve de facto Neandertais entre os seus antepassados.

Há meses que nos diziam que a primeira sequenciação do genoma do Homem de Neandertal estava quase pronta. Já está. E proporcionou uma primeira grande surpresa aos próprios autores do trabalho (que, como muitos outros especialistas, não acreditavam nesta possibilidade), ao confirmar que os humanos modernos acasalaram e procriaram com Neandertais. Simplesmente, porque descobriram bocadinhos de sequências genéticas de Neandertal no nosso ADN.

A equipa internacional liderada por Svante Pääbo, do Instituto Max Planck de Antropologia Evolutiva de Leipzig, na Alemanha, demorou quatro anos a ler os genes desse ser humano, extinto há cerca de 30 mil anos – uma proeza técnica que, segundo os autores, vai ao mesmo tempo permitir perceber o que é que nos distingue deles do ponto de vista evolutivo.

“Há seis ou sete anos, eu pensava que a sequenciação da totalidade de um genoma antigo era algo que não iria acontecer durante a minha vida”, disse ontem Pääbo no início de uma conferência de imprensa telefónica convocada pela revista Science. O grande problema, explicou, é que “mais de 90 por cento do ADN encontrado nos fósseis provinha de bactérias ou de fungos” – ou seja, pertencia aos microrganismos que tinham contaminado os ossos após a morte dos indivíduos em questão. Para mais, os fragmentos de ADN obtidos eram extremamente curtos e tinham sofrido alterações químicas. Isto sem esquecer que a sua mera manipulação corria o risco de introduzir uma contaminação adicional, com o próprio ADN dos cientistas – o que é absolutamente indesejável quando se trata justamente de determinar se há genes de Neandertal em nós ou genes nossos neles... Uma grande parte do trabalho e das técnicas desenvolvidas tinha portanto como objectivo garantir a autenticidade da proveniência do ADN em estudo.

Os cientistas extraíram o ADN principalmente de três fragmentos de osso fossilizado de três mulheres Neandertais, que tinham sido encontrados numa gruta na Croácia entre o fim da década de 1970 e o início da de 1980. Dois desses ossos foram datados com precisão e têm respectivamente 38 mil e 44 mil anos. A partir daí, conseguiu-se reconstituir, nesta primeira fase, cerca de 60 por cento da totalidade dos três mil milhões de pares de bases (ou “letras”) do ADN dos Neandertais.

Aconteceu no Médio Oriente

Os cientistas também sequenciaram cinco genomas de humanos actuais, de origem europeia, asiática e africana, para fins de comparação com o genoma fóssil – e compararam ainda esse genoma com o do chimpanzé. E descobriram que os Neandertais são, do ponto de vista genético, ligeiramente mais próximos dos humanos modernos fora de África do que dos africanos actuais. A explicação que dão para isto é que, pouco depois de terem saído de África à conquista do mundo, há uns 80 mil anos, provavelmente algures no Médio Oriente (antes de chegarem à Europa), os primeiros homens modernos cruzaram-se com os Neandertais e produziram descendência.

Isso não significa que não tenha havido, mais tarde, novos encontros e novos cruzamentos, nomeadamente na Europa. Mas o “fluxo genético” agora detectado – sempre dos Neandertais para os humanos actuais e não em sentido oposto – aponta para um contacto mais precoce, logo à saída de África. A ausência de provas não significa que não tenha havido contactos ulteriores, mas simplesmente que não foi possível detectar sinais genéticos desses contactos, argumentam os cientistas.

Seja como for, os seres humanos actuais, da Austrália à Europa, passando pela Ásia (mas não por África), herdaram, naquela altura, bocadinhos de sequências genéticas de Neandertal que continuam, ainda hoje, espalhadas pelo nosso ADN. Os cientistas estimam que entre um e quatro por cento do genoma dos humanos actuais provenha dos Neandertais. Num comunicado, referem mesmo que o genoma do célebre “caça-genes” norte-americano Craig Venter, recentemente publicado, contém segmentos que são mais próximos do genoma de Neandertal do que do genoma “de referência” humano, que inclui uma mistura de ADN de origem europeia e africana! “Um a quatro por cento do meu genoma é Neandertal”, salientou Pääbo na conferência de ontem. “Eles não se extinguiram totalmente, continuam a viver em nós.” Contudo, as sequências genéticas identificadas como provenientes dos Neandertais estão distribuídas ao acaso pela molécula de ADN e não correspondem a nenhum traço identificável que alguns de nós poderíamos ter em comum com eles.

Para Pääbo, “o mais fascinante” disto tudo é, porém, a possibilidade de utilizar este genoma fóssil para procurar provas da selecção “positiva” de traços genéticos, ou seja, de características genéticas que se fixaram ulteriormente nos humanos modernos porque apresentavam vantagens do ponto de vista evolutivo em termos de sobrevivência da espécie – e que nos tornam únicos e diferentes dos Neandertais. A equipa já identificou várias regiões do genoma onde isto poderá ter acontecido, que têm a ver com o desenvolvimento mental e cognitivo (há três genes que, quando mutados, estão implicados na trissomia 21, na esquizofrenia e no autismo), bem como regiões relacionadas com o metabolismo energético, com o desenvolvimento do crânio, da clavícula e da caixa torácica.

Pertencemos à mesma espécie?

Para Pääbo, esta pergunta não faz sentido. “É um debate estéril”, frisou. “Nunca me pronunciei sobre isto e prefiro deixar essas lutas a outros. O que interessa é que mostrámos que o cruzamento reprodutivo era biologicamente possível entre os Neandertais e nós. Eu diria que eram diferente dos humanos – mas não assim tão diferentes como isso.”

“Há mais de dez anos que as provas arqueológicas e paleontológicas de hibridação cultural e biológica entre Neandertais e homens modernos se vêm acumulando”, disse João Zilhão, arqueólogo português da Universidade de Bristol, em conversa telefónica com o PÚBLICO. Juntamente com o seu colega Erik Trinkaus, da Universidade de Washington, Zilhão descobriu em 1998, no Vale do Lapedo, perto de Leiria, o esqueleto mais completo até à data de uma criança da nossa espécie que viveu no Paleolítico Superior (há cerca de 25 mil anos). O fóssil, afirmam desde então estes cientistas, apresenta uma mistura de traços modernos e de Neandertal.

Só que muitos especialistas discordavam desta interpretação – o que, para Zilhão, deixa de ser possível a partir de hoje. “Andámos a dizer isso há dez anos e têm-nos atirado à cara com os dados genéticos”, disse-nos hoje o investigador. E mostrou-se satisfeito com os novos resultados: “Era a última objecção contra o nosso modelo e isso é óptimo. Há que virar a página, o problema está resolvido.”

Mas então somos ou não da mesma espécie? “A dicotomia homem moderno/Neandertal é falsa”, responde-nos Zilhão. “É uma classificação vitoriana, do século XIX.” O Neandertal foi o primeiro homem fóssil a ser descoberto, um ser a meio caminho entre os macacos e o homem, “e isso encaixava no paradigma da evolução [das espécies]”. Para Zilhão, esta concepção tem criado uma resistência cultural subconsciente. “Como é que um fulano tão feio pode ser igual a nós?”, ironiza. “Do ponto de vista biológico, o que é importante é que, em termos reprodutivos, o homem moderno e o homem de Neandertal funcionam como uma única comunidade. Podiam acasalar. Isso é que conta.”

É provável, entretanto, que o crescente número de pessoas que recorrem a empresas que analisam o seu genoma venham a saber em breve se são portadoras de sequências genéticas vindas dos Neandertais. Até porque o genoma fóssil já foi colocado pelos autores na Internet, numa base de dados genética de acesso livre. Interrogado pelo PÚBLICO a este propósito durante a conferência de imprensa de ontem, Pääbo riu-se: “Tenho a certeza de que algumas dessas empresas vão oferecer isso aos seus clientes.”

in Público - ler notícia

Eugénia Cunha lança livro de divulgação científica

Lançado no dia 13, em Coimbra
Antropóloga portuguesa publica livro sobre como nos tornámos humanos

Eugénia Cunha é especialista em evolução humana da Universidade de Coimbra
(Paulo Ricca/PÚBLICO)

Eugénia Cunha, antropóloga forense e especialista em evolução humana. "Como nos Tornámos Humanos", publicado pela Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, e que vai ser lançado no próximo dia 13 (no Museu da Ciência daquela universidade, às 17h30), cabe no bolso do casaco, ou não tivesse só 17 por 12 centímetros. Mas contém tudo o que é essencial para compreender o que se lê e ouve sobre evolução humana.


Tem as descobertas importantes de fósseis, numa espécie de "quem é quem" dos protagonistas da nossa história evolutiva, sistematiza os conhecimentos, traça o "estado da arte", tudo de forma concisa e simples. Inclui referências a alguns achados portugueses, como a criança do Lapedo, com 24 mil anos ("o mais importante fóssil humano alguma vez descoberto em Portugal").

Nesta história, já sabemos como tudo acaba: somos agora a única espécie de humanos ("Homo sapiens"), mas houve muitas outras, como o "Homo habilis", o "Homo erectus" ou o "Homo neanderthalensis", algumas coexistiram, e descobrir como chegámos até aqui faz-nos continuar a ler.

"O que nos torna humanos constitui uma incrível questão científica", lê-se no início. "O destaque da imprensa à nossa história natural fundamenta-se por se tratar das nossas origens, de saber quem foi o 'big daddy', enfim compreender por que somos como somos."

Eugénia Cunha leva-nos, assim, numa viagem com início há 55 milhões de anos, quando surgiram os primatas, e, com grande parte da acção em África, conta como nos fomos tornando no que somos: bípedes, com cérebros grandes, fabricantes de ferramentas, com uma linguagem articulada e produtores de símbolos.

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Eugénia Cunha numa palestra em Leiria (Foto: Fernando Martins)

NOTA: é sempre um prazer divulgar aqui actividades de ex-professores dos Geopedrados - até porque a Professora Doutora Eugénia Cunha tem feito imenso pela Ciência, Antropologia e Divulgação Científica no nosso país e até fora dele...

Paleontologia e paleoantropologia no DN

Hobbit da Indonésia, o primeiro colonizador?

Estudos recentes apontam o 'Homo florensiensis', espécie descoberta em 2003 na Indonésia, como o primeiro a deixar África para colonizar outros pontos do globo


Cerca de um metro de altura, cérebro do tamanho de uma laranja, pés compridos e chatos. Os cientistas chamam-lhe "hobbit", mas não saiu de nenhum livro de Tolkien. Desde 2003 que a descoberta de ossadas de uma nova espécie está a ameaçar revolucionar a história da raça humana.

Quando um grupo de investigadores australianos começou a escavar o solo de Ling Bua, uma caverna de calcário na ilha das Flores, não podia adivinhar que estavam prestes a fazer uma das mais importantes descobertas arqueológicas de sempre. A ilha indonésia escondia, até há pouco mais de seis anos, a existência de uma espécie humana que não constava nos manuais de antropologia, o Homo florensiensis.

Desde essa altura que a descoberta tem causado uma acesa discussão entre cientistas sobre a origem desta espécie, que no início se pensava serem apenas humanos "modernos" que padeciam de doenças como a microcefalia, uma patologia que conduz a um desenvolvimento reduzido do crânio e do cérebro. Uma outra teoria rejeitava o "hobbit" como sendo uma nova espécie, dizendo que estas ossadas pertenceriam aos nossos antepassados Homo erectus, que teriam encolhido devido às condições de vida na ilha. Mas estudos recentes confirmam que se trata efectivamente de uma nova espécie. Desengane-se quem pensa que a discussão acaba aqui. Um artigo publicado ontem pelo editor de ciência do jornal britânico The Observer revela que as últimas pesquisas chegaram a conclusões no mínimo surpreendentes. A expedição liderada por Mike Morwood pode ter resultado na descoberta de um descendente directo do Homo habilis, espécie que apareceu pouco após a extinção do Australopithecus , correspondente ao primeiro estado de evolução da espécie humana.

A notícia está a deixar perplexa a comunidade científica, já que o Homo habilis viveu há cerca de dois milhões de anos, enquanto o "hobbit" se extinguiu apenas há 17 mil anos. São várias as questões que se levantam. Como poderá o "hobbit" ser descendente de uma espécie tão antiga? Como é possível que tenha migrado de África, onde vivia o Homo habilis, até à Indonésia? Os pés chatos e a pequena estatura tornavam a tarefa praticamente impossível. O que é certo é que as pesquisas mostram que o pequeno ser deixou África para colonizar parte do Sudeste asiático há mais de dois milhões de anos.

Esta teoria pode revolucionar a história da raça humana, já que até agora se acreditava que tinha sido o Homo erectus a primeira espécie a deixar o continente africano e a colonizar outros pontos do globo.

"Encontrámos uma ilha onde uma espécie foi separada do resto da evolução durante mais de um milhão de anos", explicou Morwood ao The Observer. O investigador acredita que, por ser uma região remota, a ilha das Flores concedeu uma protecção especial à espécie, que teve uma duração fora do comum, à semelhança de alguns animais que habitaram a ilha. "Houve , por exemplo, os elefantes-pigmeus e o dragão de Komodo, agora temos o Homo florensiensis."

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