18 LIFE CHINA DAILY TUESDAY MARCH 20, 2007

Homo sapiens 100,000 years older than Dragon tales once believed

LONDON: Modern humans were living Researchers say the legend of the fl ying dragon in northern Africa far earlier than pre- viously thought, according to scientists. was actually based on a lizard that used a membrane A new analysis of a 160,000-year-old fossilized jawbone from Morocco shows between its ribs to glide, reports Wu Chong that the homo sapiens in the area had started having long childhoods, one of the hallmarks of humans living today. It is known that the species homo sapiens emerged in Africa 200,000 years ago, but the oldest fossils that resemble modern humans come from sites in Europe dated to around 20,000 to 30,000 years ago. The latest fi nd shows that the key time in the development of a complex human society came much earlier than previously thought. The longer people had to learn and develop their brains as children, the more sophisticated their society could become. The new study pushes the date that modern humans emerged back by more than 100,000 years. “When you look across primates as a whole or mammals you see things that tend to grow fast and reproduce young, they don’t tend to be as socially complex as things like great apes and humans,” said Tanya Smith of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. “That has social implications. You can imagine being parents and hav- ing your kids grow up at 10 or 12 versus Scientists try to describe 16 or 18, it has a lot of implications for graphically the features of your social structure.” Xianglong Zhaoi which lived By looking at the teeth of a 160,000- 130 million years ago. year-old human fossil found at Jebel Zhao Chuang and Xing Lida Irhoud in Morocco, she found remarkable similarities to modern humans. “If you were to take a jawbone of an 8-year-old today and compare it with the relative degree of dental development with this individual from Morocco, they would be nearly identical.” She said that the results, published ts Chinese name, Xianglong the National Academy of feature ap- last week in the Proceedings of the Zhaoi (Zhao’s fl ying dragon), Sciences. peared again National Academy of Sciences, were may bring to mind a colossal Gliding is regarded as on the Xianglong unexpected. “We know that earlier fos- bugaboo flapping its giant rudimentary fl ying. Most Zhaoi, and was once sil humans show a more rapid period wings across the sky and animals with the ability again lost in recorded of growth and development. At a given Ipreying on little rabbits or sheep. to glide use a membrane history. age they show more teeth erupted But the “dragon” was actually a between their toes, or Today, draco, which has than a living human today. This is the 15-centimeter-long lizard that could between their body and a similar size and body fea- earliest evidence of something that ... use a membrane spread between legs, to stay airborne. tures as the Xianglong Zhaoi, hadn’t been detected before in the fossil eight elongated ribs to glide, possi- However, so far, a simi- has a moderate population in record older than maybe 20,000-30,000 bly feeding on insects or leaves. And lar gliding membrane between tropical and subtropical areas in years ago.” it lived 130 million years ago. elongated ribs has been observed some parts of Asia. specif- Analysing teeth is an established Chinese archaeologists uncov- only in a lizard-like fossil from The researchers suggest that the ically proxy for understanding the develop- ered the fossil specimen of the 200 million years ago and in ex- rib-supported gliding membranes stimulated ment of ancient humans. “In studying gliding lizard in western Liaon- isting dracos — gliding lizards of different lizard species in dif- these differ- the teeth we understand more how ing Province in Northeast China found in Southeast Asia, and in ferent eras arose from convergent ent species of growth and development would be in 2005. Hainan and Yunnan provinces in evolution. lizards to develop characterised in a species and how It contains a complete skeleton China, according to Xu, renowned “It means animals of different the same capability it’s changed through time,” said Dr and imprints of skin and the mem- researcher at the Beijing-based origins develop similar organs or for gliding,” Xu said. Smith. brane, which suggests the animal Institute of Vertebrate Paleon- body structures to adapt to similar The discovery of She said that as children grow a lived in the early Cretaceous period, tology and Paleo-anthropology environments,’’ Xu explained. Xianglong Zhaoi also sug- record of lines is left behind in their about 110 million years ago. under the Chinese Academy of For example, the dolphin is gests that 130 million years teeth, similar to rings in a tree. “These Researchers say the lizard was Sciences. a mammal whose ancestors ago, western Liaoning Province lines are left behind in the dental hard probably at a young ontogenetic “If you connect all the facts, actually lived terrestrially. But might have had a similar cli- tissues and they persist for millions of stage at the time of death as indi- there is an interesting clue of to adapt to an oceanic environ- mate as today’s South China and years. You can count them and meas- cated by the absence of ossifi ed car- evolution along the timeline,” ment, the dolphin has evolved Southeast Asia with tropical ure them. By knowing their spacing pals and poorly ossifi ed tarsals. the researcher said. into a swimming “athlete”. thriving forests. you know the speed of growth, and by “It is so far the only species that In the late Triassic era (about Xu and his research partners The lizard is an animal with knowing their number you know the has been found to be able to glide 230 million years ago), a remote in Shenyang Normal University about 5,000 species and a history time.” among all extinct species of lizard,” ancestor of the lizard living in and Peking University expect to of 200 million years. Chris Stringer, research leader in said Xu Xing, one of the chief ar- North America and Europe had a use molecular biology to uncover The generic name of the ancient human origins at the Natural History chaeologists in the research team. similar body structure that enabled the development of this evolution lizard Xianglong Zhaoi is to honor Museum in London, said that the new The new finding was published it to glide. But it disappeared soon in future studies. Dr Zhao Dayu, one of the founders study was important because the Jebel online in the March 19 issue of after. “We want to know more about of the Liaoning Paleontological Irhoud site was often neglected by the US journal, Proceedings of After 70 million years, the same the reasons behind it, that is, what Museum. palaeontologists.

The Guardian

WHO’SIN Sexpert wants naked husband Blanchett Hilary Duff emerges Japanese to be stripped from show could be with Dignity legend

‘Indy’s’ As multimedia momentum goes, no one swings next love need teach 19-year-old Hilary Duff a thing. back with For the past decade, she has built a Cate Blanchett career that began on TV, peaking in 2001 the baton is in negotia- with her title role in Disney’s 65-episode tions to star op- Lizzie McGuire. Japanese music posite Harrison Two years later, she recorded a full- icon Seiji Ozawa has Ford in the length studio album, Metamorphosis, taken up his baton long-awaited which hit No 1 on the Billboard 200, and again in Tokyo with fourth install- the single Come Clean reached the Hot a production of Wagner’s Tannhauser, his fi rst opera ment of the 100’s top 40. The project sold 3.7 million performance since poor health forced him to rest for Indiana Jones copies more than a year. series, her pub- — and Opening the season of the Tokyo Opera licist confirmed an MTV Nomori, the company he created in 2005, Ozawa on Saturday. star was led the world premiere of a Tannhauser produc- “She is in born. tion co-produced with the Paris National Opera Li Yinhe, a noted sexologist, has demanded that negotiations, With and directed by the Canadian Robert Carsen. organizers of the Shanghai International Sculpture yes,” publicist her up- The 71-year-old, renowned for his vigor, ap- Exhibition to be held at the end of the month, take down Lisa Kasteler coming peared energetic and conducted for more than a naked sculpture of her late husband Wang Xiaobo, a said. Filming album three hours on Thursday evening, organisers reputed writer. is scheduled Dignity, said. Recently, pictures of the sculpture, created by Zheng to begin later due on The Tokyo Opera Nomori will present Tan- Min from the Guangzhou Fine Arts College, were re- this year, with April 3 nhauser in Tokyo and Yokosuka, a major military leased on the Internet and sparked a huge controversy. Steven Spielberg on board to direct. The movie is via Disney’s Hol- port city near the capital, until March 24. The Zheng had planned to exhibit his work to mark the being produced by Star Wars creator George Lucas’ lywood Records production will head on to Paris in November for 10th anniversary of the writer’s death. Lucasfilm Ltd. label, Duff is its European premiere. Li, 55, also a professor at the Chinese Academy of Ford played Indiana Jones in 1981’s Raiders of the coming out with Social Sciences, had agreed with the show, according to Lost Ark, 1984’s Temple of Doom and 1989’s The Last the majesty of a Agencies-China Daily Zheng. Crusade. high-class debu- But since Wang’s families were strongly opposed to it, Blanchett, who won a best supporting actress Oscar tante. Duff co- To comment or alert us to a story, Li wrote to the organizers demanding that the sculpture in 2004 for The Aviator, starred in last year’s Notes on a wrote all songs e-mail [email protected] be withdrawn. This is reportedly being complied with. Scandal and Babel. on the album.