March 2013
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We were not always the earth's sole hominid. Neanderthals (and Denisovans, and Homo floresiensis (if they were truly distinct species) overlapped our time. Here are two skeletons, one of ours and one of theirs. The first Neanderthals appeared perhaps a quarter of a million years ago and certainly by 170,000 years BP. They seem…
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In the beginning there was Tonto, the "faithful Indian companion" and there were "renegades" who didn't want to live on the reservation. I was a perfectly naive urban lad, and of course I bought the whole package. In my defense, I early developed serious qualms at the Saturday westerns where buckskinned redskins were regularly drilled…