HOMO SAPIENS come in many shapes and sizes, yet we know one when we see one. If only classifying our extinct relatives were as simple.
With fossils in short supply, deciding where a species starts and ends is contentious. “Lumpers” tend to group fossils into relatively few species, while “splitters” see each morphological idiosyncrasy as potentially signifying a new species. Now the ability to sequence entire ancient genomes provides a new tool (see “Patchwork people: Our hybrid origins”). What will it reveal?
A previously unknown hominin has already been identified by its genes alone, and there could be more…
