International
Oldest human relative walked upright 7 mn years ago: study
AFP
The earliest known human ancestor walked on two feet as well as climbing through trees around seven million years ago, scientists said Wednesday after studying three limb bones.
When the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis was discovered in Chad in 2001, it pushed back the age of the oldest known representative species of humanity by a million years.
Nicknamed “Toumai”, the nearly complete cranium was thought to indicate that the species walked on two feet because of the position of its vertebral column and other factors.
However the subject triggered fierce debate among scientists, partly due to the scarcity and quality of the available bones, with some even claiming that Toumai was not a human relative but just an ancient ape.
In a study published in the Nature journal on Wednesday, a team of researchers exhaustively analysed a thigh bone and two forearm bones found at the same site as the Toumai skull.
“The skull tells us that Sahelanthropus is part of the human lineage,” said paleoanthropologist Franck Guy, one of the authors of the study.
The new research on the limb bones demonstrates that walking on two feet was its “preferred mode of getting around, depending on the situation,” he told a press conference.
But they also sometimes moved through the trees, he added.
– ‘Not a magical trait’ –
The leg and arm bones were found alongside thousands of other fossils in 2001, and the researchers were not able to confirm that they belonged to the same individual as the Toumai skull.
After years of testing and measuring the bones, they identified 23 characteristics which were then compared to fossils from great apes as well as hominins — which are species more closely related to humans than chimpanzees.
They concluded that “these characteristics are much closer to what would be seen in a hominin than any other primate,” the study’s lead author Guillaume Daver told the press conference.
For example, the forearm bones did not show evidence that the Sahelanthropus leaned on the back of its hands, as is done by gorillas and chimpanzees.
The Sahelanthropus lived in an area with a combination of forests, palm groves and tropical savannahs, meaning that being able to both walk and climb through trees would have been an advantage.
There have been previous suggestions that it was the ability to walk on two feet that drove humans to evolve separately from chimpanzees, putting us on the path to where we are today.
However the researchers emphasised that what made Sahelanthropus human was its ability to adapt to its environment.
“Bipedalism (walking on two legs) is not a magical trait that strictly defines humanity,” paleontologist Jean-Renaud Boisserie told the press conference.
“It is a characteristic that we find at the present time in all the representatives of humanity.”
– Our ‘bushy’ family tree –
Paleoanthropologist Antoine Balzeau of France’s National Museum of Natural History said the “extremely substantial” study gives “a more complete image of Toumai and therefore of the first humans”.
It also bolstered the theory that the human family tree is “bushy”, and was not like the “simplistic image of humans who follow one another, with abilities that improve over time,” Balzeau, who was not involved in the research, told AFP.
Daniel Lieberman, a professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University, said in a linked paper in Nature that the study’s “authors have squeezed as much information as possible from the fossil data”.
But he added that the research will not offer “full resolution” of the debate.
Milford Wolpoff, a paleoanthropologist at the US University of Michigan cast doubt on whether Toumai is a hominin, telling AFP that “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”.
Wednesday’s study was carried out by researchers from the PALEVOPRIM paleontology institute, a collaboration between France’s CNRS research centre and Poitiers University, as well as scientists in Chad.
Guy said the team hopes to continue its research in Chad next year — “security permitting”.
Chadian paleontologist Clarisse Nekoulnang said the team was “trying to find sites older than that of Toumai”.
International
Venezuela mobilizes forces nationwide as tensions with U.S. rise
Venezuela’s armed forces launched a “massive” nationwide deployment on Tuesday in response to what the government calls “imperialist threats” from the United States, which continues its anti-drug military operation in the region and is preparing for the arrival of its most advanced aircraft carrier.
Since late August, U.S. forces have maintained a growing presence in the Caribbean to combat alleged drug trafficking originating from Colombia and Venezuela. The operation has resulted in the bombing of 20 vessels in international waters in the Caribbean and Pacific, leaving 76 people dead.
Venezuelan authorities claim the U.S. mission is aimed at toppling President Nicolás Maduro. While insisting he seeks peace, Maduro has repeatedly warned the country is prepared to defend itself and has frequently showcased military activities.
A statement from Venezuela’s Defense Ministry said the deployment includes land, air, naval, river and missile systems; armed forces units; the Bolivarian militia; and additional police, military and civilian defense structures.
State broadcaster VTV aired speeches from military leaders in various states, along with images of troops mobilizing and equipment being positioned.
However, analysts note that these frequent and highly publicized announcements do not always lead to visible operations on the ground.
On Monday, Maduro cautioned that Venezuela has the “strength and power” to respond to any aggression, including mobilizing civilians. “If imperialism were to strike and do harm, from the moment the order is given, the entire Venezuelan people would mobilize and fight,” he warned.
International
Jara: “Real toughness” means targeting drug money in Chile’s crime fight
Left-wing presidential candidate Jeannette Jara said during Chile’s final debate on Monday that the “real tough approach” to crime is to go after the financial networks behind drug trafficking and organized crime.
Rising crime, often linked in public discourse to a surge in irregular migration, has become the top concern among Chileans and has dominated the election campaign.
Although Chile’s homicide rate has nearly tripled over the past decade — from 2.5 to 6.7 per 100,000 inhabitants — the country remains one of the safest in Latin America, according to the United Nations.
“I want to call on the right-wing candidates to join us in targeting those who control the money behind drug trafficking and organized crime. That is real tough action,” Jara, who is favored to win Sunday’s first-round vote, declared during the debate.
All eight candidates faced off on Monday night in the final televised confrontation before the election.
Polls — unavailable since they were suspended on November 2 — indicate that far-right candidate José Antonio Kast is likely to finish second behind Jara, but would hold the advantage in a potential December 14 runoff.
Kast is expected to consolidate support from three other right-wing contenders: Evelyn Matthei, Johannes Kaiser and Franco Parisi.
International
Investigation widens after Michoacán mayor’s killer shot post-arrest
Mexico’s Security Secretary Omar García Harfuch said Tuesday that the investigation into the killing of a popular mayor from the western state of Michoacán now also includes his security detail. The announcement comes after the governor said the alleged attacker — a 17-year-old — was shot dead after having already been detained.
“The municipal police officers who formed the mayor’s first security ring will give new statements,” García Harfuch said during the president’s daily morning press briefing, noting that includes the officer who admitted firing at the assailant.
He added that authorities are examining both the weapon that killed the attacker and the one that fatally shot the mayor. He did not clarify whether the 14 National Guard members assigned to the mayor’s protection are also under investigation.
Carlos Manzo, mayor of the city of Uruapan, about 400 kilometers west of Mexico City, was gunned down the night of November 1 while surrounded by dozens of people taking part in Day of the Dead festivities.
Governor Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said Monday that investigators are trying to determine why lethal force was used on the attacker and whether it was excessive. “The killer was detained and moments later there was a struggle and a single shot that killed the assailant,” he said.
Authorities are also reviewing “what happened that led to a lapse or weakening in the mayor’s security cordon,” the governor added, noting that the eight municipal bodyguards were personally chosen by Manzo.
Venezuela mobilizes forces nationwide as tensions with U.S. rise
Jara: “Real toughness” means targeting drug money in Chile’s crime fight
Investigation widens after Michoacán mayor’s killer shot post-arrest
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