Expert: Walter Hintz - 9/30/2011

Question
QUESTION: Walter...

My name is Al Cagle, and I am an expert on military history on this board. Recently I finished a book (whose title eludes me now) concerning the origin of species (no, not Darwin). It left me with two questions so I will ask you:

1) He said our current scientific name is homo sapiens sapiens-why the second repetition of sapiens? Sub-species?

2)He described the successive waves of groups of us out of Africa, but did not mention Cro-Magnon. Has this been dropped from my day of Anthropology?

Thanks for the help

Al

ANSWER: Hi Al
The second sapiens is used because we considered a sub species of Homo sapiens.The other sub species now extinct was Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The second sapiens is not necessary because we are the only living members of the Genus Homo.
Cro magnons did not migrate out of Africa but evolved later on in Europe. They were actually a European version of Homo sapiens. They did have different facial feature from our subspecies

walter

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Walter...

Thank you, that helps me. I do have a follow up question and a funny:

1)If we all came out of Africa, what is coming next or is their a next?
Based on your statement of Cro Magnon we might evolve elsewhere. Has there been any discussion of that?

2) Though we are homo sapiens sapiens by you biologists some wit said we are back to two sub-species:
Homo Sapiens Sapiens
Homo Sapiens Hydrocarbon  (I thought that was funny)

Thanks again

Al

Answer
1. The only thing we know for sure is that evolution is a continuous process so some changes will occur. But we have been basically the same for at least 50,000 years. There has been a discussion that we be neotenous primates. Neoteny refers to reaching sexual maturing (becoming adults) while still in a larval stage. (like the axolotyl salamander) It has been suggested because adult chimps are vastly different from young ones. Could it be we are still in a larval stage? What would we be like if we became adults?

2. Or Homo sapiens CH4 (methane)