CRO MAGNONS & ELOPTERYX

[darren.naish@port.ac.uk]

Replying to an earlier statement about purported 
species-level distinctiveness of Cro Magnon man, Tom Holtz writes...

> I'd like you to be able to find a specific citation which lists Cro 
> Magnon as other than a fully modern man.

Actually, this is not at all difficult, but for all the wrong 
reasons I'm afraid. There are about 35 generic and specific-level 
junior synonyms of _Homo sapiens_, and at various times virtually 
every type of non-Caucasian Recent hominid has been awarded a 
specific or even generic name. For an excellent historical review of 
this area see Boulter's _Theories on Human Evolution_. 

This is clearly splitting to the extreme though (plus there are 
underlying motives), and they do not reflect the consensus view of 
today. Cro Magnons are unquestionably fully modern _Homo sapiens_, as 
Tom says.

ELOPTERYX

Did I miss a discussion on _Elopteryx nopscai_? Unfortunate, as I 
recently examined all the type material. It's weird stuff, but I 
*think* it is bird.

"Curse my metal body"

DARREN NAISH
darren.naish@port.ac.uk