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Sasha asked in Social ScienceAnthropology · 1 decade ago

Homo sapiens Fossil Hominids?

Does this make sense? I thought Homo sapiens are modern day humans-so how can they be fossils?

From a journal article titled:

"A sex indicator in Homo sapiens Fossil Hominids?"

3 Answers

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  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Modern-day Homo sapiens, which we are, existed as much as 200,000 years ago. So the oldest remains of Homo sapiens that we find, are also considered to be Homonid fossils like us. They just weren't usually buried. Often they were trapped in a mudslide, or in volcanic lava, which preserved their bones in fossil form...

  • JimZ
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    For a fossil to form, all that is needed is sufficient time and preservation. Preservation is usually accomplished by burial. Our ancestors that died more than a few thousand years ago will have some mineralization and will be considered fossils. Our ancestors go back to at least 200,000 years. Before that, they may not have been H. sapiens but they were still our ancestors.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    We've been around for about 500,000 years or so. ("Modern day" is a relative term.)

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