Dateline New York, Sept. 20, 2007, Coconut News Ngayon.

The New York Times today said that "the discovery of four fossil skeletons of early human ancestors in Georgia, the former Soviet republic, has given scientists a revealing glimpse of a species in transition, primitive in its skull and upper body but with more advanced spines and lower limbs for greater mobility." According to the New York Times writer John Noble Wilford, "The findings, being reported today in the journal Nature, are considered a significant step toward understanding who were some of the first ancestors to migrate out of Africa some 1.8 million years ago. They may also yield insights into the first members of the human genus, Homo."

In the meantime, the Coconut News Ngayon has this exclusive story obtained from a source within the National Geographic organization about a Filipino human ancestor.

The National Geographic magazine will feature in its April 1, 2008, issue, a remarkable discovery by internationally-renowned archaeologists about the earliest human ancestor of Filipinos. The latest archaeological finding said that the earliest Filipino ancestor could have sailed from the Indonesian Island of Flores some 800,000 to 900,000 years ago. The April 2008 National Geographic article is probably a follow-up of its November 1998 report, which said:

"A Seagoing Human Ancestor?

"Did Homo erectus sail? A stone flake, one of many tools found on the Indonesian island of Flores, has been dated to between 800,000 and 900,000 years ago – Homo erectus prime time. The only way to reach Flores then was by watercraft, according to archaeologist Mike Morwood of Australia's University of New England; the absence of ancient animals found on nearby islands rules out the chance that a prehistoric land bridge linked them to Flores. 'Homo erectus must have been smarter than generally believed,' says Morwood."

Stone tools and bones belonging to a Filipino descendant of the Homo erectus were found in the Philippine Province of Sorsogon last month. Archaeologists said that the scientific name they chose has nothing to do with former Philippine President, Joseph Ejercito Estrada, who is known by his popular moniker, Erap. They named the Filipino fossil "Homo erapptus." "Erapp" is the acronym of "Early Row-boating Ancestor of the People of the Philippines." The discoverers of Homo erapptus said also that their discovery should reinforce the saying that "Filipinos are actually smarter than generally believed." The archaeologists said also that this might explain the origins of the Flores de Mayo, which is one of Sorsogon Province's most popular summer-time cultural activities, and the Flores Clan of the Bicol Region, where Sorsogon is located. # # #