NOT SO EXTINCT AFTER ALL

THE PRIMITIVE HOMO ERECTUS MAY HAVE SURVIVED LONG ENOUGH TO COEXIST WITH MODERN HUMANS

Paleontologists don't pretend to know everything about how Homo erectus lived, but it's a safe bet the ancient prehumans passed their days in unremarkable ways. Their language was probably little more than a system of gestures and grunts. Their diet, consisting of foraged fruits and crudely cooked animals, was not an easy one to force down--if the attachment points on their skulls for stout chewing muscles and their large front teeth suggest anything. Their skill in making tools was limited: a flaked stone or a crude ax was probably as good as it got. They arose in Africa about 1.8 million...

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