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"anatomically modern human" is not a weasel word, it merely describes humans sharing anatomical features which arose ~ the last 200ka and are common to modern
by marchenko 10y ago
"anatomically modern human" is not a weasel word, it merely describes humans sharing anatomical features which arose ~ the last 200ka and are common to modern humans, in comparison to e.g. Neanderthals, who may very well have been cognitively modern but have common anatomical characteristics of earlier origin which distinguish them from all present day humans.
- danieltillett 10y agoYes it is. All humans now living are AMH so apart from being meaningless in the context of talking about the genetic history of the human population, it does not describe anything about the non-neanderthal populations. A much better term would be ancient African humans or even just African humans.
- Houshalter 10y agoI thought the point of distinguishing them was that they didn't necessarily have language or modern intelligence. Just that their bones are similar.