Muddying the muddle in the middle even more

Abstract

In an Evolutionary Anthropology article Roksandic et al. (2022) propose a new middle Pleistocene hominin species H. bodoensis to replace a “poorly defined” Homo heidelbergenis. Homo bodoensis extends from the African Middle Pleistocene through the Levant to South-eastern Europe with all currently classified H. heidelbergensis fossils from western Europe subsumed into Homo neandertalensis. The authors claim their new species will be more clearly defined than H. heidelbergensis and will better describe hominin variation and evolution in the middle Pleistocene. Roksandic et al. are unable to account for some European fossils (i.e., Petralona and Arago) and provide no evidence as to how their new species meets their objectives. Fatally, they overlook the priority rule and fail to realize that H. bodoensis is both a junior synonym of Homo rhodesiensis and Homo saldanensis. Roksandic et al. conflate taxonomy with phylogeny, present hypotheses as facts, and harbor many systematic and evolutionary misconceptions.