Homo sapiens sensu lato

The classification of early humans has been complicated at best, and the taxonomy of specimens has been termed the "Muddle in the Middle [Pleistocene]" by paleoanthropologists.

Advances in DNA sequencing have started to bring more clarity to the field, but many scientist show clear bias (whether for or against) when it comes to proposals to establish a new species, or to reclassify and retire old species names.

I am partial to the opinion that many of these hominin "species" should be more properly classified as sub-species, since it is clear that interbreeding occured between different populations of early humans that are otherwise characterized as different species.

The latest set from Linear-A consists of a group of early humans. I received the box a couple of weeks ago, and made an unboxing video over at 72chan.

The first image is of the Denisovans and a single Neanderthal.

The Denisovans are sculpted as shorter overall than the Neanderthal, but an epigenetic study by Gokhman et al., published in Cell seems to suggest they fall in between modern humans and Neanderthals in height.

The rear Denisovan hunter had a big blob of plastic filling the void between his right leg and the javelin(s) he holds, so a bit of cuttng and sculpting was needed to make him look closer to the production figure on the back of the box.

The second image is of the Neanderthals.

The first Neanderthal figure looks like it was modeled after "N" from das Neandertal Museum just outside of Düsseldorf, while the second figure might be loosely modeled after the figure of a Neanderthal woman from the Museo Arqueológico Nacional in Madrid. The final Neanderthal seems to be a mutant with an abnormally huge right hand that exhibits polydactyly.

The final image is of the Homo sapiens.

A comparison of Phersu, Linear-A, and munich-Kits figures reviewed in a previous post.

I will round out the post with some metal miniatures of more archaic hominins.

The first group are 15mm Monkey Boys from Rebel Minis (RMPA4).

The figures remind me of Cha-Ka and the Pakuni from Land of the Lost. The LOTL fandom wiki suggests that the Pakuni belong to the putative Paranthropus genus (which are considered a sub-species of Australopithecus by some).

The second group are 15mm Wildmen of the Savannah by Khurasan Miniatures (Mystri Island MYST-800). The figures seem to be modeled after the man-apes from 2001: A Space Odyssey which are probably members of the genus Australopithecus.

I modifed a few of the figures by removing their weapons for more general use.

El Chupacabra

Sideshow banner at the 2005 Erie County Fair (New York)

The first reported sighting of the chupacabra came from the town of Canóvanas, Puerto Rico in 1995.

The original depictions of the creature is akin to that of a typical "grey alien", but with claws and spines running down its back. According to Benjamin Radford, this version of the chupacabra is a result of the eyewitness confabulating Sil from the film Species with reality.

Other illustrations show the creature as being more dog-like, due to the attribution of chupacabra attacks to wild dogs or coyotes.

These types of attacks have been reported since the 19th century, but I don't think that there was ever an eyewitness account of what the creature perpetrating the attack looked like until 1995.

In any event, Rebel Minis makes some 15mm Cabras (RMPC1) that are perfect for use as 1/72 chupacabra.

These chupacabra scale out to about 3½' tall, and are very reminiscent of the canine-headed chupacabra depicted on the Erie County Fair banner at the top of this post. Another similarity to the banner is that the spines along the back are not quills as seen with most chupacabra depictions.

I modified some of them by removing their daggers, to make them appear more like the typical chupacabra. Most were painted green, with a couple in gray, and one in blue.

One explanation that both skeptics and believers seem to have missed is that chupacabra are actually kobold vampires. How else do you explain blood-sucking dog-headed humanoids that sometimes have bat-like wings?

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.