Japan’s “Ushikawa Man” Fossils Analyzed

NAGOYA, JAPAN—The Mainichi reports that the Middle Pleistocene fossils known as “Ushikawa Man,” once suggested to be the oldest known human remains in Japan, are actually bear bones. Paleoanthropologist Gen Suwa of the University of Tokyo’s University Museum and his colleagues recently studied the bones, which were discovered in a quarry in the city of Toyohashi in 1957 and 1959. The scientists determined that the fossils were at least 20,000 years old, and then compared them to the bones of 11 brown bears and 13 Asian black bears, using computed tomography scans. The study suggests that the fossils likely came from a brown bear. “As bear bones more than 20,000 years old, they are also of great value as historical resources,” commented University Museum curator Noboru Murakami. “The explanatory text of the replicas on display in [the Toyohashi City Museum of Art and History] will be updated in due course after a review,” Murakami concluded. To read about the genetic origins of modern Japanese people, go to "Japan's Genetic History."