The Asian Origins of Man

This article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/science/02obanthropoids.html?_r=1&ref=science

    This story has a dynamite, yet somewhat misleading, lead. The first sentence goes, “The ancestors of humans and other primates like apes and monkeys may have originated in Asia, not Africa, a new study in the journal Nature reports.” What the sentence implies and what it says appear to be two different things. At first glance, it seems to suggest that human origins took place in Asia, going against the well-known “out-of-Africa hypothesis.” It suggests that the cradle of humanity was actually located in an entirely different continent. However, that’s not exactly what it says: it says the “ancestors” of humans may have originally came from Asia, not humans themselves. This becomes clear when the writer, Sindya Bhanoo, cites a scientist as saying the fossils “indicate that there was migration from Asia.” The ancestors to modern-day primates could have originated in Asia and then migrated to Africa, where they would remain and eventually evolve into human beings.

    Aside from that misleading lead (it certainly works though—the reader can’t help but read on to find out if humans themselves actually did originate in Asia rather than Africa), the story is very well written. It is clear, to the point, and concise. Bhanoo relies heavily on the words of the scientists, which adds credibility and dynamism to her piece.