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Entity 70: "Homo Callidus"

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“

“A brother to mankind, whisked away by unknown forces to uncharted lands one can barely understand. Tales of their journey through The Backrooms have been swept away into the sands of time, leaving their story as nothing but a mystery one can only ponder about."”

It seems as if we were not the first, not alone.

Description[]

10 mummified corpses of adult Homo callidus

10 mummified corpses of adult Homo callidus. Photo taken by Floyd Dalibor on the 12th of October, 2011

Homo callidus, which roughly means "clever man" or "a clever man" in Latin, are a species of now-extinct primate, categorized within the genus Homo, that were likely introduced into The Backrooms approximately 2 million years ago, right around the end of the Tertiary period of The Frontroom's Cenozoic era, which lasted from 66 million years ago to 2 million years ago.

The nature of this event is unknown, but it is believed that the alignment of an entire N-dimensional boundary along the cross-section of a large island could not have been a mere coincidental occurrence. What entity or entities whom may have initiated this process, and for what purpose is entirely unknown. Based on carvings and simple illustrations dating back to this period, this event caused a species-wide catastrophe of biblical proportions, leading to their civilization, possibly one that utilized bronze and even iron implements, to entirely collapse back into savagery and regressing the technological advancement of the Callidians to that of the early Neolithic. Nevertheless, Homo callidus seemingly managed to successfully colonize a vast portion of The Backrooms, with signs of Homo callidus having been found to have mostly inhabited Level 110, though despite their success in being able to settle into The Backrooms, it seems that the species was living on borrowed time. Judging by the condition of the preserved remains of Homo callidus, a combination of dwindling resources and the increasing numbers of hostile entities eventually led to the extinction of Homo callidus, which seems to have occurred approximately 100,000 to 150,000 years ago.

Behaviors[]

"Due to our knowledge of this entity being incredibly minimal, please note that any theories mentioned in this section have little backing behind them. When our knowledge of Homo callidus begins to become more grounded and fleshed out, expect to see many of these hypotheses proven false. Thank you for your understanding." -M.E.G. Historical Research Division Staff

While the exact behavior and culture of Homo callidus can only really be assumed via what some researchers have called "wild, even childish speculation," the species' extinction occurred tens of thousands of years ago, and any recovered remnants of the species are few and far between. What few pieces we have to solve the puzzle that is Homo callidus and their story come from traits that are assumed to be shared across all hominins and hominids.

Researchers have determined that Homo callidus is a distant relative to modern man, Homo sapiens. The two species' evolutionary line diverged roughly 2.4 million years ago, based on a thorough examination of recovered Homo callidus DNA. Such studies also revealed that Homo callidus likely evolved from an isolated population of Homo erectus, through a period of approximately 400-900 thousand years, based on comparisons of the genome of found proto-Callidian populations in their Frontrooms habitat, the island of Lemuria. The physiological differences between humans and Homo callidus, despite their evolutionary separation are rather minor when compared to other primal ancestors of humanity. The most notable physiological differences include:

  • A larger average height; a full-grown male Homo callidus on average stood at about 185 cm (or about 6 and a half feet). Compared to your average male adult today, who typically is about 176 cm (or around 5 feet 10 inches). Due to Homo callidus living in much greater danger than your average human, a larger and physically stronger physique was required in order to ensure survival.
  • A larger brain; Scientists are not entirely capable of explaining why members of Homo callidus possess a larger brain size, mainly due to the combined factors of a lack of data regarding Homo callidus, as well as a lack of a conclusive explanation for why the human brain has gradually decreased in size over the past 3,000 years. The general theory deduced that a combination of access to externalized knowledge through means such as books and the internet, for example, as well as the ability to make decisions as a group has allowed for the human brain to marginally shrink in order to use less energy, allowing humans to survive off of fewer nutrients. Since Homo callidus did not have access to these benefits which we now take for granted. They instead had to rely on themselves more than others, and as such, the average brain size of Homo callidus' averaged around 1550 cc (cubic centimeters), as opposed to modern-day Homo sapiens, who, on average, have a brain size of 1350 cc.
  • Larger teeth and jaws; Due to Homo callidus, on average, being larger in size, their teeth were larger, and their jaws were capable of supporting a third set of molars, commonly known as "wisdom teeth", a set of teeth most people are now incapable of having.
  • Lower physical diversity; Due to the lower amount of different environments that Homo callidus had to survive in, the differing physical characteristics between individual members Homo callidus were drastically lower when compared to humans, who have developed a plethora of characteristics, big or small, in order to survive in the various environments that we typically occupy.
  • Different physical characteristics; The different physical characteristics that people possess usually serve or were at one point intended to serve some purpose in assisting one in survival. For example, people with shorter, stockier builds will typically perform better in colder environments when compared to taller, lankier individuals due to the smaller total skin surface, minimizing the amount of body heat that can be lost. The list of dominant characteristics that could be found in Homo callidus goes as follows: long-limbed builds allowing for better performance in warm environments, these characteristics seemed exaggerated when compared with homo sapiens, with their limbs being much longer; the reason for this adaptation is currently unknown. The next and most bizarre adaptation that Homo callidus had made was their pale, pseudo-translucent skin. This adaptation very likely occurred in order to provide a source of natural camouflage regardless of the environment. And while their incredibly pale skin left them incredibly vulnerable to UV rays produced by sunlight, since a majority of the levels that Homo callidus inhabited were partially if not entirely devoid of any natural light, this would-be issue was, for the most part, made irrelevant. The noses of Homo callidus tended to be broad and flat in shape, allowing for inhaled air to be moistened as well as preventing moisture from leaving the body when exhaling. These adaptations were likely commonplace due to the scarcity of water within the levels that Homo callidus typically inhabited.

Discovery[]

The first recorded discovery occurred on April 3rd, 1996, and was made by a lone wanderer by the name of Lyra Neve, who happened upon a tomb located in Level 764, which contained the mummified remains of several Homo callidus bodies. The name Homo callidus was given by Herbert Hlaváček, a Czech taxonomist, who stated that "the name 'clever man' only seems fitting; wit and knowledge were most definitely the key factors that allowed them to survive for as long as they did." Since then, various tombs and makeshift graves containing the remains of Homo callidus have occurred occasionally since then, with the last recorded instance regarding the discovery of Homo callidus cadavers being on August 28th, 2016.

Additional Information[]

Listed below is a series of collective notes on information gathered surrounding Homo callidus that have been made post-documentation.

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  • Homo callidus seemed to have had a very complex method of burying their dead; tombs would have been dug out in the shallow earth and lined with mud and clay, the dead bodies would be mummified with a variety of materials, though the most common seems to be peeled bark, and once the cadaver had been laid to rest in the tomb, gifts such as food or flowers, as well as the deceased person's former belongings, would have been buried alongside them before the tomb would be sealed up.
  • As of February 16th, 2023, a total of 43 Homo callidus mummies have been discovered, alongside five skeletons, of which only two are completely intact.
  • Judging by cave paintings dating back to the same period of time as Homo callidus's existence, the species seemed to have interpreted the Backrooms as a sort of divine punishment, though this interpretation of the paintings is up for debate, as whether or not our primitive ancestors such as Homo callidus had religion(s) has yet to be confirmed.
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 Author:SentientBurger

Peer Reviewed by: RiverMan18, WinnDixieSweetTea, MoonlightSerenity 

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