.P. Raynal / Casablanca Prehistory Program
The mandible, or lower jaw, of a hominin specimen called ThI-GH-10717 during excavations at the Thomas Quarry in Morocco
The hominid now found may not be the last common ancestor of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, but a close ancestor, say the paleoanthropologists responsible for the discovery — which reinforces the thesis of African and not Eurasian ancestry of the A wise man.
Hominin fossils discovered in Hominid Caveat the Quarry of Thomas I in Casablanca, Morocco, are providing new evidence about the deep origins of Homo sapiens, suggesting that the ancestral lineage of modern humans was already present in Africa about 800,000 years ago.
The discovery, made by researchers from the Max Planck Institute, in Leipzig, Germany, was presented in a published on Wednesday in the journal Nature.
The fossils are similar in age to the homo predecessor from Spain, but present a combination of primitive characteristics and derived traits that are reminiscent of archaic hominids of Eurasia and the A wise man posterior.
Until now, paleoanthropologists have debated where he lived the last common ancestor of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Genetic evidence suggests that this ancestor existed between about 765,000 and 550,000 years ago, but the fossil record has remained uncertain, notes the .
Some scientists have proposed a eurasian originbased in part on fossils 950,000 to 770,000 years old from Atapuerca, Spain.
However, the new hominid fossils now discovered in the Grotte à Hominidés, which include partial jaws, teeth, vertebrae and a femur fragment, reinforce the African thesis.
The site offers a window into a prehistoric coastal ecosystemwhere the Atlantic meets a varied terrain of sand dunes, karsts and marine terraces, notes the .
The region was once a vibrant wetland and swamp habitat which supported an abundant fauna, with panthers roaming the savannas and hippos, crocodiles, hyenas and jackals sharing the muddy banks and surrounding areas.
An analysis of the surrounding sediments shows that the fossils come from a time close to a major change in the Earth’s magnetic field, around 773,000 years ago, which gives them an age similar to that of homo predecessor.
But the new fossils are morphologically different do homo predecessorwhich suggests that the regional differentiation between Europe and North Africa it was already present at the end of the Early Pleistocene, about 1.8 million to 780,000 years ago.
The fossils from Grotte à Hominidés combine ancient features observed in species such as the The man stood up with more modern features found in A wise man and in Neanderthals. These remains are distinct from fossils from the site close to Jebel Irhoudwhich, at 300,000 years old, are currently the oldest known evidence of our species, the A wise man.
For example, the size standards of your molars resemble those of Homo sapienss primitive and Neanderthals, while the shape of the jaw is closer to that of the The man stood up and other archaic African humans.
As the authors of the study explain, in Max Planck, these hominids may not be the last common ancestors to modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans, but could be close ancestors.
“The Moroccan remains probably represent an evolved form of Homo erectus in North Africa, but which lies close to the evolutionary divide between the African and Eurasian lineages”, say the researchers.
“Our discoveries highlight the Maghreb as a fundamental region for understanding the emergence of our species, reinforcing the thesis of a African and non-Eurasian ancestry do Homo sapiens”.
