New fossils from South Africa are reshaping the story of early human evolution. Researchers have described 18 hominin fossils from Drimolen Cave, including an adult Homo erectus skull fragment dated to about 2 million years ago, supporting evidence that the species appeared in southern Africa roughly 200,000 years earlier than long thought. The finds also reveal that Paranthropus robustus, which lived alongside Homo erectus, was gradually evolving even larger teeth and stronger chewing muscles as the climate changed.
Source: ScienceDaily | Evolutionary Biology
ScienceDaily | Evolutionary Biology
- Scientists found Homo erectus 200,000 years earlier than expected
- Animals may have evolved 200 million years earlier than we thought
- Bats may have first evolved in Europe 65 million years ago
- This 245-million-year-old fossil still has its stomach and intestines
- Scientists were wrong about this strange mammal for nearly 40 years
- 160-million-year-old proteins show surprising power against superbugs
- 1.7-billion-year-old fossils reveal a crucial clue to the rise of complex life
- A broken rib from the world’s largest T. rex hid a 66-million-year-old secret
- A 66-million-year-old tooth reveals T. rex was nearly as warm as a human
- A 240-million-year-old fossil just changed the dinosaur timeline
