What's happened
Fossils unearthed in Casablanca date to around 773,000 years ago, revealing a late Homo erectus form with primitive and modern traits. The discovery fills a key gap in human evolution, suggesting a close link to the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans.
What's behind the headline?
The Moroccan fossils significantly advance our understanding of human evolution. They suggest that the divergence between Homo sapiens and archaic African hominins occurred earlier than previously thought, around 800,000 years ago. The fossils display a mosaic of primitive traits, like older teeth features, alongside more modern jaw structures, indicating ongoing evolutionary differentiation. This challenges the linear models of human evolution, emphasizing a complex web of interrelated populations. The similarities with European fossils from Gran Dolina hint at possible intermittent connections across the Strait of Gibraltar, which could have facilitated gene flow or cultural exchange. The findings reinforce Africa’s central role in human origins and suggest that the last common ancestor with Neanderthals and Denisovans was a late Homo erectus, already showing signs of evolutionary change. These discoveries will likely prompt revisions of existing timelines and models, emphasizing a more nuanced picture of our ancestral past.
What the papers say
The articles from France 24, New York Times, and Ars Technica collectively highlight the importance of these fossils in filling a critical gap in the African fossil record. France 24 emphasizes the primitive-modern mosaic traits and the potential link to the last common ancestor, quoting paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques Hublin. The New York Times underscores the fossils' significance in revising timelines of human divergence, noting their age and relation to other key sites like Jebel Irhoud. Ars Technica focuses on the detailed analysis techniques used, such as micro-CT imaging and geometric morphometry, and discusses the implications for understanding the evolution of Homo erectus and its relation to later species. While all sources agree on the importance of the find, France 24 and NYT stress its implications for human origins, whereas Ars Technica provides a deeper technical perspective, illustrating how these fossils challenge previous assumptions about the timeline and complexity of human evolution.
How we got here
The fossils come from Grotte à Hominidés, a cave in Casablanca that was likely a predator den, preserving bones over hundreds of thousands of years. These remains, including jawbones and a femur, are crucial for understanding human evolution during a period when Homo erectus was diversifying and evolving into later species. The site’s age was determined through magnetic sediment analysis, aligning it with other significant fossils in Africa, such as those from Jebel Irhoud and Gran Dolina, which mark key points in our ancestral lineage.
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Common question
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What do the new fossils tell us about human evolution?
Recent discoveries of ancient fossils in Morocco have shed new light on human origins. These fossils, dating back approximately 773,000 years, reveal a mix of primitive and modern traits in early Homo erectus. This find helps fill critical gaps in our understanding of how humans evolved and migrated across Africa. Curious about what these fossils mean for our history? Below are some key questions and answers to help you understand the significance of this groundbreaking discovery.
More on these topics
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Neanderthals are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. They most likely went extinct due to great climatic change, disease, or a combination of these factors.
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Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country located in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, with land borders with Algeria to the east and Western Sahara to th
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Homo erectus is an extinct species of archaic human from the Pleistocene, with its earliest occurrence about 2 million years ago, and its specimens are among the first recognisable members of the genus Homo.