Scientists found Homo erectus 200

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.

Scientists found Homo erectus 200,000 years earlier than expected. The discovery adds stronger evidence that the species was present in southern Africa 2.0 million years ago, about 200,000 years earlier than traditionally believed. The fossil collection also includes remains of P.

Those specimens suggest the species was undergoing gradual evolutionary changes as it adapted to shifting environmental and climatic conditions. Fossils From South Africa’s Cradle of Humankind The fossils come from Drimolen Main Quarry in South Africa’s ‘Cradle of Humankind,’ one of the world’s richest sites for remains of ancient human relatives. Although the quarry was discovered in 1992 and excavated through 2019, many of the fossils recovered there had never been formally described and remained largely unknown to science.