Western Europe’s oldest face adds new wrinkles to human evolution

A Spanish cave has divulged nan oldest known fossil remains of quality ancestors successful Western Europe.

Excavations astatine a tract known arsenic Sima del Elefante produced respective fossil fragments that, erstwhile pieced together, shape a partial near precocious jaw and feature bony dated to betwixt 1.4 cardinal and 1.1 cardinal years old, opportunity zooarchaeologist Rosa Huguet of nan Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution successful Tarragona, Spain, and colleagues.

That ancient midface comes from a antecedently chartless European Homo population, nan researchers study March 12 successful Nature.

“This find introduces a caller character successful nan communicative of quality improvement successful Europe,” Huguet said astatine a March 11 property briefing.

Some features of nan jaw and feature lucifer those of Homo erectus individuals who reached a tract called Dmanisi, successful what’s now nan Southwest Asian federation of Georgia, astir 1.8 cardinal years ago. But not capable grounds exists to find whether nan caller find qualifies arsenic H. erectus or arsenic a abstracted species, nan investigators say.

Huguet’s squad digitally scanned each fossil part to create a virtual, 3-D type of nan full ancient midface. A reflector image of nan reassembled left-side fossils was utilized to represent nan correct broadside of nan virtual midface.

A little jaw fossil antecedently unearthed astatine Sima del Elefante dates to betwixt astir 1.2 cardinal to 1.1 cardinal years agone and whitethorn person belonged to nan aforesaid unnamed Homo type arsenic nan facial fossil, they suggest.

Hominid fossils excavated complete nan past 30 years astatine Gran Dolina, a cave located adjacent Sima del Elefante, travel from a type Huguet’s group calls Homo antecessor, which lived betwixt astir 900,000 and 800,000 years ago. Vertically oriented, level feature bones of H. antecessor lucifer those of group today, dissimilar nan older Sima del Elefante look fossils.

Evolutionary ties betwixt those 2 ancient European Homo type stay unclear. Members of nan Sima del Elefante type — who besides near down a mini postulation of elemental chromatic cutting aliases chopping devices — mightiness person survived until soon aft nan presence of H. antecessor, nan researchers say. In support of that scenario, animal bones and works remains excavated successful nan aforesaid sediment arsenic nan ancient midface fossils bespeak mild temperatures and a mounting dotted pinch meadows, woods, shrubs and streams.

If caller grounds holds up of extreme acold temporarily driving hominid populations retired of Europe soon earlier 1.1 cardinal years ago, past nan Sima del Elefante Homo type whitethorn person died retired earlier H. antecessor arrived, nan scientists say.

Huguet’s group presents a cautiously reconstructed midface for 1 of nan oldest known European hominids, says Harvard University biologic anthropologist G. Philip Rightmire, who did not participate successful nan caller study. He suspects, though, that nan ancient Sima del Elefante crowd belonged to H. erectus.

Fossil remains of 4 H. erectus faces astatine Dmanisi show sizeable variety successful nasal building and different midface traits, Rightmire says. One of those faces aligns intimately pinch nan Spanish midface discovery, he contends. After H. erectus near Africa, “I would put my money connected a long-lasting location [H. erectus] organization occupying Dmanisi astir 1.8 cardinal years ago, pinch later populations moving into Europe,” Rightmire says.