Fossils push back Homo erectus timeline by 200000 years in South Africa

Archaeologists from La Trobe University have described 18 hominin fossils recovered from Drimolen Cave in South Africa, ScienceDaily Archaeology reported. The discoveries include a second skull fragment belonging to an adult Homo erectus dated to approximately two million years ago. ScienceDaily Archaeology, ScienceDaily, and geekspin all reported that the finding shows the early human species appeared in southern Africa roughly 200,000 years earlier than researchers previously estimated. [1][2][3]

The Drimolen Cave findings also shed light on the co-existence of different early human relatives, according to ScienceDaily Archaeology. The 18 described fossils reveal details about Paranthropus robustus, an extinct hominin genus that lived alongside Homo erectus in the same geographical region during the early Pleistocene epoch. [1]

The genus Homo emerged from Australopithecus and includes modern humans along with several extinct species. Members of the genus Homo began dispersing beyond the African continent around 1.8 million years ago, marking the first major expansion of hominins into Eurasia. Homo erectus exhibited endurance running capabilities, modern human-like body proportions, and used fire for cooking. [5][6]

The new dates from Drimolen Cave alter current timelines regarding early hominin evolution and geographic distribution. The researchers state that the newly published skull fragment supports a much earlier timeline for the emergence and spread of Homo erectus across southern Africa. [1]