1.4 million -year -old skull may belong to undetected human species
The findings consist of, among other things, a cheek, upper jaw and parts of the nose structure from the left side of an adult's face. The remains were discovered in the Sima del Elephante cave outside the Spanish city of Burgos.
However, exactly what human species the individual belonged to the researchers, however, the researchers have been able to decide. It has similarities to both Homo Erectus and Homo Antakes, which belong to the oldest known human houses in Europe.
– Homo anteessor had a face that was very similar to the modern man. But this one is different, says María Martinón-Torres, Spain's National Research Center for Human Evolution, at a press conference according to CNN.
– It has a more advanced face, and in that respect is more like Homo erectus, she continues.
The researchers do not exclude That it is an still undiscovered human species, but says that further studies are necessary to understand what one has found. For the time being, they have chosen to nam the remains as the new name « Homo affinis erectus ».
« The findings open up for a new line in the study of human evolution in Europe, as they introduce a new player in the early population of the continent, » says researcher Rosa Huguet at the University of Rovira who studied the finds, in the magazine Nature.
The place where the finds was made is known to be rich in stupid fossils. Just over 15 years ago, pieces of jawbone and teeth were found in the same place, which is estimated to be up to 1.2 million years old.
The oldest human remains in Europe were found in Georgia, and are believed to come from an individual who lived 1.8 million years ago.
According to researchers about 200,000 years ago, the only living human species was developed.
