Discovered the oldest vertical fossil

Homo erectus, the direct ancestor of modern humans, appeared on Earth much earlier than scientists thought.

Homo erectus skull was excavated in South Africa.(Photo: Scitech Daily).

International archaeologists, led by La Trobe University in Australia and the University of Washington in the United States, announced on April 3 the oldest known fossil of an upright man or a human watchman (Homo). erectus), inside the Drimolen cave complex in northwestern South Africa. The skull, named DNH 134, is estimated to date from 1.95 - 2.04 million years ago.

The discovery pushed Homo erectus back to 200,000 years earlier than previously noted, according to Professor Andy Herry from La Trobe University, who led the research. The oldest specimen belonging to the Dmanisi skull, about 1.75 - 1.85 million years old, was excavated in Georgia in 1991.

Drimolen cave complex, the site of the discovery of DNH 134. (Photo: Scitech Daily)

The first fragment of DNH 134 was found in 2015, but the team took another five years to unearth more than 150 fragments to transplant into a skull. Fossil analyzes show that the specimen belonged to a child no more than three years old when he died.

"DNH 134 not only revealed Homo erectus was present on Earth very early, but also helped to understand more about the migration of upright humans in Africa," Herry emphasized. "This finding is very significant because Homo erectus is one of the direct ancestors of modern humans (Homo sapiens)."

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