November 28, 2024
3 read me
Fossil remains suggest the two early human species crossed paths within hours
Two sets of fossilized remains of the first human species were made within hours of each other about 1.5 million years ago, researchers suggest.
Scientists believe that this trace a Paranthropus boisei individual
The remains of two different types of primates related to humans—one of them the ancestor of humans—were likely left within hours of each other on the shores of a lake in what is now Kenya. amazing the discovery of these fossilized footprints it confirms that the two hominin species lived side by side, and gives insight into how they might have cooperated or competed.
“We didn’t know we had two species when we were excavating them,” he says Kevin HatalaA paleoanthropologist at Chatham University and lead author of a study of the remains published Thursday. science. “After several months of analysis and ruling out all possible alternative explanations we said, ‘We think we have something special here, something we haven’t seen before.'”
The fossil remains They were discovered in 2021 during excavations near Lake Turkana in Kenya. Over many decades, the area around the lake has yielded thousands of fossils, including those of our genus. Homo– Which have been decisive for scientific understanding human evolution. The dozens of remains in the 2021 discovery were made about 1.5 million years ago in soft sediments near the lake, then covered by other sediments and eventually fossilized.
About supporting science journalism
If you like this article, please consider supporting our award-winning journalism subscribe. By purchasing a subscription, you’re helping to ensure a future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas that shape our world.
When examining the remains, Hatala, who is an expert in evolution human feetthey noticed that some looked like modern humans, and many others looked more primitive. He and his colleagues used three-dimensional imaging to determine the modern-looking footprints made by an individual of the species. Homoerectus who lived between 1.89 million and 110,000 years ago and the ancestor of modern humans.
But others were made by members of the species Paranthropus boisei—a standing hominin that lived between 2.3 million and 1.2 million years ago (extinct human ancestors and their relatives). The species was closely related Homo genus but was not a direct human ancestor.
Hatala says analysis of the fossilized sediments suggests the footprints were made within hours of each other. This time suggests family groups H. erectus and P. boisei both lived near the lake and both were looking for the meat of the dead animal or gathering edible plants in the same place, he says.
The study is not the first to suggest this H. erectus and P. boisei they lived together. And there are hints of other hominin species, among others A handyman and Australopithecus sediba they may also have lived in some parts of Africa at that time.
But that is the first direct evidence H. erectus and P. boisei they lived in the same place at the same time and seem to have been using the same natural resources for food, says Hatala. “These were definitely species that were present in that landscape at the same time and were probably aware of each other’s existence,” he explains. However, “I think there’s an open question as to how they would interact with each other,” he added. “Maybe they had some kind of low-level competition… or maybe they were cooperating with each other. We don’t know.”
Geologist Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce Appalachian State University, which was not involved in the new research, calls it “fascinating and exciting.” The remains are often preserved on the shores of ancient lakes and can provide glimpses of behavior that are difficult to extract from bone and stone tools, he says.
And a paleoanthropologist at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Briana PobinerStudying with Liutkus-Pierce Ancient human remains in Tanzania and, moreover, he was not involved in the new work, he notes that the analysis of the footprint is essential for the paper. “Rarely a time machine,” he says, “fossil remains are the next best way to get a picture of our ancestors’ daily lives.”
