Human ancestors left Africa for earlier than previously thought and the prehistoric jawbone discovered in a misliya cave site in northern Israel has forced scientist to rethink several theories.
The fossil dated to nearly 200,000 years ago, is almost twice as old as many previous Homo sapiens remains discovered outside Africa, where our species is thought to have originated. And this discovery has added a new and unexpected twist .
About Fossil:
The fossil discovered is a well preserved, upper jawbone with teeth, at the misliya cave in the northern Israel, which appears to have been occupied for lengthy periods.
The teeth are larger than average for a modern human , but their shape and the fossil facial anatomy one distinctly Homo sapiens an analysis of the fossil in the journal science concludes .
New theories from discovered fossil:
The find suggest that there were multiple waves of migration across Europe and Asia and could also mean that modern humans in the middle East were mingling, with other human species for tens of thousands of years.
Professor Hersh kovitz said that the record now indicates that humans probably ventured beyond the African continent wherever the climate allowed. He said – “we are like a train station that everyone is passing through.”
Professor David Reich , a geneticist at Haward University and an expert in population genetics and ancient DNA said – “it is important to distinguish between the migration out of Africa that is being discussed here and the “out- of -Africa” migration that is most commonly discussed when referring to genetic data. misliya lineage contributed little if anything to present day people”.
Scientists have already shown that interbreeding with neandarthals , who are diverged from our own 500,000 years ago, occurred some time in the past 50,000 years . As a legacy modern day Eurasians carry 1-4 % Neandarthals DNA.
The scenario also raises the possibility that the Eastern Mediterranean may have acted as a crossroad for encounters between our own ancestors and the various other human species, who had already reached Europe.
The latest Human fossil discovered will definitely change so many theories now and will lead scientist to do a better research on evolution of Homo sapiens.