Scientists dispute the thesis that Africa is the cradle of humanity

New studies of the 8.7-million-year-old A. turkae fossil indicate that apes evolved in Europe before the migration.

A fossil of at least 8.7 million years old found in Türkiye questioned the famous hypothesis that apes and humans originated in Africa, suggesting that hominids actually originated in Europe.

This is the conclusion of a study recently published in the specialized journal Communications Biology, which places the so-called Anadoluvius turkae in the context of evolutionary tree which spawned chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and humans.

Although the thesis that the first apes and humans originated on the African continent is widely accepted, the study authors argue that the ancestors of both came from Europe and the eastern Mediterranean before migrating to Africa about 7 million to 9 million Years ago. backwards.

Three fossil skull fragments of Anadoluvius turkae, 8.7 million years old

found in Türkiye. (Photo: David Began)

“Our results also suggest that hominids didn’t just evolve in western and central Europeas they spent more than 5 million years there, spreading across the eastern Mediterranean before eventually dispersing across Africa, likely due to environmental change and deforestation,” said study co-author David Begun in a statement. University of Toronto Press.

Fossils in good condition

the remains of A. Turkae – a well-preserved partial skull, including most of the facial structure and the anterior part of the brain – were found in 2015 at a site near the city of Chanquere, where the most important humanoid settlements in Eurasia were discovered.

“A fossil integrity it allowed us to perform a broader and more detailed analysis, using many features and attributes encoded in a program designed to calculate evolutionary relationships,” added Begun, who is also a professor in the Department of Anthropology at the Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities of the University of Los Angeles, the University of Toronto.

The size of a large male chimpanzee

According to the researchers, A. turkae lived in a dry forest environment, probably spent a lot of time on the ground, and was about the size of a relatively large male chimpanzee — between 50 and 60 kilograms — and a medium-sized female gorilla. – between 75 and 80 kilos.

“We do not have the bones of its limbs, but judging by the jaws and teeth, the animals found next to it and the geological indicators of the surroundings, Anadoluvius probably lived in relatively open conditionsunlike forest environments inhabited by living great apes,” explained lead author of the research, Ayla Sevim-Erol.

Arguments against the African hypothesis

The authors are aware that the findings are at odds with the consensus that the cradle of the apes and of humanity is Africa. “It’s still one of the favorite propositions for those who don’t accept the hypothesis of a European origin,” comments Begun, and then argues that “while the remains of early hominids are abundant in Europe and Anatolia, they are completely absent in Africa until the first hominid did not appear there, about seven million years ago”.

The scientist says this new evidence “supports the hypothesis that hominids originated in Europe and dispersed across Africa along with many other mammals,” but points out that they don’t prove it conclusively; for this it will be necessary “to find more fossils from Europe and Africa aged between 8 and 7 million years, to establish a definitive connection between the two groups”.

This content is a work originally published by the German DW agency. The opinion expressed by the publication does not reflect or represent the opinion of this portal or its collaborators.

Source: Terra

Rose

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