A recent discovery may have reshaped scientists' understanding of our evolutionary family tree, proposing that the divergence between the human and ape branches occurred much earlier than previously believed.
This breakthrough comes from the examination of 7.2 million-year-old fossils found in Greece and Bulgaria. Researchers now suggest that the origins of humanity may lie in the Eastern Mediterranean region rather than Africa, which has been the conventional view for a significant period.
These fossils, comprising a lower jaw and an upper premolar, belong to an ape-like creature possessing distinctly human-like teeth, further challenging existing theories of human evolution.
The species identified by researchers as Graecopithecus freybergi is believed to be the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees.
This discovery challenges previous theories suggesting that the human lineage split from chimpanzees in Africa approximately seven million years ago. Traditionally, it was thought that hominids remained in Africa for around five million years before migrating north.
However, Graecopithecus, classified as a hominid due to its dental root features, lived 200,000 years prior to the earliest known African hominid, Sahelanthropus tchadensis, discovered in Chad.
Professor Nikolai Spassov, one of the study's authors, described the finding as "to some extent…a newly discovered missing link." He emphasized that missing links in evolution will always exist due to its infinite chain of subsequent forms.
Spassov further explained that the creature, nicknamed El Graeco, would likely resemble a great ape, albeit with shorter, more human-like teeth.
"The split of chimps and humans was a single event…[and] our data support the view that this split was happening in the eastern Mediterranean – not in Africa," Spassov said. "If accepted, this theory will indeed alter the very beginning of human history."
The new research proposes a fascinating explanation for how early humans might have migrated from the Mediterranean to the African continent. It suggests that during this era, the Mediterranean Sea would periodically dry out entirely, forming a land bridge that facilitated the passage of hominids between the two continents.
However, despite this intriguing theory, some remain skeptical about the conclusions drawn from just two incomplete sets of teeth.
"It is possible that the human lineage originated in Europe, but very substantial fossil evidence places the origin in Africa, including several partial skeletons and skulls," Dr. Peter Andrews, an anthropologist formerly associated with the Natural History Museum in London, commented on the findings.
"I would be hesitant about using a single character from an isolated fossil to set against the evidence from Africa."
