The European treasure of Homo erectus

2007/11/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Eboluzioa

Three adults and a youth of 1.77 million years old find bones in Dmanis, Georgia. Scientists have made this finding known in the journal Nature, and have stated that they are a very important footprint, since they are the oldest examples of the genus Homo that come from Africa to Europe.

The bones belong to Homo erectus. The oldest fossils of this species are found in Africa. From there he first migrated to Asia, where H. erectus remains have also been found in Indonesia. But there are not many fossils.

This makes more important the discovery of Georgia, as in the same place are collected remains of four human beings. Analyzing the bones of an individual, paleoanthropologists cannot know whether any characteristic was the uniqueness of that individual or that of the whole species. Four skeletons allow to compare with each other and with other species.

According to studies carried out at the time, it seems that these human beings were relatively small (1.5 m long per 50 kg), but the proportion between arms and body was similar to that of the current man and had the right legs to travel long distances. Therefore, they coincide with the results obtained so far, since other fossils have seen that the arms of H. erectus of temperate climate were shorter than those of Africa. As you discover more fossils, you will know better that ancestor of man today.