Unboxing Oldest Human Ancestor Homo Erectus Fossil (VIDEO)

University of Johannesburg

Caption

One of our direct human ancestors is older than we thought. The Cradle of Humankind northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa has yielded its first Homo erectus fossil, and the oldest found anywhere. Homo erectus experienced a changing climate, and moved out of Africa into other continents. The discovery of skullcap DNH 134 pushes the possible origin of Homo erectus back between 150,000 and 200,000 years.

Credit

Therese van Wyk, University of Johannesburg

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