![]() ![]() ![]() To date, just four tiny fossils have been confirmed as belonging to them – three teeth and one finger bone, all between 50,000 and 225,000 years old.Īll four fossils, which came from the Denisova cave in Siberia, preserved enough DNA to confirm that they belong to the same genetic pool. rudolfensis name is valid – or whether the species really belongs in our human genus.įrom a fossil perspective, Denisovans are the least-known of all ancient hominins. The researchers who analysed the three more recently found fossils say we need more fossil material before we can confirm whether the H. naledi) are sceptical.Įven the species name is controversial: it was established in the late 1970s by a Russian researcher not involved in the discovery of the 1972 skull. Three additional face and jaw fossils found in Kenya between 20 helped confirm to some researchers that the 1972 skull really did belong to a distinct species – but others (including Lee Berger, discoverer of A. rudolfensis was known only from a distinctive 1.9-million-year-old large-brained, flat-faced skull discovered in 1972 in Kenya. Homo rudolfensis sits at the centre of the controversy.įor decades, H. ![]() Most researchers believe that our human genus emerged in Africa between 2 and 3 million years ago – but there is no agreement on how many species of early human shared the landscape. platyops might have made these, but one researcher has suggested that the toolmaker could instead have been a hominin called Australopithecus deyiremeda – another enigmatic species known from no more than a few jaw fragments. platyops fossils found so far come from above the neck, very primitive stone tools were later found in the same rocks. A few dozen other fossil fragments were found at the same time – mostly teeth, but also pieces of a second skull, and parts of a few upper and lower jaws.Īlthough all the K. platyops is best known from a mostly complete but squashed and distorted skull. Unearthed in 3.3-million-year-old deposits in north-west Kenya, mostly in 19, K. Kenyanthropus platyops: a face for toolmaking? More fossil evidence could settle the matter. Many argue that it was at least beginning to become bipedal. tugenensis walked upright on two legs like other hominins. Most research has focused on one of the thighbones, and whether it shows that O. The others include a finger bone, two jaw fragments, parts of three thighbones and a fragment of an upper arm bone. tugenensis is officially known from a baker’s dozen of fossils, six of which are teeth. Orrorin tugenensis: the thighbone’s connected to the…?ĭiscovered in western Kenya, largely in 2000, O. Read more: Who are you? How the story of human origins is being rewritten tchadensis can really yet be defined as a hominin rather than some other form of ape – yet. With so little evidence to go on, some are sceptical that S. Unconfirmed reports suggest that a thigh bone was found with the skull, but this has not yet been discussed in a scientific paper. To make sure, other fossils will be needed – particularly from the legs. Officially, it is known only from a handful of fossils found in Chad in 2001: a few teeth, parts of two lower jaws and, most importantly, a single, relatively complete skull.įeatures at the skull’s rear suggest it sat atop a vertical spine like that of a human, hinting that S. tchadensis is the most ancient, at about 7 million years old. Of all possible hominins found so far in Africa, S. Sahelanthropus tchadensis: was it an ape? ![]()
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