University of Tübingen
–
The oldest traces in prehistory made by humans were discovered by an international team of scientists on the Greek island of Crete.
–
Nationalgeographic.co.id—Pre-human history is very difficult to decipher. There is no early Neanderthal writing that easily summarizes all the differences between Australopithecus and Orrorin.
While scientists are discovering more ancient bones all the time, it also doesn’t make things easier on the finite, making it difficult to analyze and catalog fossil discoveries into any one of the many species of Homo, Graecopithecus, and all the generations in between.
However, bones are not the only ones footsteps left by our ancestors hominin us—at least in some cases. Footsteps their feet are preserved in the sand that settles into stone.
As reported in 2017, the research team found and analyzed a series of more than 50 footsteps feet on Trachiolos Beach on the Greek island of Crete, which is thought to have been potentially left behind by a like creature hominin ancient from 5.7 million years ago.
A new study published this week now shows that footsteps–footsteps similar hominin it’s even older than thought – potentially as old as 6.5 million years, making it 350,000 years older than originally thought.
There is no proof Homo sapiens in the fossil record anywhere before 300,000 years ago, and even our sister species, Homo neanderthalensis, only appeared about 430,000 years ago.
Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient primate better known than a preserved skeleton named Lucy, lived as early as 3.9 million years ago, so we’re getting closer to that age range.
Also Read: 23,000 Years Old Fossil Footprints, The Oldest Evidence of Humans Until America
University of Tübingen
–
An international team of paleoanthropologists, led by Professor Madelaine Böhme of the University of Tübingen, Germany, have analyzed the remains of the hominin Graecopithecus freybergi 7.2 million years old and came to the conclusion that they belonged to pre-humans. Did the oldest hominins come from Europe, not Africa?
–
In fact, these footprints are so old that the team concludes that Greek freybergi, primates with tooth specimens estimated to be 7.2 million years old (and potentially the oldest direct ancestor of humans, soon after our lineage split from chimpanzees) could have something to do with footprints.
“We can’t rule out a connection between tracers and possibly pre-humans Greek freybergi,” says University of Tübingen . paleontologist Madelaine Boehme.
All of these ancient hominins would have had characteristically different feet as we transitioned from tree-swinging to full-legged walking, and footprints allow us to analyze human evolutionary processes.
This morphology includes characters currently considered unique to hominins such as the presence of the ball of the forefoot, an undifferentiated and strong hallux placed next to digit II at the distal margin of the sole and digits II through IV becoming progressively shorter,” the team wrote in the journal. Age constraints for the Trachilos footprints from Crete, which was published in October 2021.
“This is combined with generic primate traits such as the absence of a longitudinal medial arch, a proportionately shorter sole and a non-rounded heel.”
Not everyone agrees that it was an ancient hominin, and when it comes to footprints, it’s sometimes difficult to pinpoint an answer.
“This interpretation is controversial, and several counter interpretations have been made,” the team wrote.
“For example, Meldrum and Sarmiento suggested that Trachilos imprints might have been made by non-hominin primates by hallux adduction and they illustrated it with reference to gorilla footprints.”
But the researchers maintain that there is no argument to rule out these traces belonging to early human ancestors such as G. freybergi.
The dating of trace fossils is also in question, so researchers are beginning to look specifically at the date these sites were found in the Platanos Basin and the Vrysses Group in northwestern Crete.
Using paleomagnetic and micropaleontological methods at Trachiolos Beach, the team analyzed 57 samples, which date the footprints older than previously calculated – about 6.5 million years ago.
Also Read: These are the Hands and Footprints of Middle Pleistocene Hominins of Tibetan Origin
John Gurche
–
Artist’s reconstruction of an adult male Australopithecus afarensis.
–
Science Alert
–
one of 50 identified footprints in Crete
–
These footprints were found on the island of Crete—not Africa. Although Crete was attached to mainland Greece by this time, it still raises more questions about where ancient hominins first evolved and adds some doubt to what is commonly known as the ‘Out of Africa’ theory.
As the researchers explain in their paper, “the evolutionary history and dispersal patterns of hominins are matters of debate“.
“Although many publications point to their African origin, there is evidence that the earliest hominins may have evolved in Eurasia. Evidence for the existence of Miocene hominins in Europe includes fossilized bodies and footprints,” they added.
When it comes to ancient human ancestors millions of years in the making, there are bound to be messy and intricate webs to unravel.
Looks like we’re still discovering how difficult it is to parse our lineage
Also Read: More than Half a Century of Discovery, Footprints on the Roof of the Cave Revealed
PROMOTED CONTENT
Featured Videos
– .
