"[4] Since 1994, Begun had adhered to a hypothesis that African hominids (including living apes) descended from Eurasian apes since the older ape fossils are found in Europa and Asia. There's no evidence of Homo sapiens in the fossil record anywhere before 300,000 years ago, and even our sister species Homo neanderthalensis only appeared around 430,000 years ago, so we're talking about our great-great-great (probably add a few more greats) ancestors here. Analysis of both potential hominin sites indicates that Graecopithecus inhabited different habitats, be it open braided-river landscapes in Azmaka, or the wooded grassland of Pyrgos. Trackbacks are closed, but you can post a comment. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Instead of being an early pre-human, he says its likely El Graeco is related to European apes. In many publications, de Bonis, Koufos and colleagues have proposed that Ouranopithecus, from northern Greece and more than 1.5 million years older, is a hominin. [2] With only little and badly preserved materials to reveal . Scientists have assumed up to now that the lineages diverged 5-7 million years ago and that the first pre-humans developed in Eastern Africa.. said University of Tbingen paleontologist Madelaine Bhme. The morphology and size of the symphysis, the more robust mandible, the more open dental arcade of Ouranopithecus distinguishes it clearly from Graecopithecus . As the researchers explain in their paper, "the evolutionary history and dispersal patterns of hominins are matters of debate". It is at the beginning of the Messinian, an age that ends with the complete desiccation of the Mediterranean Sea, Prof. Bhme said. Two fossils of an ape-like creature which had human-like teeth have been found in Bulgaria and Greece, dating to 7.2 million years ago. Bernard Wood at George Washington University described the hypothesis as "relatively weak" and Sergio Almcija, also at George Washington University, says it is important to bear in mind that primates seem particularly prone to evolving similar features independently. | READ MORE. Possible Oldest Human Ancestor From Europe | Graecopithecus freybergi The team concluded this based on geological analyses of the sediments in which the two fossils were found. As with the out-of-East-Africa theory, the evolution of pre-humans may have been driven by dramatic environmental changes. Graecopithecus is not an ape. Scientists analyzing 7.2 million-year-old fossils uncovered in modern-day Greece and Bulgaria suggest a new hypothesis about the origins of humankind, placing it in the Eastern Mediterranean and not as customarily assumed in Africa, and earlier than currently accepted. AsJen Viegas at Seeker reports,the researchers say it is possible that the descendants of Graecopithecus could have wandered into East Africa, the hotbed of hominin evolution. At the time, Graecopithecus was living in arid savannah conditions, says Bohme. More fossils are needed but at this point it seems likely that the Eastern Mediterranean needs to be considered as just as likely a place of hominine diversification and hominin origins as tropical Africa. It was probably quite a humid period, says Bohme. Citation: Fuss J, Spassov N, Begun DR, Bhme M (2017) Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe. It can be further distinguished from O. macedoniensis by its narrow dental arc. According to the scientists data, the population north of the Sahara evolved into hominins, says Bohme. Jason Daley The species was also found to be several hundred thousand years older than the oldest African hominid, Sahelanthropus tchadensis which was found in Chad. Graecopithecus is an extinct genus of hominid that lived in southeast Europe during the late Miocene around 7.2 million years ago. Though the conclusions will likely be debated for years to come. "While great apes typically have two or three separate and diverging roots, the roots of Graecopithecus converge and are partially fused -- a feature that is characteristic of modern humans, early humans and several pre-humans including Ardipithecus and Australopithecus," said Bhme. (Source: Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe, by Jochen Fuss, Nikolai Spassov, David R. Begun, Madelaine Bhme), Research-Selection for NovoScriptorium: Philaretus Homerides, Archeology - Paleontology - Ancient Greece, Anthropology, Graecopithecus freybergi, Hominin, Human Evolution, Paleoclimatology, Paleontology. The specimens concerned are a lower jaw found in Greece (above photo) and a tooth discovered in Bulgaria. "We were surprised by our results, as pre-humans were previously known only from sub-Saharan Africa," said Jochen Fuss, a Tbingen PhD student who conducted this part of the study. Finding two Graecopithecus fossils in the Mediterranean region means precisely nothing about the prevalence of this species throughout Asia and southern Europe. Since Graecopithecus freybergi has priority over Ouranopithecus macedoniensis, MARTIN and ANDREWS (1984) subsumed Ouranopithecus macedoniensis into Graecopithecus freybergi. ? All the African hominin fossils are younger, Bohme said. The species was found to be some two hundred thousand years older than the oldest known hominid found in Africa (not necessarily ancestral to the human lineage), Sahelanthropus tchadensis. University of Toronto. Graecopithecus freybergi is a hominid originally identified by a single mandible found in 1944. We relate this dust accumulation to progressive late Tortonian Mediterranean aridification and cooling, which started at around 7.4 Ma and culminated during the earliest Messinian, when Mediterranean Sea surface temperature dropped by about 7C to values comparable to the present-day. While great apes typically have two or three separate and diverging roots, the roots of Graecopithecus converge and are partially fused a feature that is characteristic of modern humans, early humans and several pre-humans,, said lead researcher Professor Madelaine Bhme of the University of Tbingen. (Source: The Late Miocene hominoids Ouranopithecus and Graecopithecus . But the researchers maintain that none of the arguments have ruled out these tracks belonging to an early human ancestor like G. freybergi. Australopithecus afarensis, an ancient primate better known from a preserved skeleton nicknamed Lucy, lived as early as 3.9 million years ago, so we're getting closer to the age range there. The researchers investigated two fossils of Graecopithecus freybergi with state-of-the-art methods and came to the conclusion that they belong to pre-humans. Most importantly, the boselaphine bovid Tragoportax macedoniensis links Pyrgos with younger (Messinian) localities of the Balkans. KELLEY and PILBEAM (1986), also believed that the size distribution within the fossil collection could be account- ed for by sexual dimorphism. "[7], These claims have been disputed by other scientists. He says some of the earliest-known hominins didnt have fused teeth roots and some later human ancestors did, meaning its not strong evidence that El Graeco is an early pre-human. he species was also found to be several hundred thousand years older than the oldest African hominid, Sahelanthropus tchadensis which was found in Chad. Later, perhaps half million years after El Graeco, the Sahara Desert disappeared again. I now expect frantic reactions, I expect a lot of dissent, she said. The team dated the sedimentary sequence of the Graecopithecus fossil sites in Greece and Bulgaria with physical methods and got a nearly synchronous age for both fossils: 7.24 and 7.175 million years before present. from Azmaka (Bulgaria), using new CT and 3D reconstructions of the two known specimens. Professor Bhme added: Our findings may eventually change our ideas about the origin of humanity. The global spread of C4-grasses began eight million years ago on the Indian subcontinent -- their presence in Europe was previously unknown. Jason Daley is a Madison, Wisconsin-based writer specializing in natural history, science, travel, and the environment. Pan and Gorilla Ancestors - Aquatic Human Ancestor [4], In 2017, an international team of palaeontologists led by Madelaine Bhme of the Eberhard-Karls-University Tbingen, Germany, published a detailed analysis of the teeth and age of the specimens, and came to the conclusion that it could be the oldest hominin, meaning that it could be the oldest direct ancestors of humans after splitting from that of the chimpanzees. Originally identified by a single lower jaw bone bearing a molar tooth found in Pyrgos Vasilissis, Athens, Greece, in 1944,[1] other tooth specimens were discovered from Azmaka quarry in Bulgaria in 2012. Chimp-Human Common Ancestor Finally Identified - Science Vibe sing computer tomography, they were able to visualise the internal structures of the fossils and show that the roots of premolars are widely fused. The first specimen O. macedoniensis was discovered by French palaeontologists Louis de Bonis and Jean Melentis in 1977, and O. turkae by Turkish . ScienceDaily, 23 May 2017. We do not consider this age determination to be reliable given the circumstances of the provenance of the skull and the relatively low accuracy of the method. Rediscovered fossil suggests surprising origin for human ancestors But the researchers of these latest studies seem convinced that El Graeco is a pre-human. Although geographically distant from the Sahara, the red-colored silts are very fine-grained and could be classified as desert dust. While great apes typically have two or three separate and diverging roots, the roots of Graecopithecus converge and are partially fused a feature that is characteristic of modern humans, early humans and several pre-humans including Ardipithecus and Australopithecus, Prof. Bhme said. Using computer tomography, they visualized the internal structures of the fossils and demonstrated that the roots of premolars are widely fused. The climate conditions were arid. In my opinion, this article doesn't meet those criteria. The Graecopithecus freybergi hominin; the oldest humanancestor? (Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/22/europe-birthplace-mankind-not-africa-scientists-find/). The team analyzed the two known specimens of the fossil hominid Graecopithecus freybergi: a lower jaw from Greece and an upper premolar from Bulgaria. The type mandible of Graecopithecus freybergi was found in the Athens Basin of southern Attica near Pyrgos Vassilissis Amalias, an area that is today largely overbuilt by the rapidly growing Greek capital. Posted by Malcolm on at 1:02 pm, filed under Science. An analysis of uranium, thorium, and lead isotopes in individual dust particles yields an age between 0.6 and 3 billion years and infers an origin in Northern Africa. As Ben Guarino at The Washington Post reports, to come to their conclusion, the international team of researchers analyzed fossils from a species called Graecopithecus freybergi, or "El Graeco,". Graecopithecus freybergi von Koenigswald, 1972 Adult Mandible 8 - 6.6 MYA Greece Graecopithecus can be recognized by its developed but non-bridged supraorbital tori, tall and rhomboidal eye orbits, extremely thick molar enamel, and moderate facial prognathism (Cameron). Here we date the potentially oldest hominin, Graecopithecus freybergi from Europe and constrain the environmental conditions under which it thrived. New Dates for Crete's Possible Human Ancestor Footprints The split of chimps and humans was a single event. In this study, we propose based on root morphology a new possible candidate for the hominin clade, Graecopithecus freybergi from Europe. [8][26] If this classification is correct, Graecopithecus would be the oldest known representative of the human lineage after the human-chimpanzee split, in 19th-century terminology, the "missing link" between human and non-human primates. c-i, CT based 3D reconstructions of the type mandible showing the partially preserved roots and pulp canals from c-m3 and the crowns of right p4-m2.. Further images with a magnification of the . Privacy Statement He is a member of the tribe of hominins and the direct ancestor of homo. According to the 1994 theory of French palaeoanthropologist Yves Coppens, climate change in Eastern Africa could have played a crucial role. In short, the area was inviting and the man-apes, either El Graeco itself or its descendent, moved southward into this lovely landscape. Messinian age and savannah environment of the possible hominin - PubMed Accordingly, we assign the Azmaka specimen to cf. The overwhelming effort to reconstruct hominin origins have been focused on the African continent. The researchers also dated the fossils to between 7.24 and 7.125 years old, making them the oldest pre-human fossils ever foundeven older than Sahelanthropustchadensis, a six- to seven-million-year-old primate believed to among theearliest humanlike species. Our discovery outlines a new scenario for the beginning of human history, added co-author Professor David Begun, from the University of Toronto. [3] The PLOS One paper resolved that the hominid lived 7.37 to 7.11 million years ago, with the specime from Greece dated to 7.18 Ma and that from Bulgaria to 7.24 Ma. Exact dating of Graecopithecus and reconstruction of its habitats in Attica and Upper Thrace may, therefore, shed new light on the debate on hominin origins. [31], However, claiming that Graecopithecus is an evidence of human origin in Europe is illogical since all human ancestral species known so far are strictly found in Africa; as Rick Potts, head of the Smithsonians Human Origins Program, remarked: "I think the principal claim of the main paper goes well beyond the evidence in hand A hominin or even a hominine (modern African ape) ancestor located in a fairly isolated place in southern Europe doesnt make much sense geographically as the ancestor of modern African apes, or particular the oldest ancestor of African hominins. . Potential Hominin Affinities of Graecopithecus From the Late - PubMed But when, where and why they split is still intenselydebated. Ouranopithecus has been synonymised with Graecopithecus by some. The lower jaw, has additional dental root features, suggesting that the species was a hominid. The fossils in question belong to Graecopithecus freybergi, and are a little more than seven million years old. A Giant Planet Seems to Be Lurking Unseen in Our Solar System, Experts Say Decades of Recycling Hype Has Backfired Dramatically, Bizarre True Story: Physicists Once Put a Ferret in a Particle Accelerator. This page was last edited on 7 July 2023, at 07:56. [3] In 1984, British palaeontologists Peter Andrews and Lawrence B. Martin classified Graecopithecus and Ouranopithecus as synonyms (same taxon) and treated them as members of the genus Sivapithecus. Great apes usually have separate dental roots. Two fossils of an ape-like creature which had human-like teeth have been found in Bulgaria and Greece, dating to 7.2 million years ago. Fuss et al. I personally dont think that the descendants of Graecopithecus die out, they may have spread to Africa later. The classical Pikermi fauna is terminated at the beginning of the Messinian (7.257.10 Ma) by a significant faunal turnover (post-Pikermi turnover), accompanied by massive increase of Saharan dust and salt accumulation with profound effects on soil salinity and nutrition. Pronunciation of Graecopithecus freybergi with 1 audio pronunciations. Graecopithecus - Wikipedia Here, we provide a detailed description of the Pyrgos and Azmaka specimens by using CT based analyses and 3D visualisations.