Overview
- High-resolution magnetostratigraphy, including a geomagnetic reversal, dates jaws, vertebrae and teeth from Thomas Quarry I to about 773,000 years.
- CT and anatomical comparisons reveal erectus-like mandibles paired with molars resembling early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
- The research team interprets the remains as not Homo antecessor but likely descendants of a locally evolved African Homo erectus.
- The results bolster a deep African origin for Homo sapiens and indicate the divergence from Eurasian sister lineages started earlier than often proposed.
- Shared traits with Spanish fossils revive the possibility of Early Pleistocene population exchanges across the Strait of Gibraltar.