Paleoanthropologists from the University of Zurich have uncovered the intact skull of an early Homo individual in Dmanisi, Georgia. This find is forcing a change in perspective in the field of paleoanthropology: human species diversity two million years ago was much smaller than presumed thus far. However, diversity within the “Homo erectus,” the first global species of human, was as great as in humans today.
This shows the need for a change in perspective: the African fossils from around 1.8 million years ago likely represent representatives from one and the same species, best described as “Homo erectus.” This would suggest that “Homo erectus” evolved about 2 million years ago in Africa, and soon expanded through Eurasia — via places such as Dmanisi — as far as China and Java, where it is first documented from about 1.2 million years ago. Comparing diversity patterns in Africa, Eurasia and East Asia provides clues on the population biology of this first global human species.
This makes Homo erectus the first “global player” in human evolution.
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