Our species arose at least 300,000 years ago
Oldest Homo sapiens fossils from a cave in Morocco
Fossils from Jebel Irhoud cave, Morocco, are now considered the oldest members of our species yet found. Dating to about 300,000 years old, the fossils push back the origin of Homo sapiens by at least 100,000 years. The fossils show large teeth and a long braincase typical of early human species like Neanderthals. But the face, forehead, and jawbone are most like those of modern humans.
The finds suggest that our species evolved over a much wider area than previously thought. Based on fossils found in northern, eastern, and southern Africa, early Homo sapiens populations across the continent may have interacted and evolved for hundreds of thousands of years before our species spread to other parts of the world.
Published in the journal Nature June 8, 2017, by Jean-Jacques Hublin and colleagues.