Early human ancestors one million years older than earlier thought

New research shows that the fossils of our earliest ancestors found in South Africa are a million years older than previously thought.

The Cradle of Humankind world heritage site southwest ofJohannesburg has yielded more fossils of the australopithecus than any other site in the world.

The most complete skull of an african american was found in South Africa in 1947.

Fossils found at a similar depth of the cave were estimated to be between 2.1 and 2.6 million years old.

One of the authors of the study said that it didn't fit.

The geologist told Agence France-Presse that it was odd to see Australopithecus last for so long.

The Homo habilis, the earliest species of the Homo genus, was already present in the region.

There were no signs of Homo habilis at the depths of the cave.

Recent research shows that the almost complete skeleton of an ancient ape known as Little Foot was 3.67 million years old.

It wasn't likely that there was a big gap in ages between Mrs and Little Foot.

The fossils are too old and delicate to be tested.

calcite flowstone mineral deposits, which were younger than the rest of the cave section, were underestimated by the previous dates.

The researchers used a technique called cosmogenic nuclide dating, which looked at the levels of rare isotopes created when rocks were hit by high-speed particles that came from outer space.

The lead author of the study said that the radioactive decay dates when the rocks were buried in the cave.

The fossils near her were between 3.4 and 3.8m in age.

The director of research at the caves said that Lucy, who was found in Ethiopia at the age of 3.2m, was one of the Temporaries.

Our understanding of our ancestors' history could be altered by it.

It had been thought that the South African Australopithecus was too young to be the progenitor of the Homo genus. It was thought that Lucy's home of east Africa was the most likely place where the Homo genera evolved.

New research shows that the South African Australopithecus had almost a million years of evolution.

They might have worked on it together.

The species had plenty of time to travel, to breed with each other, so we can imagine a common evolution across Africa.

He said that the history of hominids was more complex than he thought.

"Our family tree is more like a bush, to use the words of our late friend Yves Coppens," said Bruxelles. Last week, Coppens passed away.

He was familiar with the nature of evolution in Africa.