Discovery of fossilized footprints reveals the moment two ancient human species crossed paths
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Discovery of fossilized footprints reveals the moment two ancient human species crossed paths

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. “It’s surprising that you would have two kinds of similarly sized, large-bodied hominin species on the same landscape,” said Kevin Hatala, first author of a study on the footprints that published in the journal Science on Thursday. Briana Pobiner, a research scientist and museum educator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Human Origins Program, said it was “mind-blowing” to find footprints of not just one but two species walking in the same area. While it’s the first time that footprints have suggested hominins of two species directly encountered one another, genetic evidence has revealed that Neanderthals interbred with Homo sapiens and Denisovans, a little understood hominin only known from a scant few fossils. “It’s impossible to go back in time to actually observe these species 1.5 million years ago — but having both of their footprints on the same surface?

Ancient Species Million Different His Colleagues Footprints Homo Homo Sapiens Hominin Pobiner Paranthropus Homo Erectus Hatala Erectus Human Tracks  different  moment  hatala  erectus  reveals  fossilized  crossed  hominin  million  species  discovery  homo  footprints  ancient  human  tracks  paths

History of this topic

Science for all | Footprints of two ancient hominin species found at the same spot in Kenya
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Science for all | Footprints of two ancient hominin species found at the same spot in Kenya

The Hindu  

More than a million years ago, on the shores of what would become Lake Turkana one day in modern-day Kenya, two distinct hominin species shared a landscape teeming with life. These 1.5-million-year-old tracks, described in a study published in Science, provide the first concrete proof of two hominin species coexisting in time and space. Discovered in 2021, the footprints belong …

1.5 million-years-old footprints reveal unknown secret about human species
Trending News
3 months, 3 weeks ago

1.5 million-years-old footprints reveal unknown secret about human species

India Today  

A new study has unveiled fossilised footprints from two ancient human species, Homo erectus and Paranthropus boisei, that coexisted in northern Kenya approximately 1.5 million years ago. Discovered at the Koobi Fora site near Lake Turkana, these footprints provide the first physical evidence that these distinct species shared the same landscape, raising intriguing questions about their interactions and potential competition …

Crossing evolutionary paths: New research finds different hominin species coexisted
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Crossing evolutionary paths: New research finds different hominin species coexisted

Salon  

The bones they found in the sand were a clue that something more was buried beneath the surface. But these remarkably preserved footprints were the first to indicate that two different species of hominins — including Homo erectus, which is a direct ancestor to humans, and Paranthropus boisei, which was a different species that also descended from the ape ancestor …

Footprints left 1.5mn years ago in Africa reveal secrets about human evolution
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Footprints left 1.5mn years ago in Africa reveal secrets about human evolution

Daily Mail  

Two species of ancient humans who were thought to be unknown to each other roamed the plains of Africa side by side 1.5m years ago, a study suggests. And the tracks also opens the possibility the two groups may have interacted with each other and influenced one another The footprints belonging to the Paranthropus boisei, a bipedal primate with smaller …

Discovery of 1.5 million-year-old footprints shows two different human ancestors lived alongside each other
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Discovery of 1.5 million-year-old footprints shows two different human ancestors lived alongside each other

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A new discovery of fossils dating back 1.5 million years is …

Muddy footprints suggest 2 species of early humans were neighbors in Kenya 1.5 million years ago
Trending News
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Muddy footprints suggest 2 species of early humans were neighbors in Kenya 1.5 million years ago

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were nearby neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. The footprints were left in the mud by two different species “within a matter of hours, or at most days,” said paleontologist Louise Leakey, co-author of the research published Thursday in the journal Science. “It’s an …

Muddy footprints suggest 2 species of early humans were neighbors in Kenya 1.5 million years ago
3 months, 2 weeks ago

Muddy footprints suggest 2 species of early humans were neighbors in Kenya 1.5 million years ago

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Muddy footprints left on a …

Discovery of fossilized footprints reveals the moment two ancient human species crossed paths
3 months, 3 weeks ago

Discovery of fossilized footprints reveals the moment two ancient human species crossed paths

CNN  

Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. “It’s surprising that you would have two kinds of similarly sized, large-bodied hominin species on the same landscape,” said Kevin Hatala, first author of a study on the footprints that published in the journal Science on Thursday. Briana Pobiner, a research scientist and museum educator at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural …

What 100,000-year-old footprints in Morocco tell us about early humans
1 year, 1 month ago

What 100,000-year-old footprints in Morocco tell us about early humans

Al Jazeera  

Scientists say a group of adults and children walking along a rocky shoreline likely left the prints. In January, an international team of scientists from Morocco, France, Germany and Spain published details of a fascinating discovery: a set of well-preserved human footprints believed to be 100,000 years old. The initial traces were left by healthy Homo on a sandy beach …

How ancient footprints rewrote a chapter of early human history
1 year, 5 months ago

How ancient footprints rewrote a chapter of early human history

CNN  

Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. National Park Service When the discovery of 61 fossilized human footprints found in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park was first announced in 2021, the ancient find changed the timeline of early humans living in the Americas. NASA/ESA/CSA Astronomers used the James Webb Space Telescope to …

300,000-year-old skull found in China unlike any early human seen before
1 year, 7 months ago

300,000-year-old skull found in China unlike any early human seen before

CNN  

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. CNN — An ancient skull dating back 300,000 years is unlike any other premodern human fossil ever found, potentially pointing to a new branch in the human family tree, according to new research. Scientists believe the late Middle Pleistocene, which started around 300,000 years ago, was a pivotal period for …

Our first steps? Fossil may boost case for earliest ancestor
2 years, 6 months ago

Our first steps? Fossil may boost case for earliest ancestor

The Independent  

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Twenty years ago, scientists discovered …

Our first steps? Fossil may boost case for earliest ancestor
2 years, 6 months ago

Our first steps? Fossil may boost case for earliest ancestor

Associated Press  

NEW YORK — Twenty years ago, scientists discovered a 7-million-year-old skull that they concluded belonged to a creature who walked upright and was our earliest known ancestor. “This could still also be a fossil ape.” Another researcher at the French university, Roberto Macchiarelli, had previously examined the thighbone and determined the species was probably an ape. Looking at the new …

Fossil footprints in Tanzania shed light on the first instances when early humans began walking upright
3 years, 3 months ago

Fossil footprints in Tanzania shed light on the first instances when early humans began walking upright

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The site in Tanzania, where five consecutive footprints known as “The Laetoli Footprints” were discovered …

Fossil footprints puzzle scientists: Bear or ancient human?
3 years, 3 months ago

Fossil footprints puzzle scientists: Bear or ancient human?

Associated Press  

WASHINGTON — Prehistoric footprints that have puzzled scientists since the 1970s are getting a second look: Were they left by extinct animals or by human ancestors? “These footprints have been in the mystery category for 40 years,” said Rick Potts, who directs the Smithsonian Institution’s Human Origins Project. What’s long perplexed scientists is that those tracks — broad footprints with …

Mysterious footprints discovered in Tanzania were left by early humans 3.7 million years ago
3 years, 3 months ago

Mysterious footprints discovered in Tanzania were left by early humans 3.7 million years ago

Daily Mail  

Mysterious footprints first thought to have been made by ancient bears were actually left by early humans millions of years ago, a new study has found. It suggests that more than one such species was walking on two legs 3.7 million years ago, as separate footprints found at a nearby site in Laetoli have previously been identified as the earliest …

Ancient footprints mistakenly attributed to bears were made by early humans
3 years, 3 months ago

Ancient footprints mistakenly attributed to bears were made by early humans

NPR  

Ancient footprints mistakenly attributed to bears were made by early humans Enlarge this image toggle caption Left: J. DeSilva/Right: E. McNutt Left: J. DeSilva/Right: E. McNutt The early humans who walked the Earth nearly 3.7 million years ago were not walking alone. That means individuals from these two early human species must have passed through within hours or days of …

Around 23,000 years old human footprints in North America found in New Mexico
3 years, 5 months ago

Around 23,000 years old human footprints in North America found in New Mexico

Hindustan Times  

Fossilised footprints discovered in New Mexico indicate that early humans were walking across North America around 23,000 years ago, researchers reported Thursday. Fossilized human fossilized footprints at the White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Scientists at the US Geological Survey recently analysed seeds stuck in the footprints to determine their approximate age, ranging from around 22,800 and 21,130 years …

Oldest Traces of Fossilised Human Footsteps Discovered in New Mexico
4 years, 5 months ago

Oldest Traces of Fossilised Human Footsteps Discovered in New Mexico

News 18  

Scientists have discovered the longest known track that a human being, most likely a mother, took in a haste some 13,000 years ago. The footprints were discovered from a dried-up lake bed known as a playa, at the White Sands National Park in New Mexico, US. Research showed that they were walking at over 1.7 metres per second, whereas a …

‘Missing link’ in human history confirmed after long debate
6 years, 2 months ago

‘Missing link’ in human history confirmed after long debate

CNN  

CNN — Early humans were still swinging from trees two million years ago, scientists have said, after confirming a set of contentious fossils represents a “missing link” in humanity’s family tree. That stroke of luck eventually led to this week’s finding, detailed in the journal “Paleoanthropology.” The findings help fill a gap in humankind’s history, sliding in between the famous …

Ancient footprints in Crete challenge theory of human evolution – but what actually made them?
7 years, 6 months ago

Ancient footprints in Crete challenge theory of human evolution – but what actually made them?

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Slightly older at about nine million years old are the very complete postcranial skeletons of …

Ancestors of Flores 'hobbits' may have been pioneers of first 'human' migration out of Africa
7 years, 10 months ago

Ancestors of Flores 'hobbits' may have been pioneers of first 'human' migration out of Africa

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. The shape of the pelvis and the proportions of the limbs looked primitive – reminiscent …

Meet Homo Floresiensis: The Hobbit version of Homo Sapiens
8 years, 9 months ago

Meet Homo Floresiensis: The Hobbit version of Homo Sapiens

India Today  

In 2003, archaeologists uncovered a fossil of a human-like creature on the Indonesian island, Flores. Humans suffering from down syndrome: According to this hypothesis, these new fossils belong to a few homo erectus individuals who suffered from the down syndrome or who had a stunted growth. Insular evolution According to this hypothesis, the fossil belongs to a different species altogether, …

Homo naledi: Newly-discovered human species 'walked on two feet and climbed trees'
9 years, 5 months ago

Homo naledi: Newly-discovered human species 'walked on two feet and climbed trees'

The Independent  

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy A newly-discovered species of human that lived in Africa up to …

Jawbone of 'first man' goes on display: 2.8 million-year-old human ancestor fossil is unveiled in Arizona
10 years ago

Jawbone of 'first man' goes on display: 2.8 million-year-old human ancestor fossil is unveiled in Arizona

Daily Mail  

A momentous and valuable piece of our evolutionary history has gone on display to the public. They had brains no larger than a chimpanzee's 2.8 million years ago - LD 350-1 appeared and may be the first of the Homo family 2.7 million years ago - Paranthropus, lived in woods and had massive jaws for chewing 2.3 million years ago …

Examining Ancient Fossils for Clues to Human Origins
13 years, 6 months ago

Examining Ancient Fossils for Clues to Human Origins

NPR  

Examining Ancient Fossils for Clues to Human Origins Several papers published this week in the journal Science look at fossilized bones from the hands, feet, pelvis, and other parts of the prehistoric hominid Australopithecus sediba. And I know extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, but I do think it's fair to say in this case where, you know, our field of …

Modern humans may have interbred with extinct line
13 years, 6 months ago

Modern humans may have interbred with extinct line

The Hindu  

Modern humans may have interbred with a now extinct lineage of humanity before leaving Africa 65,000 yeas ago, according to a new research. DNA studies have already proved that ancestors of modern humans got intimate with Neanderthals in Europe and another Asian relative called the Denisovans. Now, researchers found that our earliest ancestors interbred with a hitherto unknown human lineage …

African Footprint Fossils Are Oldest Evidence of Upright Walk
14 years, 11 months ago

African Footprint Fossils Are Oldest Evidence of Upright Walk

Wired  

Despite a penchant for hanging out in trees, human ancestors living 3.6 million years ago in what’s now Tanzania extended their legs to stride much like people today do, a new study finds. The discovery comes from the famed trackway site in Laetoli, Tanzania, where more than 30 years ago researchers discovered footprint trails from two, and possibly three, human …

Ancient footprints let experts step back in time-英语点津
15 years, 11 months ago

Ancient footprints let experts step back in time-英语点津

China Daily  

Download Also: A study finds that being hopeful about future events might help you stay healthy and live longer. VOICE ONE: An international research team has discovered markings made by the ancestors of modern human beings more than one million years ago. The scientists say the prints were left by one of two human ancestors: either Homo erectus or Homo …

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