Scientists Uncover 1.4 Million-Year-Old Jawbone of Ancient Human's Face in Western Europe

• A group of researchers in Spain made a major discovery after they found the remains of an ancient man
• According to the researchers, they found a jawbone belonging to an extinct species that lived up to 1.4 million years ago
• The archaeologists named the species Homo affinis erectus, noting that it lived and died on the Iberian peninsula between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years ago

Scientists have discovered the remains of the oldest known human face in Western Europe.

The researchers said the jawbones belonged to a human ancestor who lived in the Iberian peninsula between 1.1 million and 1.4 million years ago.

They said the fossilised remains consisted of the left cheek and upper jaw of an adult member of an extinct human species.

According to the researchers who excavated the site, the bone was found at Sima del Elefante (Pit of the Elephant) cave near Atapuerca in Burgos, The Guardian UK reports.

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The site is close to where researchers had previously found the fossils of Western Europe's previous oldest human known as the Homo antecessor some 20 years ago.

The lead researcher, Dr Rosa Huguet at Spain's University of Rovira i Virgili, said the latest discovery introduces a new dimension to the origins of human evolution in Europe.

Her words:

"The research introduces a new actor in the history of human evolution in Europe."

The work, which was published in the Journal Nature stated that the jawbone resembled that of Homo erectus, the first species to evolve a human-like body. The latest discovery was named Homo affinis erectus, due to its close relationship with the older human. It was nicknamed Pink.

According to José María Bermúdez de Castro, the co-director of the Atapuerca Project, the bone is another step towards understanding the first Europeans.

He said:

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“This is another step towards understanding the first Europeans. We now know that this first species had an appearance reminiscent of the specimens included by many in Homo erectus. However, the remains from the Sima del Elefante site have a very particular combination of features. More fossils should be found in other contemporary sites to reach a more robust conclusion about the identity of this species.”

Scientists share information about water on Mars

In a related story reported by Legit.ng, Chinese and American scientists studying to know if Mars once had water bodies made a new discovery.

People like Elon Musk have always dreamed of sending humans to Mars and making it habitable like the Earth.

The Chinese robot known as Zhurong rover landed on Mars in 2021, and it sent back information after penetrating the ground.

Guangzhou University was quoted by China Daily as saying:

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"These geological features are highly similar to coastal sedimentary deposits on Earth, providing the most direct underground evidence to date for the existence of ancient oceans in Mars' middle to low latitudes. If an ocean once existed on Mars, climate change may have caused a large amount of water to be stored as underground ice, raising the possibility that future Mars bases could have ample water resources."

Source: Legit.ng