Fossils unearthed in a cave near Casablanca, Morocco, dating back 773,000 years, could represent a close relative of the common ancestor shared by modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. Discovered in the Grotte à Hominidés, these remains include jawbones and vertebrae that blend traits from older and newer hominin species. The findings help bridge a significant gap in the African fossil record from the early Pleistocene era.
In a cave on the outskirts of Casablanca, Morocco, known as Grotte à Hominidés, researchers have analyzed hominin fossils that push back our understanding of human evolution. The collection includes two adult jawbones, a child's jawbone, and several vertebrae, with one adult jawbone first reported in 1969. The rest are newly described in a study published in Nature.
Dated to approximately 773,000 years ago using a shift in Earth's magnetic field preserved in the surrounding geological layers, these fossils coincide with the estimated timeframe for the last common ancestor of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, thought to have lived between 765,000 and 550,000 years ago. The fossilized molars resemble those of early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, while the jaw shape echoes older African hominins like Homo erectus.
Jean-Jacques Hublin, from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, led the analysis. He notes that the fossils are "certainly close to the point at which ancient human lineages diverged," filling a "major gap" in the African record between 1 million and 600,000 years ago—a period when paleogenetic studies suggest the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans split from the Homo sapiens lineage.
These Moroccan hominins were contemporaries of Homo antecessor in Spain, displaying a "comparable mosaic of primitive and derived traits," according to Hublin. He suggests connections and genetic exchanges may have occurred across the Strait of Gibraltar, supporting a deep African ancestry for Homo sapiens and challenging Eurasian origin theories.
Julien Louys of Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, highlights the early physical differences among these closely related hominins, implying multiple species arose in northern Africa before some crossed to Europe. Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum in London adds that while the exact location of the common ancestor remains unclear, the evolution of Homo sapiens likely continued in Africa, potentially involving early migrations.
Stringer views the fossils as possibly representing an early sapiens ancestor but cautions that the limited skeletal pieces prevent species assignment. He plans comparisons with other studied remains to clarify their place in the evolutionary tree.
