It is possible that the history of evolution of modern humans will have to be rewritten due to the well-preserved skull, called Skull-5, which is about 1.8 million years old. According to Swiss scientists, the remains of an ancient human ancestor found in Dmanisi (Georgia) are evidence that there was no division of the Homo genus into species.
The results of the studies carried out indicate that the first representatives of the genus Homo, including the skilled man and the erect man, belonged to the same species. The differences between them were only in external features.
This discovery could turn the whole system of classifying early human ancestors. According to scientists from the Museum of Zurich and the Institute of Anthropology, there was only one species on our planet that appeared in Africa about two million years ago, and not several ecologically specialized species of Homo, as was previously thought. After examining the skull, the researchers found that the find differs from other fossilized remains of representatives of the Homo species - it is a small skull with large teeth and a long face.
The excavations also uncovered remains belonging to four other early modern human ancestors, several fossilized animal remains and stone tools. All finds belong to the same time period, which makes them truly unique.
The partially excavated archaeological site has provided scientists with the first opportunity to compare and contrast the physical traits of several early human ancestors who appear to have lived in the same geological space at the same time.
According to scientists, the fossils from Dmanisi have the same differences that can be found in five modern humans, which suggests that they all belonged to the same species, most likely Homo erectus.
According to the employee of the Swiss museum Christoph Zollicofer, if parts of Skull-5 were found in different regions of Africa as separate fossils, then they could be classified as different types. Skull 5 has key features that are common to several species, including a large face and a tiny skull, which have never been seen before.
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It is worth noting that the jaw was discovered five years before the skull, and after their connection a well-preserved specimen was formed. According to researchers, the skull belonged to a male. It can also be concluded that the early representatives of the Homo species had a small brain, although the limbs, size and proportions of the body did not differ much from modern humans.