Spanish fossils could signify unknown historical human species

Archaelogists work on excavation at stage TE7 of the Sima del Elefante web site at Sierra de Atapuerca, close to Burgos, Spain, on this undated handout picture launched on March 12, 2025.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters

Scientists have unearthed in Spain fossilised facial bones roughly 1.1 million to 1.4 million years outdated that will signify a beforehand unknown species within the human evolutionary lineage – a discovery that rewrites humankind’s early historical past in Europe.

The fossils from the Sima del Elefante cave web site close to town of Burgos comprise fragments spanning 80% of the left aspect of an grownup particular person’s center face, together with elements of the cheekbone and higher jaw with the nasal construction. They’re among the many oldest-known human fossils from Europe.

The researchers nicknamed the fossil “Pink,” honoring the band Pink Floyd.

Pink’s facial anatomy was extra primitive than that of Homo antecessor, a species identified to have inhabited Western Europe roughly 850,000 years in the past whose slender midface resembled trendy individuals. Pink possessed a extra projected and big midface than Homo antecessor, and displayed some similarities to – but in addition variations with – Homo erectus, regarded as the primary human species to have migrated out of Africa.

The researchers mentioned the fossils weren’t full sufficient to conclude that Pink belonged to a yet-unnamed historical human species however mentioned this was an actual chance. They assigned the fossil the provisional title Homo affinis erectus in recognition of its affinities to sure Homo erectus traits.

“These findings open a brand new line of analysis within the research of human evolution in Europe, as they introduce a brand new participant within the early occupation of Europe,” mentioned archaeologist Rosa Huguet of the Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA) in Spain, lead writer of the research printed on Wednesday within the journal Nature.

“When we’ve got extra fossil stays, we can say extra about this species,” Huguet mentioned.

Our species Homo sapiens didn’t seem till roughly 300,000 years in the past in Africa, later migrating worldwide, together with into Europe. Homo erectus first appeared in Africa roughly 1.9 million years in the past, with physique proportions much like trendy individuals. Homo antecessor additionally had trendy physique proportions in addition to modern-looking facial anatomy.

Pink’s midface resembles Homo erectus with its flat and underdeveloped nasal construction, in contrast to the outstanding nasal bone construction of Homo antecessor and Homo sapiens.

“Homo antecessor has a modern-like midface, similar to that of Homo sapiens. In distinction, the midface discovered on the Sima del Elefante web site has a mixture of options shared with Homo erectus and others which are derived and never current in Homo erectus,” mentioned paleoanthropologist and research senior writer José María Bermúdez de Castro Risueño, co-director of the Atapuerca Mission centered on human evolution.

Little is thought about Europe’s earliest human residents. There are fossils generally attributed to Homo erectus courting to 1.8 million years in the past at a Caucasus web site in Georgia known as Dmanisi on the fringes of Europe. There are also stone instruments courting to 1.4 million years in the past from western Ukraine, and bones with lower marks, suggesting using stone instruments to butcher animal carcasses, courting to 1.95 million years in the past from Romania.

On the Sima del Elefante web site, researchers beforehand recovered a jawbone fragment estimated at 1.2 million years outdated, although the species was undetermined. The Pink fossils present in 2022 have been recovered in a deeper – thus older – layer on the similar web site. A toddler’s molar courting to roughly the identical time is thought from a web site close to Granada in Spain, with the species additionally unclear.

“There are only a few websites with human fossils equivalent to the primary settlers of Europe,” mentioned archaeologist and research co-author Xosé Pedro Rodríguez-Álvarez of the College of Rovira I Virgili in Spain.

Pink is older than any identified Homo antecessor stays. And Pink’s species, in response to the researchers, could belong to a inhabitants that reached Europe throughout a migration predating that of Homo antecessor.

“We have no idea if they might have coexisted for a brief time frame or in the event that they by no means lived collectively,” Huguet mentioned.

Found close by Pink have been easy quartz and flint instruments and animal bones with lower marks indicating butchery.

The researchers haven’t been in a position to reconstruct Pink’s full face due to the incompleteness of the fossils. Diligent work was wanted to assemble the fragments to disclose the midface, combining conventional conservation and restoration strategies with subtle imaging and 3D evaluation. Pink’s gender stays unclear.

“There are various inquiries to be answered, and this discover helps to write down a brand new web page within the historical past of human evolution,” Bermúdez de Castro mentioned.