Unified Erectus: Fossil suggests single human ancestor
A newly found, million-year-old African skull is fueling an ongoing debate over whether Homo erectus was a single wide-ranging species or several localized ones. The skull appears similar to those found in Asia, suggesting that the populations were in fact one species.
Fossils of H. erectus were discovered in Java in the 1800s. For many years, this species was recognized as the sole link between humans’ earliest direct ancestor, Homo habilis, and modern Homo sapiens. H. erectus emerged 1.8 million years ago and may have survived to times as recent as 50,000 years ago.