Human Fossils from the First Quarter of the 21st Century

Abstract

Significant discoveries have been made from the first quarter of this Century in the field of evolutionary biology to redefine the human evolution. Discoveries present the morphological variability in fossil forms and indicate the valuable role of that particular continent in tracing the human origin. This article presents a general review of the human fossils found so far of this century that force us to rethink about the current concept of human origin. Most of the fossils have been found in East Africa, South Africa, Central Africa, Russia, Israel and Indonesia. Some of these are related to Australopithecus afarensis, some to Aus. africanus while some to Neanderthal. A complete human skeleton remains has been found from Ethiopia (Middle Awash region) and named as Ardipithecus ramidus is believed to be the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees. Naser Ramla from Israelis considered as an ancestor of Neanderthals because it used stone tool production technology to make tools. Some fossils share features of both Australopithecus and early Homo, such as Orrorin tugenesis and Homo naledi. Australopithecus deyremeda is considered as an extinct species of Australopithecine. Some of these are contemporary of modern humans, such as Homo florensis, whose complete skeleton has been found from the Flores island of Indonesia and it has also been considered as an Asian descendant of Homoerectus. Denisovans found in Russia's Denisova cave is considered as a new species, it belongs to the Lower Middle Palaeolithic period, so it is also considered to be related to Neanderthal, although its fossil remains include only digit bone, 4 tooth, parts of jaw and long bones and parietal part of the cranium.