• Evolution Homo sapiens arose from at least four different lineages

  • Paleology In search of the lost relative of Neanderthals and sapiens

A team made up of researchers from Spain and the US, including the scientific director of the Museum of Human Evolution,

Juan Luis Arsuaga

, has just published in the

Journal of Human Evolution

a new study on an enigmatic fossil: the human jaw. from the

Banyoles

deposit

, in

Girona

.

The Banyoles mandible was discovered in a quarry in 1887 and has been studied by different researchers ever since.

The fossil has been dated to between

45,000 years ago and 65,000 years ago

.

As Europe was previously thought to be exclusively occupied by Neanderthals in that time period, the Banyoles jawbone was assigned to that fossil species, despite the fact that its morphology was not that of a typical Neanderthal.

New research

has now cleared up that confusion

.

It was not a Neanderthal, but a

Homo sapiens

.

In the new study, which uses CT images, the missing parts of the fossil have been reconstructed on the computer.

In this way it has been possible to obtain a three-dimensional virtual model that has been compared with other fossils using a technique known as

geometric morphometry

.

Juan Luis Arsuaga is categorical regarding the species to which the Banyoles jaw belonged: "

It is not a Neanderthal. It is in almost all its morphology a modern human.

However, the existence of a chin (chin) is not appreciated, so it cannot be ruled out that it has some Neanderthal ancestor. The

Homo sapiens

fossil considered to be the oldest in Europe to date was

Pestera cu Oase 1 in Romania

, but we affirm that Banyoles is older".

Comparison of the Banyoles jaw with those of a 'sapien' and a Neanderthal. Museum of Human Evolution

The authors of the work are

Brian A. Keeling

and

Rolf Quam

from the University of Binghampton,

Ignacio Martínez

from the University of Alcalá,

Julià Maroto

from the University of Girona, and

Juan Luis Arsuaga

himself , from the Complutense University of Madrid and scientific director of the Museum of Human Evolution of Burgos.

To know more

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The authors add that "the taxonomic reassignment (

species change

) that they propose for Banyoles could be verified by means of ancient DNA analysis or proteomics".

The authors plan to make the CT and the 3D model of Banyoles available to other researchers so that they can include them in future comparative studies, promoting

open access to fossil specimens

and the replicability of scientific studies.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Romania

  • Complutense University

  • USA