A fragment of jawbone unearthed in Spain last month is estimated to be 1.4 million years old, making it the oldest known fossil of human lineage discovered in Europe.
The oldest hominid fossil previously discovered in Europe was a jawbone discovered at the same site in 2007 and dated to be 1.2 million years old.
The fossil was discovered on June 30 at an archaeological site in the Atapuerca mountain range, which is known for having the most extensive evidence of early human settlement in Europe.
The new bone has not been dated by paleoanthropologists, but since it was discovered more than six feet deeper in the ground than the previous specimen, it is ‘logical and reasonable to presume that it is older.’
The length of the jawbone is around three inches.
Since 1978, archaeologists have labored at this archaeological site, and their 2007 discovery of the 1,2 million-year-old jawbone was cause for celebration.
José Maria Bermudez de Castro, one of the directors of the archaeological site, stated that it will take six to eight months of analysis to ascertain the age of the jawbone.
The experts stated that they were still in the process of identifying the type of human ancestor and determining the age of the bone.
We must continue our investigation for at least another year… This requires some time,’ Castro remarked on Friday.
What we can tell is that we have discovered an extremely significant and intriguing fossil that belonged to one of the first populations to arrive in Europe.
According to research published in March, the initial jaws of ancient humans evolved from gills to become robust and sharp.
Researchers believe that the evolution of biting occurred rapidly, which was advantageous for humans and animals since it allowed them to consume a greater range of foods.
After determining that jaws originated from gill arches — a sequence of structures in fish that support the gills — they investigated how a breathing structure became a biting structure.
More than 400 million years ago, teeth-bearing jaws originally emerged in nearly all vertebrates.
Experts from the University of Bristol discovered that the earliest jaws in the fossil record were stuck in a trade-off between maximizing their strength and their speed, but eventually, each organism evolved in its unique way.
The trap-jaw ant’s jaws close between 78 and 145 mph, which is 2,300 times quicker than the blink of an eye.
Saltwater crocodiles can close their jaws with 16,460 newtons of bite force, which is over 30 times more powerful than a human.
William Deakin, a doctoral student at the University of Bristol, and the study’s lead author stated, “Jaws is a crucial characteristic of gnathostomes or jaw-mouths.”
‘Not only are they highly prevalent, but practically all animals with them use them in the same way: to grasp and digest food.
That cannot be stated about an arm, a foot, or a tail, which can be employed for a variety of purposes.
This makes the jaws an invaluable resource for anybody researching the evolution of function. Very diverse jaws from very different animals can be evaluated comparably.
