773,000-Year-Old Fossils Unearthed in Moroccan Cave

Fossils unearthed in a cave near Casablanca, Morocco, dating back approximately 773,000 years, offer new insights into the early evolution of modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, potentially representing populations close to their last common ancestor.

The remains, discovered at Grotte à Hominidés over several decades, include nearly complete adult jawbones, a partial child's jawbone, several vertebrae, isolated teeth, and a femur bearing gnaw marks from carnivores, suggesting the site once served as a den for predators like hyenas. Researchers used magnetostratigraphy to date the fossils precisely, analyzing shifts in Earth's magnetic field recorded in the surrounding sediments. This method pinpointed the layer to the period of a polarity reversal around 773,000 years ago, spanning just a few thousand years and placing the hominins at a pivotal moment in human history.

The fossils exhibit a mosaic of traits: the jaw shapes resemble those of earlier African species like Homo erectus, while the molars show similarities to early Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. This blend of primitive and advanced features indicates an intermediate population during a key divergence phase....