Evolution News - A Little More is Added to the Human Evolution Story

UB 10749 vertebral body. (a) Superior view; (b) posterior view; (c) inferior view; (d) anterior view.

Prehistoric Migrations: New study presents ancient human vertebra discovered in Jordan Valley | Bar-Ilan University

A little more clarity was added to the story of archaic hominin migration out of Africa and into Eurasia with the publication few days ago in Scientific Reports, of the findings of a team of archaeologists led by researchers from Bar-Ilan University, and including specialists from Ono Academic College, The University of Tulsa, and the Israel Antiquities Authority.

It was the discovery that a 1.5 million-year-old fossilised vertebrae found at 'Ubeidiya, in the Jordan Valley near Kibbutz Beit Zera, in 1966, was that of large-bodied species of Homo aged about 6-12 years old as determined by the characteristic pattern of ossification. In adulthood, this individual would have been considerably bigger than the hominins found in Georgia and is more similar to archaic hominins found in East Africa, so supports the idea of successive waves of different species of hominin migrating out of Africa via the Levantine corridor.

From the Bar-Ilan University press release:

‘Ubeidiya site locality. (a) Map of Africa and Eurasia with major Pleistocene paleoanthropological sites. Black circles denote sites with no osteological remains; red circles denote sites with human osteological remains. (b) The location of the site of ‘Ubeidiya, south of lake Kineret (Sea of Galilee), on the western banks of the Jordan Valley (red circle) (c) aerial photograph of the excavation plan of ‘Ubeidiya with the location of layer II-23 where UB 10749 was recovered.

According to fossil evidence and DNA research, human evolution began in Africa about six million years ago. Approximately two million years ago, ancient humans –– nearly, but not yet in modern form –– began to migrate from Africa and spread throughout Eurasia, a process known as the "Out of Africa." ‘Ubeidiya, located in the Jordan Valley near Kibbutz Beit Zera, is one of the places where we have archaeological evidence for this dispersal.

The prehistoric site of ‘Ubeidiya is significant for archaeological and evolutionary studies because it is one of the few places that contain preserved remnants of the early human exodus from Africa. The site is the second oldest archaeological site outside Africa and was excavated by several expeditions led by Professor M. Stekelis, Professor O. Bar-Yosef, and Professor E. Tchernov between 1960 and 1999. The finds from the site include a rich and rare collection of extinct animal bones and stone artifacts. Fossil species include sabertoothed tiger, mammoths, and a giant buffalo, alongside animals not found today in Israel, such as baboons, warthogs, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and jaguars. Stone and flint items made and used by ancient humans show resemblance to those discovered at sites in East Africa.

Due to the difference in size and shape of the vertebra from 'Ubeidiya and those found in the Republic of Georgia, we now have unambiguous evidence of the presence of two distinct dispersal waves.

Alon Barash, co-lead author Bar Ilan University,
Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Safed, Israel.

The stone and flint artifacts from 'Ubeidiya, handaxes made from Basalt, chopping tools, and flakes made from flint, are associated with the Early Acheulean culture. Previously, it was accepted that the stone tools from 'Ubeidiya and Dmanisi were associated with different cultures – Early Acheulean in 'Ubeidiya and Oldowan in Dmanisi. After this new study, we conclude that different human species produced the two industries.

Omry Barzilai, co-lead author
Head of the Archaeological Research Department
Israel Antiquities Authority, Jerusalem, Israel

One of the main questions regarding the human dispersal from Africa were the ecological conditions that may have facilitated the dispersal. Previous theories debated whether early humans preferred an African savanna or new, more humid woodland habitat. Our new finding of different human species in Dmanisi and 'Ubeidiya is consistent with our finding that climates also differed between the two sites. 'Ubeidiya is more humid and compatible with a Mediterranean climate, while Dmanisi is drier with savannah habitat. This study showing two species, each producing a different stone tool culture, is supported by the fact that each population preferred a different environment.

Miriam Belmaker, co-lead author
The Department of Anthropology
The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, USA

Recently, excavations in 'Ubeidiya were resumed by Belmaker and Barzilai under a grant that Belmaker received from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The project uses new absolute dating methods to refine the site's dating and to study the paleoecology and paleoclimate of the region. While looking at the fossils from the site, now housed at the Hebrew University's National Natural History Collections, Belmaker, a paleoanthropologist from the University of Tulsa’s Department of Anthropology, encountered a human vertebra. Initially unearthed in 1966, the bone was studied by Barash and Professor Ella Been. They identified it as a human lumbar vertebra, the earliest fossil evidence of ancient human remains discovered in Israel, approximately 1.5 million years old.

The two species theory is also supported by the different climates in Dmanisi and 'Ubeidiya sites. The former being drier and more like the savannah habitat found in East Africa while the latter site is more humid and similar to a Mediterranean habitat. This suggests that the different species with different cultures had adapted to different ecological niches.

The team's findings are published, open access, in Scientific Reports:

Abstract
The paucity of early Pleistocene hominin fossils in Eurasia hinders an in-depth discussion on their paleobiology and paleoecology. Here we report on the earliest large-bodied hominin remains from the Levantine corridor: a juvenile vertebra (UB 10749) from the early Pleistocene site of ‘Ubeidiya, Israel, discovered during a reanalysis of the faunal remains. UB 10749 is a complete lower lumbar vertebral body, with morphological characteristics consistent with Homo sp. Our analysis indicates that UB-10749 was a 6- to 12-year-old child at death, displaying delayed ossification pattern compared with modern humans. Its predicted adult size is comparable to other early Pleistocene large-bodied hominins from Africa. Paleobiological differences between UB 10749 and other early Eurasian hominins supports at least two distinct out-of-Africa dispersal events. This observation corresponds with variants of lithic traditions (Oldowan; Acheulian) as well as various ecological niches across early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia.

Barash, Alon; Belmaker, Miriam; Bastir, Markus; Soudack, Michalle; O’Brien, Haley D.; Woodward, Holly; Prendergast, Amy; Barzilai, Omry; Been, Ella
The earliest Pleistocene record of a large-bodied hominin from the Levant supports two out-of-Africa dispersal events
Scientific Reports 12 1721 (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-05712-y

Copyright: © 2022 The authors. Published by Springer Nature Ltd.
Open access
Reprinted under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0)

This finding is also consistent with a proposal a few months ago by Roksandic, M. et al (2012), that several of the archaic hominins of Africa and Eurasia should more properly be regarded as belonging to a single, morphologically diverse, Homo species, Homo bodoensis, which then gave rise to Homo sapiens in Africa and Neanderthals, Denisovans, and possibly other species of Homo in Eurasia.

Gradually, one way or another the fascinating story of how this African ape came to populate all landmasses on Earth except Antarctica is emerging from the chaos of, frankly, contrary to Creationists claims, too many transitional species.

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