Published in Nature, this work highlights African populations near the base of the lineage that eventually gave rise to Homo sapiens, providing new insights into the shared ancestry of H. sapiens, Neandertals, and Denisovans. A uniquely well-dated hominin assemblage in AfricaDating Early and Middle Pleistocene fossils is notoriously difficult, due to discontinuous stratigraphies or methods affected by considerable uncertainty. The Grotte à Hominidés is exceptional because rapid sedimentation and continuous deposition allowed capture of a high-resolution magnetic signal recorded within sediments with remarkable detail. It is chronologically valuable that the sediments containing the hominin fossils were deposited precisely during this transition. Paleontological evidence from the Grotte à Hominidés aligns most closely with the older part of this interval.

Source: The North Africa Journal January 07, 2026 18:32 UTC