MIAMI: The oldest remains of a modern human outside Africa have been dug up in Israel, offering evidence of what genetic studies have already suggested: that humans migrated out of Africa some 50,000 years earlier than previously thought. Until now, the earliest modern human fossils found outside of Africa were estimated to be between 90,000 to 120,000 years old. In China, the human fossils known to science are younger, with fragments from the Zhiren and Daoxian Caves ranging in age from 80,000 to 113,000 years ago. But the discovery in Israel sheds new light on the routes of modern human migration out of Africa and helps scientists better under the evolution of our own species. Previous research, based on ancient DNA analyses, has suggested that modern humans left Africa even earlier, as far back as 220,000 years ago.

Source: Pakistan Today January 25, 2018 22:07 UTC