Previously, the oldest known fossils clearly from Homo sapiens were from Ethiopia, at about 195,000 years old. It's not clear just when or where Homo sapiens came on the scene in Africa. The different populations may have exchanged beneficial genetic mutations and behaviors, gradually nudging each other toward a more modern form of the species, Hublin said. In this way, he said in an interview, modern Homo sapiens may have arisen in more than one place. Richard Potts of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History said the Morocco fossils "appear to reflect the very early transition to Homo sapiens, very possibly denoting the outset of the lineage to which all people belong."

Source: ABC News June 07, 2017 17:03 UTC