Humans might've roamed Earth earlier than thought!
New research claims, fossilized remains of some of humanity's oldest ancestors are far older than originally thought.
One of the fossils, of an ancient cave woman Mrs. Ples, were buried for a millennium in the South African caves, also called ‘cradle of humanity’.
Modern testing methods suggests early humans roamed Earth between 3.4-3.7 million years ago, pushing the early dates a million years back.
This shows more possible ways our ancestors could have evolved into early humans.
Credit: Natural History Museum
Highly believed was the ‘Australopithecus africanus’species, to be the oldest with less than 2.6 million years old, fossils were discovered in the Sterkfontein caves near Johannesburg.
Lucy, the earliest human ancestor
Smithsonian Museum, claims, the species - walking on two feet - were shorter than modern-day humans, with males - 4ft 6in (138cm) females - 3ft 9in (115cm).
Researchers discovered this revised age while testing sediments near fossils for levels of a rare isotope formed when rocks were exposed to cosmic rays - before falling into the cave.
“It means our family tree is "more like a bush," French scientist Laurent Bruxelles, said.