Fossil Finger Shows Early Humans Entering Saudi Arabia

An ancient human finger bone has been discovered in Saudi Arabia. This bone has opened up new possibilities about when and how our species have migrated out of the continent of Africa. Researchers of the study say that this discovery shows that hunter gatherers had reached that area around 85,000 years ago. There have been some previous discoveries in human fossils that show there was an earlier human presence in Israel and possibly China. Scientists who have participated in the research also believe that early people left the continent of Africa more than once after evolving there at least 300,000 years ago.

The bone which is from an adult and is most likely the middle finger was found in 2016 about 550 kilometers or 340 miles southeast of the Sinai Peninsula. Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany who was one of the scientists on the discovery says that the ancient people most likely left Africa through the peninsula. The reports of the discovery were made public in Monday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

According to the researchers, understanding the timing and nature of the expansion of Homo Sapiens or Human is crucial in drawing conclusions about the colonization and the admixture processes that underpin the global population history.

By: NehaMaheshwari

Content: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/fossil-finger-points-to-early-humans-entering-saudi/article23484311.ece