OLDEST GENETIC EVIDENCE FOUND

Oldest ever human genetic evidence retrieved from 800,000-year-old fossil.

Genetic information from an 800,000-year-old human fossil has been retrieved for the first time. The results, funded in part by The Leakey Foundation, shed light on one of the branching points in the human family tree, reaching much further back in time than previously possible.

“Ancient protein analysis provides evidence for a close relationship between Homo antecessor, us, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. Our results support the idea that Homo antecessor was a sister group to the group containing Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans,” says Leakey Foundation grantee Frido Welker.