According to a recent study published in the journal Nature, fossil evidence of Homo erectus dating as little as 108,000 to 117,000 years ago has been found in a bone bed (that is, a deposit of bones) in Central Java, Indonesia.
The oldest species
The earliest remains of Homo erectus , discovered in Africa, have been dated at approximately 1.9 million years. This means that H. erectus lived about nine times longer than our own species, Homo sapiens , has lived so far.
Although earlier Asian populations of H. erectus could have given rise to H. sapiens, today it is considered more likely that Homo sapiens probably evolved in Africa from African populations of H. erectus .
A species that possibly descends late from Homo erectus is the small Homo floresiensis, although from the study of the bones of the wrist, arms and shoulder it is considered more likely that it descends directly from Homo georgicus or from H. habilis.
However, the most recent human species was described on April 10, 2019 : a new species from the Upper Pleistocene era that has been called Homo luzonensis .
The discovery is based on remains excavated on the island of Luzon, the Philippines. The phalanges of H. luzonensis are curved, which could indicate arboreal behavior.