Question: Which of the following are correct:
(i) As per a recent study published in Nature , one of the oldest known Homo sapiens fossils, Omo Kibish I, may be around 35,000 years older than it was previously thought.
(ii) Omo Kibish I was first unearthed in Ethiopia in 1967.
Which of the above are correct?
(a) i
(b) ii
(c) both
(d) none
Ans: c
Related Facts
- As per a recent study published in Nature , one of the oldest known Homo sapiens fossils, Omo Kibish I, may be around 35,000 years older than it was previously thought.
- Omo Kibish I was first unearthed in lower Omo valley of southern Ethiopia. in 1967.
- Earlier attempts to date the Omo I fossils suggested they were 197,000 years old, but the new research shows they must be older than that.
- A major explosive eruption of Shala volcano in the Main Ethiopian Rift that took place 230,000 years ago and represent the earliest evidence of our species, Homo sapiens.
- The study used volcanic ash to date the fossils and thus there were 22,000-year margin of error.
- New minimum age for Omo I is consistent with most recent theories of human evolution.
- Study also brings it closer to the age given to oldest Homo sapiens remains, which were discovered in 2017 in Morocco. Remains in Morocco were dated to 300,000 years ago.
- Omo I is the only fossil, with all the morphological characteristics of modern man.
Kameshwar Shukla
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