Fossilized teeth have been discovered by German paleontologists, dating 9.7 million years and believed to have the power to “rewrite” human history
The fossilized remains are thought to be great ape teeth, an upper right first molar and an upper left canine. They were found over a year ago in Eppelsheim, Germany in sediments that are as old as 10 million years.
“It’s perfectly preserved. It actually looks like a new excellent tooth; however, it’s no longer white. It’s shining like amber,” Herbert Lutz, head of the excavation team said
He also added that the discovery is groundbreaking due to its potential to alter our understanding of how we developed and migrated in prehistoric times.
“I don’t want to over-dramatize it, but I would hypothesize that we shall have to start rewriting the history of mankind after today,” Mainz Mayor Michael Ebling told reporters during a press conference
According to researchers, we currently believe that hominins left Africa about 120.000 year ago, but the discovered remains are much older.
“We have comparable finds only in East Africa…but they are only 2, 3, 4 or 5 million years old, and Eppelsheim is almost 10,” said Matz. “So the question is: What has happened? We don’t know where this great ape came from. We do not have comparable finds from southern Europe.”
Even more interesting is that even though the discovery has been made over a year ago, in September 2016, the team was so confused that they did not hurry to release a report about it at all.
“It’s a complete mystery where this individual came from, and why nobody’s ever found a tooth like this somewhere before,” Lutz said
Source: foxnews.com
