RABAT, January 8. /TASS/. Fossilized bone fragments of hominids who might be a common ancestor of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals have been unearthed in Morocco.
The ancient remains were discovered by an international team of researchers at the site of Thomas Quarry I near Casablanca, Morocco. The fossils include a partial lower jaw of an adult, a complete lower jaw of a child, a leg bone, several vertebrae and numerous individual teeth. The discovery dates back to the period between years 700,000 and 773,000 BC.
Abderrahim Mohib, a professor at the National Institute of Sciences of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage and a member of the international scientific team described the discovery in a conversation with a TASS correspondent as an "important element in understanding the evolution of modern humans and the ‘sister line’ that was a predecessor to other forms of hominids discovered in Europe."
The discovery in Casablanca dates back to the period when hominids have split into the two major lines - the African, which eventually produced Homo sapiens, and the Eurasian, from which the Neanderthals have originated.
That is why, in the Moroccan prehistorian’s opinion, the fossils from Thomas Quarry I "can be viewed as remains of humans who are the most likely candidates to a common ancestor to both the Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens.".