The first humans known to have lived outdoors in Africa shared their environment with hunting dogs, and possibly even stole food from them.
For many years, archaeologists excavated a site near Dmanisi, Georgia, where they discovered evidence that ancient humans, classified as Homo erectus, were provided about 1. 8 million years ago. Manisi humans provide the first fossil evidence of hominids outside of Africa. .
But when ancient humans left Africa, it turned out that they encountered prehistoric hunting dogs moving around Africa, as the remains of one of those dogs have now been discovered in Dmanisi.
Saverio Bartolini-Lucenti of the University of Florence, Italy, and his colleagues analyzed the remains, which came here of a young adult Eurasian hunting dog (Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides), an extinct species of hunting dog similar to African hunting dogs (Lycaon pictus).
“Imagine an African hunting dog, even more physically powerful with long limbs like an Irish greyhound, but so thin,” explains bartolini-lucenti.
It is believed that this animal lived about 1. 8 million years ago, making it the oldest ever discovered in Europe.
It is believed that these wild dogs are local to Asia, Europe and Africa about 1. 8-0. 8 million years ago.
“Finding it in Dmanisi, which is vital on the border, on the border of 3 continents (Asia, Africa and Europe), is attractive because it is at a time when we have not had appearances in this way,” bartolini-lucenti explains.
Modern African hunting dogs have adapted to consume their prey very temporarily before they can be stolen by larger and more potent predators, such as lions and hyenas. Eurasian hunting dogs would possibly have interacted in the same way with primitive humans, explains bartolini-lucenti. with humans scaring dogs to borrow their prey.
It’s hard to know how two ancient species interact, “especially when the fossil record is poor,” says Marco Cherin of the University of Perugia in Italy. “But I am convinced that dmani’s registration may offer new surprises in the future, and this document represents a smart start. “
Journal reference: Scientific Reports, DOI: 10. 1038 / s41598-021-92818-4
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