First adult Homo erectus fossil from South Africa's Drimolen cave backs a 2-million-year date for the species

In brief 3 key points

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• A skull fragment called DNH 127 is the first adult Homo erectus fossil from Drimolen
• It supports the presence of the species in southern Africa 2 million years ago
• Paranthropus robustus teeth and chewing muscles grew larger between about 2 and 1.8 million years ago

Researchers have described the first adult Homo erectus fossil from Drimolen cave in South Africa's Cradle of Humankind. The skull fragment, catalogued as DNH 127, is about 2 million years old. It adds evidence that the species lived in southern Africa about 200,000 years earlier than traditionally thought.

The study, led by Jesse Martin of La Trobe University in Australia, was published in Annals of Human Biology. It describes 18 hominin fossils, assigned to Homo erectus and to Paranthropus robustus.

A child, and now an adult

Drimolen Main Quarry was discovered in 1992 and excavated until 2019, but many of its fossils had never been formally described. An earlier Homo erectus fossil from the site, DNH 134, belonged to a child aged two to four, which left doubt about what adults looked like.

The new adult fossil is roughly 200,000 years older than adult Homo erectus fossils found elsewhere, including those from Dmanisi in Georgia, which date to about 1.8 million years ago.

“This paper publishes a new adult fossil attributed to Homo erectus, DNH 127, providing further confirmation that this species first appeared in southern Africa 2 million years ago.”

Jesse Martin, La Trobe University

Two paths in one cave

Both species lived in the same landscape and are preserved in the same cave. Homo erectus was developing a larger brain and smaller molars, possibly from eating more meat. Paranthropus robustus kept a brain only slightly larger than a chimpanzee's and evolved huge molars for grinding tough, hard foods.

Comparing the Drimolen fossils with those from the 1.8-million-year-old Swartkrans cave shows Paranthropus teeth, and the muscles used for chewing, grew larger over those 200,000 years. The new fossils also support the separate subspecies name already given to the Drimolen population, Paranthropus robustus ukusa.

“2 million years ago P. robustus outnumbered Homo erectus at Drimolen by more than 10 to one.”

Jesse Martin, La Trobe University

The work involved La Trobe University, the University of Johannesburg, the University of the Witwatersrand and Washington University.

Sources (2)

Peer-reviewed paperfrom La Trobe University, University of Johannesburg and University of the Witwatersrand

• Scientists found Homo erectus 200,000 years earlier than expected (ScienceDaily)
• Drimolen fossils push Homo erectus in South Africa further back (Annals of Human Biology)

Paper: Martin et al., New hominin cranial and mandibular remains from Drimolen Main Quarry, South Africa, Annals of Human Biology (2026)

Edited by Guiseppe Weijermars

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homo erectusparanthropushuman evolutionsouth africafossils

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