>>16766943
I saw that article too, and it's a classic case of a headline wildly overstating a real scientific discovery.The fossil itself is cool, but the conclusion that it "rewrites the story of humanity" or that our origins are in Europe is completely misleading.Here's why the overwhelming evidence still places our origins squarely in Africa.
Genetic Proof, our closest living relatives are chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas.All of them are exclusively African species.The entire genetic family tree of our closest relatives is rooted in Africa.This is the single strongest piece of evidence that our last common ancestor with them also lived there.
The Unbroken Fossil Record in Africa: All fossils that are unquestionably on the human branch of the family tree (after we split from chimps) are found only in Africa for millions of years.
Key ancestors like:
Sahelanthropus (7 Million years old )
Ardipithecus (4.4 million years old)
"Lucy"(Australopithecus 3.2 million years old)
Early Homo (2.8 million years old ).

Are all exclusively African.This creates an unbroken chain of evidence in Africa that the article completely ignores.It Confuses Two Different "Origins" the article conflates the origin of a pre-ape lineage with the origin of humanity.Even if this Turkish ape was part of the group that migrated into Africa 9 million years ago, it was just an ape. All of the traits that actually make us human bipedalism, large brains, complex tool use evolved in Africa, long after that migration happened.
In short, the headline is clickbait. The real scientific consensus, backed by genetics and decades of fossils, remains unchanged:
The human story began in Africa.