Homo erectus adapted to harsh deserts 1.2 million years ago, study finds

Homo erectus was able to adapt to and survive in desert-like environments at least 1.2 million years ago, according to a paper published in Communications Earth & Environment. The findings suggest that behavioral adaptations included returning repeatedly over thousands of years to specific rivers and ponds for fresh water, and the development of specialized tools.

The authors propose that this capability to adapt may have led to the expansion of H. erectus’ geographic range.

There has been significant debate over when early hominins acquired the adaptability to survive in extreme environments, such as deserts or rainforests. Previous research has frequently concluded that only Homo sapiens were able to adapt to such environments.

Julio Mercader, Paul Durkin, and colleagues collected archaeological, geological, and paleoclimatic data at Engaji Nanyori in Oldupai Gorge, Tanzania—a key early hominin archaeological site.

The authors report that between approximately 1.2 million and 1 million years ago, semi-desert conditions persisted in the area with characteristic plant life evident.

The archaeological data suggests that groups of H. erectus in the area adapted to the conditions over the period by repeatedly returning to live in locations with freshwater availability such as ponds, and developing specialized stone tools such as scrapers and notched tools (known as denticulates), which the authors suggest were probably used to increase the efficiency of butchery.

The authors suggest that, together, these findings demonstrate that H. erectus had a much greater adaptability to survive in extreme environments than was previously thought.

They conclude that their results contradict previous hypotheses that only H. sapiens could adapt to extreme ecosystems, and that H. erectus may have been a generalist species able to survive in a variety of landscapes in Africa and Eurasia.