How Many People Have Heard Of Graecopithicus?

Not many I bet.

Credit: Big Think

According to the latest news from the world of paleogenetics, Graecopithicus is the first Homininae or human-like creature that split from the common ancestor of early human beings and chimpanzees. El Greaco as he / she is informally or affectionately known, apparently set the ball rolling for a wide variety of hominid creatures that ended up with us — homo sapiens.

This split is thought to have happened some 7 million years ago though some scholars are of the opinion it could have happened as recently as 3 million years ago. However, this latter date is based on the supporters of the “Out Of Africa” theory where the split from our chimpanzee / hominid ancestor believe early humans developed in Africa and emigrated to what is now Europe and Asia, in several different waves.

What has upset the Out of Africa apple cart theory is the location of where the Graecopithicus jawbone and various other fossilized bits and pieces of bone were found in two separate locations in what is now Europe; Bulgaria and Greece.

As can be expected, these discoveries have created a great deal of heated discussion between many of the world’s experts, particularly those who are very committed to the Out Of Africa school of thought. For many years the Out of Africa theory was the bible of…