It is widely accepted that homo sapiens evolved in Africa 200,000 years ago. Based on the evidence of bones found outside Africa, it was believed that they stayed there until 60,000 years ago. After that they broke out through the Middle East and spread around the world.
This orthodoxy is beginning to fade gradually as ancient bones are uncovered in the east to challenge it. Last month (July 2014), Christopher Bae of the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Wei Wang of the Guangxi Museum of Nationalities in Nanning, China, and their colleagues described two teeth from the Luna cave in China's Guangxi Zhuang region. The team argued that at least one of them must have belonged to an early Homo sapiens based on the proportions of the teeth.
Teeth alone is not sufficient to support any claims. "I am not convinced that these teeth are diagnostic," says Erik Trinkaus of Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. He says too little is known about how teeth evolved over the millennia in Asia. Until more conclusive evidence is discovered, homo sapiens will still be regard as evolving from Africa.
Source: New Scientist
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