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We know that‚ around 2.1 million years ago‚ Homo erectus‚ the first humans‚ migrated out of Africa. But how did they make this epic journey across territory that is covered in expansive desert?For a long time‚ researchers have puzzled over how H. erectus managed to cross through northeastern Africa and the Middle East‚ to make their way into Europe. The desert landscape in this region is merciless today‚ and food and water would have been scarce.Now researchers from Aarhus University‚ Denmark‚ suggest the desert may not have been a problem for H. erectus as it may not have existed at the time.“We know that there are recurring periods when the climate in the Sahara changes. We call the phenomenon ‘Green Sahara’ or ‘African Humid Periods’‚” Rachel Lupien‚ one of the authors of the study explained in a statement.“During a green period‚ the desert shrinks significantly and is transformed into a landscape that resembles the savannas we know from eastern Africa today.”According to Lupien and her team’s work‚ the Sahara may have been much greener at precisely the time when H. erectus first migrated from Africa. In fact‚ the Sahara may have been greener than any other time in the 4.5 million year period they studied.H. erectus was‚ Lupien said‚ “most likely able to walk through a green corridor out of Africa.”The seafloor tells allToday‚ the Sahara is experiencing one of its dry spells. How long these periods last for tends to vary‚ but it appears the region experiences a full cycle – between dry and wet periods – every 20‚000 years. The rainy periods have been dubbed “African Humid Periods” by Lupien and colleagues.“How wet the humid green periods become‚ varies. There are indeed two other cycles that also come into play. One lasts 100‚000 years and the other 400‚000 years. Over the course of 100‚000 years‚ the wet periods will thus vary and become wetter or drier than usual. The same applies in intervals of 400‚000 years‚” Lupien explained.But how do we know how the Sahara looked several hundred thousand years ago? Well‚ the seafloor can tell us.“Using core samples from the Mediterranean‚ we can see what the climate was like millions of years back in time. Layers of sediment are formed on the seafloor‚ and small molecules in these layers can tell us quite a bit about what the climate was like in the past.”The seabed is basically a kind of logbook to past climates. When material from the land is blown into the sea‚ it drifts to the seafloor where it gradually builds up into new layers of “stuff”. Each layer has its own suite of biomarkers that store information about the climate at that time. One such marker is the wax plants use to protect their leaves.“Wax gives leaves on trees‚ bushes and grasses the coating that makes them shine. When the plants die‚ most plant parts decompose quite quickly‚ while wax molecules can survive for a long time. That’s why we often find such molecules in sediments that are millions of years old‚” Lupien added.Interestingly‚ the hydrogen molecules in these waxes can be used to determine the levels of precipitation at the time.“Water contains hydrogen‚ so we can use hydrogen to follow the water cycle. The water on Earth contains both regular hydrogen and heavy hydrogen (deuterium). When it rains a lot‚ the plants are able to absorb relatively less heavy hydrogen‚ while when it is dry they absorb more‚” Lupien added.But while the amount of heavy hydrogen in the wax may tell us when it rained in the distant past‚ it does not tell us anything about the plants that thrived at the time. However‚ the carbon atoms contained in the leaf wax can fill that gap.“Broadly speaking‚ there are two types of plants. We also call them C3 and C4 plants‚” Lupien explained. “About 90 percent of all plants are C3 plants. They thrive in most parts of the globe except in areas that are bone dry or very hot. C4 plants‚ on the other hand‚ are specialized to survive in areas where rain rarely falls and the temperature is high.”C3 and C4 plants produce leaf wax with different amounts of heavy carbon‚ allowing us to distinguish between them in a sample. As such‚ they can tell us which plants were most dominant at a given time‚ and it seems C3 plants were most abundant at the time when H. erectus migrated. They are also more abundant at this time than at another other humid period in the last 4.5 million years.The Sahara‚ it seems‚ was actually a grassland right at the time when our ancestors set off towards the Middle East and on to Europe.“The climate has therefore most likely facilitated this migration‚” Lupien concludes.The study is published in the journal Communications Earth &; Environment. 

Happy birthday to you‚ happy birthday to you‚ happy birthday dear Jonathan the 191-year-old tortoise‚ happy birthday to you! The world’s oldest living land animal‚ a Seychelles giant tortoise (Aldabrachelys gigantea hololissa) named Jonathan‚ who has captured hearts across the world with his longevity and antics‚ has reached the grand old age of 191.In doing so he breaks his own Guinness World Record as the world’s oldest chelonian. Chelonian is the old name for animals belonging to the order Chelonia‚ now called Testudines (because zoologists love renaming things)‚ which refers to reptiles that are either turtles‚ tortoises‚ or terrapins. Jonathan's life story is a fascinating one. While we celebrate his birthday‚ nobody knows the exact date on which he hatched. It’s thought that he came into the world around 1832‚ and was gifted to the future governor of Saint Helena‚ Sir William Grey-Wilson‚ in 1882 as a fully grown adult tortoise‚ which would have made him around 50 years old at the time. In 2022‚ Jonathan was granted an official birthday‚ by the now governor of Saint Helena Nigel Philippes – December 4‚ 1832. Despite his advanced age‚ his vet Joe Hollins told Guinness World Records (GWR) that he lives life with a healthy appetite.“In spite of losing his sense of smell and being virtually blind from cataracts‚ his appetite remains keen‚” Hollins told GWR. “He is still being hand-fed once a week with a fortifying helping of fruit and vegetables by a small‚ dedicated team. This not only supplements his calories but provides those essential drivers of his metabolism: vitamins‚ minerals and trace elements.”      IFLScience is not responsible for content shared from external sites.Jonathan enjoys his meals in the company of three other tortoises‚ David‚ Emma‚ and Fred‚ in the gardens of Plantation House. This is the official home of Saint Helena's governor and where the elderly tortoise has lived for most of his life. David and Emma joined him in 1969‚ while Fred became part of the group in 1991. Initially‚ Fred was believed to be a female (originally called Frederika)‚ but after persistent mating attempts from Jonathan‚ was discovered to be a male. Hollins says Jonathan still frequently tries to mate with both Emma and Fred. “Animals are often not particularly gender-sensitive!” Hollins said. In his 191 years‚ he has lived through the invention of the lightbulb‚ the first flight by the Wright brothers‚ and the first people on the Moon‚ not to mention the terms of 40 US presidents.“It is extraordinary to think that this gentle giant has outlived every other living creature on land‚ including‚ of course‚ the whole human race‚” Hollins said to GWR. “Jonathan is in good health and all the indications at present make us hopeful that he will reach his third century—if indeed he hasn’t done so already!”Happy birthday‚ Jonathan! 

Although pork and beef are some of the most popular meats for modern humans‚ it’s easy to wonder if the same could be said when we couldn’t just pop to the supermarket to pick them up. Researchers previously thought that humans in the Middle Pleistocene stuck to hunting and eating large mammals – but a recent study has revealed a far smaller‚ somewhat unexpected item on the menu: beavers.In examining the bones of at least 94 beavers from 400‚000 years ago‚ excavated from the Bilzingsleben site in Germany‚ a team of archaeologists uncovered what they described in their paper as “systematic exploitation of beavers” by humans at this time. Under magnifying glasses and digital microscopes‚ the beaver bones showed signs of cut marks made by stone tools‚ something of an unusual find. "Until now‚ cut marks on Palaeolithic beaver bones had been identified very rarely and on isolated bones only‚” said Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser‚ one of the study’s authors‚ in a statement.The distribution of the cut marks suggests that humans may have targeted beavers for both their skins and as a source of meat. As for why they took to eating them‚ it might have something to do with these rodents’ characteristic rotundness. Fat was a pretty important food resource during the Pleistocene and the beaver remains largely belonged to young adults – fully grown and fat-rich‚ but not yet experienced in dealing with threats‚ making them an ideal target for hunters.The study’s findings contradict the previous assumption that humans had a relatively narrow diet until later on in the Pleistocene. "Until now‚ it was generally thought that people in Europe fed primarily on large game until around 50‚000 years ago‚ and that this was an important difference to the more flexible dietary strategies of modern humans‚” said Gaudzinski-Windheuser. “We have now demonstrated that the hominin food spectrum was much broader much earlier."Gaudzinski-Windheuser also had an explanation for why it may have seemed as though early humans hunted mainly larger animals‚ such as bovids and rhinoceroses. "The remains of large mammals from this period are generally much better preserved than those of small ones‚ not to mention plant remains‚” said the researcher.Modern humans are also starting to explore some more unusual food choices on the particularly small side – you might find a bug-based meal on your plate at some point in the near future.The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.