World Atlas Core Records · Evolution

Toros-Menalla

c. 7-6 million years ago · Chad

Fossils from the Djurab Desert expanded the known geography of very early possible hominins beyond the East African Rift.

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AI-generated evidence-guided visualization related to Toros-Menalla, c. 7-6 million years ago. — AI-generated visualization based on the cited record and period context. It is not documentary evidence or an authenticated reconstruction of a single event.

How the setting appeared

The ancient environment was not today's desert; lakes, woodland patches and open habitats changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Setting and material context · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people lived

Behavior cannot be reconstructed as a settled culture from the surviving fossils.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Lifeways and community · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

How people worked

No secure tool tradition can be assigned to these fossils.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Work, tools and exchange · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Belief, ritual and worship

No evidence supports a reconstruction of belief or ritual.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Belief, ritual and evidence limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

World-atlas stage: Deep origins
Region: Africa · Chad
Languages and scripts: Not named in this record
Important people: No individual is centered in this record
Events and changes: c. 7-6 million years ago: Fossils assigned to Sahelanthropus tchadensis were deposited in the Djurab Desert locality; 2001 CE: Fieldwork recovered the TM 266 cranium and associated fossil remains; 2002 CE: Sahelanthropus tchadensis was formally described from the Toros-Menalla material
Evidence confidence: The fossils and dates are established; their place in hominin evolution and locomotion remains debated.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Dates, place, language, people, events and confidence · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Historical geography

A dated anchor, not an exact border

The local map uses modern coastlines only for orientation. The marker identifies this record's geographic anchor, not the full reach of a community or polity.

Map geometry loads only when requested. Modern outlines are orientation only; historical geography and identities changed through time.

Agent citation CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLACIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE Historical-geography anchor and stated limits · 2 registered source URLs · registration is not semantic proof · audit HEM-AUDIT-20260812

Evidence register

Guides used for this record

Each registered source ID is paired with its institutional URL for independent checking. Source count is transparent, and duplicate URLs count only once.

CIT-CORE-TOROS-MENALLA

Toros-Menalla: record evidence guide

https://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/tm-266-01-060-1

humanorigins.si.edu

CIT-CORE069-TOROS-MENALLA-NATURE

A new hominid from the Upper Miocene of Chad, Central Africa

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature00879

Nature

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