The fertile ground of Africa produced the first hominids, most experts agree. Largely herbivores, early species didn´t stray far from familiar plants, which had limited ranges. Then, some two million years ago, a different kind of hominid appeared: a carnivore born to roam. ”Meat is meat”, explains Alan Walker, a paleoanthropologist at Pennsylvania State University. “Once you start eating it, you can take advantage of other animals’ adaptations to the various plants and spread over enormous distances.”.

A widely held theory says that Homo erectus was the first hominid to venture out of Africa, leaving a trail of its own bones as well as stone tools. Finely worked hand axes are the signature of erectus at many sites. “Experiments and common sense suggest they were heavy-duty butchery tools, but we can’t prove it,” says Indiana University lithic specialist Nick Toth.

Yet Homo erectus may not have been the first explorer after all. Controversial new evidence with extraordinarily early dates has convinced some scientists that an older Homo species appeared in Asia just as erectus was emerging in Africa.

Adaptado de: GORE, Rick. National Geographic. May, 1997. 

Vocabulário: dawn: princípio; stray: afastar-se; familiar plants: plantas conhecidas; range: espaço, abrangência; spread: espalhar-se; venture: aventurar-se; tools: ferramentas; finely worked: caprichosamente trabalhadas; axes: machados; butchery: de/para açougueiro; lithic: lítico; yet: porém, no entanto.

Sobre o que nos relata o autor no último parágrafo desse texto, assinale o que for correto.

01) Segundo evidências, a espécie asiática de Homo é muito mais antiga do que a africana.

02) Alguns cientistas se convenceram de que uma espécie mais antiga de homo teria aparecido na Ásia ao mesmo tempo em que erectus surgia na África.

04) As evidências nas quais os cientistas se basearam são recentes, mas se referem a datas muito antigas.

08) Homo erectus pode não ter sido o primeiro “explorador” da espécie.