Main Broadly defined H. erectus ( H. erectus sensu lato ) was widely distributed across three continents and was geologically long-lived 1 , 2 , 3 , lasting nearly 2 million years (Myr). Homo erectus is thought to have spread from East Africa into western Asia (1.8 Myr ago (Ma), Dmanisi, Georgia), marking the earliest generally accepted evidence of the genus Homo outside of Africa 4 , 5 . The earliest H. erectus specimen found in Europe is from the TE7 level of the Sima del Elefante site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) 6 , dated between 1.4 Ma and 1.1 Ma. After dispersing to China and Indonesia, H. erectus persisted in these regions for a considerable geological duration. In China, the record of H. erectus dates back to about 2.1–1.6 Ma (refs. 7 , 8 , 9 ) and disappears roughly 0.4–0.3 Ma (ref. 10 ). In Java, Indonesia, the fossils of H. erectus range from 1.5 Ma to as recent as 0.1 Ma. Overall, H. erectus has had an important role in human evolution.…