Some of the oldest remains of modern humans in the world are much older than scientists thought.

Initial research suggested they were nearly 200,000 years old, but new research shows the remains are at least 230,000 years old.  The peer-reviewed research was published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. .

Fossils found in the Sahara Desert in 2017 were more than 300,000 years old, but Mounier told Rueters the fossils "do not possess some of the key morphological features that define our species," so there are questions whether they are linked to modern humans or another species related to humans

Vidal said she was "really excited" to find out the remains are much older than thought – from the late Middle Pleistocene time period, before Homo sapiens began to spread out of Africa