The News & Views article 'Palaeoanthropology: On the origin of our species' by Chris Stringer and Julia Galway-Witham (Nature 546, 212–214; 2017) stated that at least five individuals were identified from human fossils uncovered in excavations reported by Hublin et al. (Nature 546, 289–292; 2017) and Richter et al. (Nature 546, 293–296; 2017). However, fossil samples uncovered during previous excavations were also used to identify the individuals. The text of the News & Views article has been amended online.