Ancient relative of Lucy potentially cohabited with the earliest known human species at the same location, according to a recent study.
In a significant discovery, a team of paleontologists and archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a previously unknown early human relative in Ethiopia's Afar region. The fossilised teeth, dated between 2.6 and 2.8 million years old, belong to an unidentified species of Australopithecus, which they are calling the Ledi-Geraru Australopithecus for now.
The Ledi-Geraru archaeological site, close to Hadar where Lucy was found, has yielded some groundbreaking discoveries, including the oldest known human specimen and some of the oldest known stone tools made by hominins. According to the researchers, the site was an open and arid grassy plain during this period, making it an ideal location for early human habitation.
This new species likely coexisted in the same region and time period as early Homo species, revealing a more complex "bushy tree" model of human evolution rather than a linear progression from ape to modern humans. The morphology of the teeth suggests that this species is distinct from the famous Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy).
The name of this new Australopithecus species has not been explicitly mentioned in the latest updates. However, it is considered a previously unknown species contributing to greater diversity among early human relatives in that region and time frame, potentially related to or ancestral to the Ledi-Geraru Australopithecus specimens.
The team has also found teeth from a Homo species and one tooth from A.garhi at the same site. The extremely old teeth from Homo may belong to the oldest known Homo species on record. John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, stated that the new paper provides evidence of this coexistence in Ethiopia during a significant time frame, possibly the earliest population of the genus Homo.
The researchers are studying the enamel on the newfound teeth to determine what these species were eating. This discovery brings the total number of hominin species known to have lived in Ethiopia around 2.6 million years ago to three, including Homo species and A.garhi. The team is continuing their search for more information and fossils at the Ledi-Geraru archaeological site to gain further insights into human evolution.
The study publishing these findings was published in the journal Nature on August 13. This new discovery adds an exciting chapter to our understanding of human evolutionary diversity in East Africa.
References: 1. BBC News 2. Science Magazine 3. National Geographic 4. The New York Times
- This new discovery, shedding light on human evolutionary diversity in East Africa, signifies a significant next step in the field of science, particularly in the study of medical-conditions and human ancestry.
- As a result of advancements in technology and excavation techniques, education-and-self-development in the realms of space-and-astronomy and archaeology are poised to make even more remarkable strides, opening up the upcoming frontier of our understanding of the origins of human life.
