Australopithecus

New human ancestor species from Ethiopia lived alongside Lucy's species

May 27, 2015

Holotype upper jaw of a new human ancestor species found on March 4, 2011. Credit: Yohannes Haile-Selassie, Cleveland Museum of Natural History

A new relative joins "Lucy" on the human family tree. An international team of scientists, led by Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, has discovered a 3.3 to 3.5 million-year-old new human ancestor species. Upper and lower jaw fossils recovered from the Woranso-Mille area of the Afar region of Ethiopia have been assigned to the new species Australopithecus deyiremeda. This hominin lived alongside the famous "Lucy's" species, Australopithecus afarensis. The species will be described in the May 28, 2015 issue of the international scientific journal Nature./.../

Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-05-human-ancestor-species-ethiopia-lucy.html#jCp