The newly discovered fossils reveal an unknown human parent

The researchers discovered fossils belonging to an ancient human parent before unknown. And they may have experienced at the same time and at the same time as the most famous members of the genre HomoFrom which modern humans have evolved, according to a new study.

A team of archaeologists working in the Ethiopia LEDI-Geraru Research Project Zone found a set of fossilized teeth which probably belonged to an unidentified species within the Australopithecus Like, known for having both human and monkeys. The results are published in Nature.

So far, scientists have discovered six Australopithecus Species in African sites, including the famous Lucy fossil. But all these species did not meet with our first human ancestors in the genus Homo.

The newly found teeth, of two people, date back to 2.6 to 2.8 million years. While they share certain characteristics with others Australopithecus Species, comparisons with nearby fossils and other hominin specimens indicate that they are sufficiently distinct to be considered a new species.

On the same site, scientists also discovered three other teeth which probably belonged to members of the first species of Homodating from 2.59 million years. This species was identified for the first time in 2013 through a jaw on the same study site.

These discoveries suggest that up to the first four human -type lines –Homo,, Paranthropus,, Australopithecus garhiAnd newly identified species – can be coexisted in East Africa between 2.5 and 3.0 million years.

“This new research shows that the image that many of us have in our mind from a monkey to a Neanderthal to a modern human is not correct – the evolution does not work like that,” said Kaye Reed, paleoecologist of Arizona State University, in a press release. “Here, we have two species of hominines that are together. And human evolution is not linear, it is a bushy tree, there are forms of life that disappear.”

Researchers need more fossil of the species to give it a name. But for the moment, the researchers have nicknamed the new genus Ledi-Geraru Australopithecus.

The way these first ancestors were able to coexist is always a mystery, but it is possible that they have eaten different things and do not compete with the same resources. Scientists are currently examining newly discovered teeth enamel to understand what these species have been able to eat.

“Whenever you have an exciting discovery, if you are a paleontologist, you always know that you need more information,” Reed said in a statement. “You need more fossils. This is why this is an important area to train people and so that people go out and find their own sites and find places where we have not yet found fossils. ”