Discovery of a completely new species of ancestor of modern humans

“Thirteen worn, weathered teeth, discovered in the dusty, desert plains of northern Ethiopia, shed new light on an incomplete chapter of human evolution,” begins Science.

These fossilized remains date back 2.6 million to 2.8 million years, according to the researchers who described them in Nature on Wednesday, August 13. But more importantly, they belong to a member of a previously unseen species of the genus Australopithecus, the same as the famous Lucy.

The researchers compared these teeth to other fossils found at the same paleoanthropological site of Ledi-Geraru, in the Afar region of Ethiopia, as well as to more than 700 others belonging to eleven hominins, groups that include bipedal creatures. They discovered that these teeth have enough distinctive features to confirm that they belong to a species of Australopithecus new to science. More parts of its body would be needed to confirm this and give it a proper name. For now, it is called Australopithecus Ledi-Geraru .

“ Not only does our already extensive family tree become even more extensive, but this discovery also shows that [members of this new