Archaeologists discover ‘new species’ of ancient human

Afar region, Ethiopia. Image by Indrik myneur / CC BY 2.0

Researchers have unearthed a new species of ancient human in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia. The robust jaw bones and small canine teeth, which date to between 3.3m and 3.5m years old, are said to distinctly separate this new Australopithecus deyiremeda species from other hominids. The age of the bones means this new species was alive at the same time as several other early humans, making our family tree more complicated than was previously thought. The ground-breaking study is published in the journal Nature. Read more: bbc.co.uk