Discover the oldest fossil of mankind

A piece of lower jaw bone excavated in Ethiopia, Africa dates back to 2.8 million years, showing that human history dates earlier than we thought 400,000 years.

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The lower jaw bone fossil is found in Ethiopia.(Photo: Discovery News).

Scientists have excavated the fossil in Ledi-Geraru area in Afar state, northern Ethiopia. In the past, the oldest known fossil record dates to about 2.3 to 2.4 million years. This discovery helps repel the evolutionary history of mankind in the past about 400 thousand years.

"Three million years ago, human beings were like monkeys, living on trees and walking on two feet," said Brian Villmoare, a researcher at the Nevada Las Vegas University, who led the fossil study. "They live in the forest, have small brains, don't eat meat or use tools".

"After two million years, humans have big brains, use stone tools and eat meat. Therefore, this transition period is extremely important in terms of human evolution."

Villmoare and his colleagues believe that the recently discovered fossil bone fossil may be the common ancestor of two separate lineages about 2.3 million years ago, one remained in Ethiopia and the other went to Tanzania.

According to Discovery News, because only one piece of the lower jaw bone is found, scientists cannot tell more about the rest of the body.

"However," Villmoare added, "the bone has elements that show that the lower teeth have shrunk, suitable for evolutionary adaptation to Human limbs."