Discovered the new face of a human ancestor 3.9 million years old

Researchers who worked on the Woranso-Mille Paleontological Research Project in Afar-Ethiopia state for 15 years discovered the skull.

A detailed analysis of the skull and where it was found was published August 28 in the journal Nature.

"I couldn't believe my eyes. It was an eureka moment and a dream came true , " said Yohannes Haile-Selassie, research author at Cleveland's Museum of Natural History . the most important specimens we have found so far. "

The complete face of an ancestor of 3.8 million years ago.(Photo: Ancient Finds).

This MRD skull , identified by researchers as representing the first human ancestor called Australopithecus anamensis lived 3.9 to 4.2 million years ago. This is different from what we've been saying for a long time: We still consider ourselves an ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis, which the famous Lucy skeleton had found before.

"So far, our understanding has a huge gap between the earliest known human ancestor, about 6 million years old and species like" Lucy, "2-3 million years old. The most interesting aspect of this discovery is the way it bridges the morphological space between these two groups, "said Dr. Stephanie Melillo, co-author of the research at the Max Planck Institute of Anthropological Evolution.

Anamensis skull , likely belonging to a man, was moved a short distance down a river after death and was buried by a sediment in a delta - Beverly Saylor, the author of the study Researcher and professor of stratigraphy and sediment at Case Western Reserve University - said.

As the oldest known member of the genus Australopithecus, anamensis possesses a mixture of intriguing features: The long and small skull, which tends to protrude with the cheekbones brought forward. Fangs are found in very large skulls.

Determining anamensis is allowing researchers to understand how early human ancestors developed.

Confirming the identity of the debris that lived 3.9 million years ago, shows that two species that actually existed together for at least 100,000 years are afarensis and anamensis.

Afarensis's face, 3 million years old.(Photo: CNN).

"We used to think that anamensis gradually turned into afarensis over time," said Melillo. "We still think that these two species have an ancestral relationship, but this new finding suggests that the two species actually lived together for quite some time. It changed our understanding of the progression process," he said. chemistry and raise new questions: are these animals competing for food or space with each other? "

Whether or not mixed populations continue to be debated by scientists.