Scientists now believe that human ancestry is more diverse than previously thought following the discovery of a new species of human beings in Ethiopia.
A study published in the journal Nature revealed how researchers unearthed in Ethiopia's Afar region ancient jaw bones and teeth. These discoveries proved the existence of the new species, Australopithecus deyiremeda, which means "close relative" when translated in the language of the Afar people.
The unearthed jaw bones and teeth are thought to belong to four ancient individuals. Their features are both ape- and human-like.
Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, leader of the team that discovered the new ancient human species, explained how researchers closely studied the detailed anatomy and morphology of the teeth and the upper and lower jaws.
"We found major differences. This new species has very robust jaws. In addition, we see this new species had smaller teeth. The canine is really small—smaller than all known hominins we have documented in the past," Haile-Selassie, curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, told BBC News.
The ancient remains are believed to date back between 3.3 million and 3.5 million years. The age of the discoveries suggest that the ancient human species could have co-existed with three other different species of humans during the early times.
One of these ancient species is the Australopithecus afarensis, which lived between 2.9 to 3.8 million years ago. The remains unearthed in Ethiopia were very similar to this species, which was nicknamed "Lucy" when it was first discovered.
The other two species were Kenyanthropus platyops discovered in Kenya in 2001, and the Australopithecus bahrelghazali, unearthed in Chad.
Haile-Selassie said his team needs to discover more fossils to fully understand the new species and to be able to situate it in the path of human evolution.
