'Lucy' lived among close cousins: Discovery of foot fossil confirms two human ancestor species co-existed
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - 13:00
in Paleontology & Archaeology
(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of scientists has announced the discovery of a 3.4 million-year-old partial foot from the Woranso-Mille area of the Afar region of Ethiopia. The fossil foot did not belong to a member of "Lucy's" species, Australopithecus afarensis, the famous early human ancestor. Research on this new specimen indicates that more than one species of early human ancestor existed between 3 and 4 million years ago with different methods of locomotion. The analysis will be published in the March 29, 2012 issue of the journal Nature.