WASHINGTON: A 2.8 million year old jawbone fossil with five teeth intact has been unearthed in an Ethiopian desert.
The discovery is evidence that early humans roamed the earth half-a-million years before what was previously thought.
Scientists say the fossil represents the oldest known specimen of the human genus homo and appears to be in the earliest stages of the human lineage.
“It’s important because it is transitional between Australopithecus species, it has some of those characteristics and of later homo species and so we can follow evolution more closely because of it.”
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The jawbone was found near the location of where the remains of one of the most famous human ancestor fossils — Lucy — was found.
“”We can see how evolution works by having some of the older characteristics of Lucy’s species plus the new characteristics of the homo species in this mandible.”
The anatomy of this discovery is seen to have a close relationship with later homo species as it encompasses the left side of the jaw.
It has features including tooth shape and jaw proportions that separates the homo lineage species from the more ape like Australopithecus.
