New ancient human discovered from more than 3 million years ago

American archaeologists have discovered fossils of a new species of ancient human in Ethiopia, dating back more than three million years.

Fossil jawbone of Australopithecus deyiremeda. Photo: Laura Demsey

Scientists have discovered jawbones and teeth of an ancient human in the Afar region of Ethiopia. The fossils, which are about 3.3-3.5 million years old, belong to a new ancient human called Australopithecus deyiremeda, which means "relative" in the Afar language.

"We looked at the anatomical details, the morphology of the teeth and jaws, and we saw a big difference. Australopithecus deyiremeda had a strong jaw and smaller teeth than the species we knew in the past," BBC quoted expert Yohannes Haile Selassie from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as saying.

Australopithecus deyiremeda was likely one of four ancient human groups that lived at the same time in the past. The most famous of these was Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy), which is believed to be a direct ancestor of humans. The other two were Kenyanthropus platyops and Australopithecus bahrelghazali.

According to VnExpress