Researchers in Ethiopia recently made a significant discovery, having unearthed fossilized teeth from an ancient human species that was previously unknown in the evolutionary history of humans.

Researchers have unearthed tooth fossils in Ethiopia dating to about 2.65 million years ago of a previously unknown species in the human evolutionary lineage, one that lived in the same time and place as the earliest-known member of the genus Homo to which our own species belongs.

New hominin fossils recovered from the Ledi-Geraru Research Project area in the Afar region of Ethiopia suggest the presence of early Homo at 2.78 and 2.59 million years ago and a previously unknown species of Australopithecus at 2.63 million years ago.

Fossilized teeth discovered in Ethiopia have revealed a new-to-science species of Australopithecus, a genus of early hominins that lived from the Pliocene to the Early Pleistocene. Not only does it add to our busy human family tree, but the discovery proves they were living alongside the oldest specimens of Homo, the genus of early humans that includes our species, Homo sapiens.

An unidentified early hominin fossil that might be a new species confirms that Australopithecus and Homo species lived in the same region of Africa in the same time frame.

The period between 3 million and 2 million years ago was a transformative time in human history — it was back then that the genus Australopithecus led to the genus Homo, a new branch in the hominin family tree. But Australopithecus didn’t disappear the instant that Homo appeared in the fossil record. For a time, these two lineages lived together, sharing the landscape of northeastern Ethiopia.

On Valentine’s Day in 2018, a team of scientists walked across a flat expanse in the badlands of northeastern Ethiopia, scanning the ground for fossils. An eagle-eyed field assistant, Omar Abdulla, spotted an ancient molar lying on the surface, exposed by wind erosion.

Researchers have unearthed tooth fossils in Ethiopia dating to about 2.65 million years ago of a previously unknown species in the human evolutionary lineage, one that lived in the same time and place as the earliest-known member of the genus Homo to which our own species belongs.