Say Hello to Australopithecus deyiremeda, A Newly Discovered 3.4 Million Year Old Hominid

Anthropology.net

This fragment of upper jaw (shown) was discovered sitting on top of the sediment in the Woranso-Mille area of central Afar in Ethiopia. Anthropologists have now identified it as belonging to a new species of early human ancestor called Australopithecus deyiremeda that lived between 3.3 million and 3.5 million years ago

A study published in Nature today announces the 2011 discovery of Australopithecus deyiremeda a hominid that lived between 3.3 and 3.5 million years ago. The species is represented by a maxilla, mandible and dentition found in the Woranso-Mille area of the Afar region of Ethiopia about 22 miles from the spot where the remains of Australopithecus afarensis were found. A. afarenis is thought to have lived between 3.9 million and 2.9 million years ago.

The size of the jawbone and the shape of the teeth of the new species resemble that of afarensis, but the researchers lay claim in their paper…

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3.3 Million Year Old Stone Tools Predate Homo By 500,000 Years

Another nail in the “Homo” as first toolmakers coffin?

Anthropology.net

149 stone flakes, hammers and anvils, found off at the Lomekwi 3 site on the shores of Lake Turkana, appears to have been crafted more than 3.3 million years ago — 500,000 years before our genus Homo. The authors reported their findings in Nature this week. Sonia Harmand and her team accidentally stumbled upon the ancient artifacts after taking a wrong turn and found a different place with stone tools on the surface of a site called Lomekwi 3. You can read more about their discovery at The Conversation.

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