Anthropologists have recreated the face of an ancient human ancestor from a 3.8 million-year-old skull
Miscellaneous / / April 03, 2023
Primacy at the junction of the history of the emergence of Homo sapiens.
In February 2016, Yohannes Haile-Selassie and an international team of anthropologists found an almost complete skull of an early hominid in the Godai Valley in Woranso Mill, Ethiopia. Reporting their findings in two articles, published in the journal Nature in 2019, the researchers noted that the skull is about 3.8 million years old and belonged to the Anaman australopithecine (A. anamensis), one of the earliest australopithecines known to science.
The skull was in excellent condition considering its age. Based on the features of its structure, recently scientists, together with the Cleveland Museum of Natural History could face reconstruction using digital technologies.
Presumably, this skull belonged to an adult male (despite its small size), who lived among dry bushes, as well as in wetlands and coastal forests.
So far A. anamensis was known from scattered jawbones, chipped teeth, and several crushed limb bones.
Australopithecus is a genus of early bipedal hominins that roamed the Earth as early as 4 million years ago. Their name is a mixture of Latin and Roman, meaning "southern monkey". They are known to have lived in southern, eastern and north-central Africa until they became extinct about 2 million years ago.
Their disappearance was only the beginning of the story. Australopithecus species have played a significant role in human evolution, and the genus Homo (like Homo sapien) arose from Australopithecus approximately 3 million years ago.
Fred Spoor, professor of evolutionary human anatomy at the University of California in the UK, noted:
It looks like this skull will become another famous symbol of human evolution. His discovery will significantly affect our understanding of the origin of the Australopithecus genus in particular, and of the evolutionary family tree of early hominids in a broader sense.
Read also🧐
- Scientists have reconstructed the face of Pharaoh Ramses II 3200 years after his death
- Forensic scientists have recreated the face of the "Mysterious Lady" - a 2000-year-old mummy
- Scientists have reconstructed the appearance of a girl from the Stone Age on her skull