Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, discovered the fossil "MRD" cranium in Ethiopia, posing with it at the site.
Recently a team of researchers has uncovered a 3.8 million years old complete cranium that belongs to 'Australopithecus anamensis' which is the oldest species of Australopithecus. "MRD" was found in Woranso-Mille site, Ethiopia. (Photograph by Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
Researchers took three and a half years to finally determine that the skull was a part 'A.anamensis' species. The fossil was partially discovered in February 2016, the first part that was found was the upper jaw while the rest of the cranium was found soon after. The fossil comes from a male who's middle and lower parts extend forwards, which is distinguishable from Lucy's that has a flat mid-face similar to a human's flat face.
(by Dale Omori, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
“This is a game-changer in our understanding of human evolution during the Pliocene” Professor, Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie.
Other proof suggest that 'A.anamensis' walked upright but still there wasn't any evidence to show that they were able to make tools says the study's by the co-author, Stephanie Melillo. (by Dale Omori, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
“MRD lived near a large lake in a region that was dry. We’re eager to conduct more work in these deposits to understand the environment of the MRD specimen, the relationship to climate change and how it affected human evolution, if at all” said Naomi Levin, a co-author of the study.
“A. anamensis was already a species that we knew quite a bit about, but this is the first cranium of the species ever discovered. It is good to finally be able to put a face to the name.” said Stephanie Melillo
Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie, discovered the fossil "MRD" cranium in Ethiopia, posing with it at the site.
Recently a team of researchers has uncovered a 3.8 million years old complete cranium that belongs to 'Australopithecus anamensis' which is the oldest species of Australopithecus. "MRD" was found in Woranso-Mille site, Ethiopia. (Photograph by Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
Researchers took three and a half years to finally determine that the skull was a part 'A.anamensis' species. The fossil was partially discovered in February 2016, the first part that was found was the upper jaw while the rest of the cranium was found soon after. The fossil comes from a male who's middle and lower parts extend forwards, which is distinguishable from Lucy's that has a flat mid-face similar to a human's flat face.
(by Dale Omori, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
“This is a game-changer in our understanding of human evolution during the Pliocene” Professor, Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie.
Other proof suggest that 'A.anamensis' walked upright but still there wasn't any evidence to show that they were able to make tools says the study's by the co-author, Stephanie Melillo. (by Dale Omori, Cleveland Museum of Natural History.)
“MRD lived near a large lake in a region that was dry. We’re eager to conduct more work in these deposits to understand the environment of the MRD specimen, the relationship to climate change and how it affected human evolution, if at all” said Naomi Levin, a co-author of the study.
“A. anamensis was already a species that we knew quite a bit about, but this is the first cranium of the species ever discovered. It is good to finally be able to put a face to the name.” said Stephanie Melillo
