Archaeology: 4 And 5 Million Year-Old Skeletons Of Pre-Humans Have Been Discovered In Africa
October 12, 2020 928
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In a
ground-breaking archaeological finding, scientists working on the Woranso-Mille
Paleoanthropological Research Project study in the Afar Regional State of
Ethiopia have discovered a “remarkably complete” skull said to belong to an
early pre-human that lived some 3.8 million years ago.
The
discovery of the skull belonging to Australopithecus anamensis brings so much
insight into the evolutionary history of mankind’s ancestors.
Researches, who has been working on the project for 15 years discovered an upper jaw of the prehistoric man on February 16, 2016. This led to a 16-hour area-wide search, uncovering dozens of other fossilized pieces of the rest of the skull.
A
well detailed and comprehensive analysis of the skull and the location it was
unearth has since been published in the journal Nature.
Describing
his initial reaction upon unearthing the rare remains, Yohannes Haile-Selassie,
study author and curator of physical anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of
Natural History, had this to say: "I couldn't believe my eyes when I
spotted the rest of the cranium. It was a eureka moment and a dream come true.
This is one of the most significant specimens we've found so far from the
site".
Referred
to as MRD, the prehistoric skull symbolises the early human ancestor commonly
known as Australopithecus anamensis, believed to have walked the earth between
3.9 and 4.2 million years ago. They preceded Australopithecus afarensis, to
which the well-known Lucy skeleton belonged, and is believed to have given rise
to our genus, Homo.
Just
34 miles north of where the Lucy skeleton were discovered in 1974, MRD was
found by a team of international geologists, paleobotanists and
paleoanthropologists. Its age was determined by a study of the surrounding
habitat where it was found.
The
skull was washed down a river after death and was buried by sedimentary soil in
a delta. Scientists are of the opinion that the discovered skull likely
belonged to a male and was most likely living along the river, surrounded by
dense trees. The wider area farther afield was open shrubland.
According
to University of Michigan lecturer and co-author on the study, Naomi Levin,
"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".
Contrary
to previous belief that anamensis died off and gave rise to afarensis, the
skull discovery indicated that the two species likely overlapped and lived side
by side for at least 100,000 years. This is direct challenge to the established
notion that human ancestors evolved in a straight linear fashion.
More Knowledge about Anamensis
Stunned
by this rare discovery, the stunned researchers found themselves starring down
at a face they have never seen before. They carefully cataloged the features
of the skull so that it could be compared with other known human species from
eastern and southern Africa.
According
to Stephanie Melillo, study co-author and post-doctoral researcher at the Max
Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Australopiths were largely
known for their massive physiognomy. However, an evolution towards a more
modern human facial feature started with the origin of our own genus, Homo.
That started when early man was using basic rudimentary tools and feeding on
processed food.
Considered
the oldest known member of the Australopithecus genus, anamensis is made up of
a motley collection of intriguing features. For one, it has a protruding face where the
cheekbones project forward. This, scientists believe, was borne out of its need
to process really tough diets and chew hard food. Thus, the facial bones
evolved to withstand stress.
The
braincase s long and narrow, just like those of other early human ancestors,
and scientists are still trying to unravel what caused an increase in brain
capacity with the genus Homo came into the scene. A likely reason, according to
Haile-Selassie is that Homo used more tools, ate more meat and went around in
the open more, leading to more decision-making.
A Key Evolutionary Insight
Identifying
anamensis is key to allowing researchers to understand how early man evolved. Y
comparing the features of the MRD skull to a 3.9million year old skull fragment
that had not be assigned to any known species, the researchers are able to
build a profile of what anamensis really looked like. This makes it easy to
identify the Belohdelie frontal as afarensis, which belongs to the Lucy’s
species. This confirms that the two species actually lived side by side for at
least 100,000 years.
It’s
now up for debate whether the population actually did mix up. But in the
meantime, the researchers are eager to focus on learning more about how early
man evolved.