3.8 million years old skull discovered in Ethiopia

A 3.8 million year old “remarkably complete” Australopithecus skull was discovered in Ethiopia last week. It is a discovery that once again challenges our vision of evolution.

According to researchers, this skull is one of the most complete hominid fossils more than 3 million years old. An asset that could make it“become a new icon of human evolution”. This discovery thus joins the famous “Toumaï”, “Ardi” and “Lucy”.

By way of comparison, “Toumaï” is considered by some paleontologists to be the first representative of the human lineage. It is about 7 million years old. It was discovered in 2001 in Chad.

Discovered in February 2016 at the Woranso-Mille site in the Afar region of Ethiopia, 55 km from where Lucy was discovered, this new fossil would belong to one of the very first Australopithecus.

Even if it is very small, the skull must have been that of an adult, apparently male. Facial reconstructions based on the characteristics of the fossil show a hominid with cheekbones projected forward, prominent jaws, a flat nose and a narrow forehead.