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New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity

Author

Listed:
  • Yohannes Haile-Selassie

    (Cleveland Museum of Natural History
    Case Western Reserve University)

  • Luis Gibert

    (University of Barcelona)

  • Stephanie M. Melillo

    (Max Plank Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

  • Timothy M. Ryan

    (Pennsylvania State University)

  • Mulugeta Alene

    (Addis Ababa University)

  • Alan Deino

    (Berkeley Geochronology Center)

  • Naomi E. Levin

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Gary Scott

    (Berkeley Geochronology Center)

  • Beverly Z. Saylor

    (Case Western Reserve University)

Abstract

Middle Pliocene hominin species diversity has been a subject of debate over the past two decades, particularly after the naming of Australopithecus bahrelghazali and Kenyanthropus platyops in addition to the well-known species Australopithecus afarensis. Further analyses continue to support the proposal that several hominin species co-existed during this time period. Here we recognize a new hominin species (Australopithecus deyiremeda sp. nov.) from 3.3–3.5-million-year-old deposits in the Woranso–Mille study area, central Afar, Ethiopia. The new species from Woranso–Mille shows that there were at least two contemporaneous hominin species living in the Afar region of Ethiopia between 3.3 and 3.5 million years ago, and further confirms early hominin taxonomic diversity in eastern Africa during the Middle Pliocene epoch. The morphology of Au. deyiremeda also reinforces concerns related to dentognathic (that is, jaws and teeth) homoplasy in Plio–Pleistocene hominins, and shows that some dentognathic features traditionally associated with Paranthropus and Homo appeared in the fossil record earlier than previously thought.

Suggested Citation

  • Yohannes Haile-Selassie & Luis Gibert & Stephanie M. Melillo & Timothy M. Ryan & Mulugeta Alene & Alan Deino & Naomi E. Levin & Gary Scott & Beverly Z. Saylor, 2015. "New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 521(7553), pages 483-488, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:521:y:2015:i:7553:d:10.1038_nature14448
    DOI: 10.1038/nature14448
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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas W. Davies & Philipp Gunz & Fred Spoor & Zeresenay Alemseged & Agness Gidna & Jean-Jacques Hublin & William H. Kimbel & Ottmar Kullmer & William P. Plummer & Clément Zanolli & Matthew M. Skinner, 2024. "Dental morphology in Homo habilis and its implications for the evolution of early Homo," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.

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