ancient Foot Finaly Linked too new Hominin Species, Challenging Lucy’s Place in Human Ancestry
burtele, Ethiopia – A 3.4-million-year-old foot fossil discovered in Ethiopia’s Afar region has finally been attributed to a newly identified hominin species, Australopithecus burtelei – informally dubbed “I don’t say” by researchers – potentially reshaping our understanding of early human evolution. The finding, published November 27 in Nature, connects the isolated foot, long considered an orphan in the fossil record, to teeth and jaw fragments unearthed nearby in 2011.
For decades, paleontologists have relied on cranial and dental remains to define hominin species, making the solitary “Burtele foot” a frustrating puzzle. While initial discoveries of teeth and jaw fragments led Yohannes Haile-Selassie (Institute on Human Origins, Tempe, University of Arizona) and colleagues to propose a new species in 2015, the link to the foot remained elusive. New excavations yielding fragments of pelvic bone, cranial material, and additional jaw pieces have now solidified the connection.
The researchers state, “We believe this is the safest hypothesis in the absence of other hominins in Burtele.” This attribution of the foot to Au. burtelei could also challenge the long-held status of “Lucy” (Australopithecus afarensis), discovered in 1974 just kilometers from the Burtele site. Widely considered a direct human ancestor in the anglo-Saxon scientific community, Lucy’s position on the hominin evolutionary tree may need reevaluation. Some paleoanthropologists, including the late Yves Coppens, have long argued that lucy was a more distant relative – a great-great-aunt – rather than a direct ancestor.
