An ancient foot reveals an unexpected “cousin” of man. Australopithecus deyiremeda: the ancient human relative who lived with Lucy in Ethiopia.
Among the most enigmatic fossil remains discovered in recent decades, a small 3.4 million-year-old foot has finally found its identity. A scientific investigation lasting over ten years has made it possible to connect him to a primitive human species different from that of Lucy, thus revealing the existence of a second hominid who inhabited Ethiopia in the same period. A silent relative, until now hidden in the sediments of the Afar Rift.
In 2009, a team led by paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie of Arizona State University discovered eight foot bones at a site called Woranso-Mille. Those remains, called Burtele Foot, showed unusual anatomy, with a still opposable big toe, ideal for climbing trees, but also sections compatible with bipedal walking. A unique combination, which did not coincide with the famous Lucy, belonging to the species Australopithecus afarensis.
For years, researchers have waited for additional elements, such as jaws or teeth, to definitively assign the foot to a species. Only now, with new fossil discoveries and more advanced analyses, that foot can finally be attributed to Australopithecus deyiremedaa species described in 2015 but remained until today without a definitive link with that mysterious find.
Two human ancestors, two different lifestyles
The most extraordinary element is that *TO. deyiremeda* lived in the same habitat and at the same time as Lucy. But the two moved and fed in radically different ways. While Lucy walked with a more modern step, pushing on the big toe, the new hominid relied on a primitive gait, using the second toe for pushing.
Added to this locomotor difference is a dietary divergence. Thanks to isotopic analyzes conducted on fossil teeth, scholars have discovered that A. I don’t say it fed mainly on arboreal plants (C3)While A. also included tropical herbs (C4) in the diet. A distinction that suggests a clear ecological separation between the two species, which probably occupied different niches and thus could coexist without direct competition.
A hominid’s childhood and lessons about our future
Among the fossils found, also the jaw of a young man A. I don’t saywith complete milk teeth and molars in formation. Through computed tomography, the team reconstructed dental development, estimating that the individual was approximately 4.5 years old. A fact which, according to Professor Gary Schwartz, confirms how the growth of these ancient hominids was similar to that of modern primates.
But the value of the discovery goes beyond paleontology. According to Haile-Selassie, studying the coexistence of multiple human species in remote times can also offer valuable indications for dealing with the present. The environmental and climatic conditions these hominins faced, including sudden changes, can help better understand current challenges, such as climate change.
The research, published in Nature, shows that human history is much more ramified and multifaceted than previously thoughtmade up of parallel evolutionary paths and surprising adaptations. And, every now and then, even misplaced feet that tell a new story.
