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Scientists find significant early man fossils in EthiopiaAddis Ababa - Scientists in north-eastern Ethiopia have uncovered fossils that shade light on the origins of early man and show how homo sapiens evolved through time, the Ethiopian co-director of the project said Wednesday.International scientists engaged in the paleo-anthropological research project found fossils belonging to the ape-man genus, Australopithecus, Dr. Berhane Asfaw said at a news briefing at the Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa. The fossils of Australopithecus anamensis, which were discovered in January at the Middle Awash research project area of the Afar depression, some 230 kilometres north-east of Addis Ababa, date back over 4 million years. He said the project had established clear connections between fossils found in the last quarter-century of research into hominid evolution in Africa, extending knowledge of early Australopithecus. The new fossils, Australopithecus anamnesis (4.1 million years), were anatomically and chronologically sandwiched between the 4.4 million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus and the 3 million-3.6 million year-old Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy). 'This is the first time that these three species have been shown to be time-successive in a single place. Australopithecus anamnesis is widely accepted as the direct ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis,' Brehane said. What scientists from 13 countries in the Middle Awash project had uncovered had convinced them that 'evolution is undeniably a scientific fact, and Africa is home of early man,' he added. Go to Source of article |