New Hominin Discoveries in Ethiopia Rewrite Human Evolution Timeline

August 15, 2025

ADDIS ABABA – Researchers have announced the discovery of a new species of Australopithecus and the oldest known specimen of the genus Homo in Ethiopia’s Afar State.

Ethiopian Heritage Authority Director- General Abebaw Ayalew said at a recent press briefing on that the findings, published internationally, hold paramount significance for both Ethiopia and the world.

The Ledi-Geraru Research Project revealed that two distinct human ancestors Australopithecus and early Homo — once lived side by side in the Lower Awash Valley nearly 2.6 to 2.78 million years ago.

Since 2002, scientists under the Ledi-Geraru Research Project, led by Prof. Amy L. Rector of Arizona State University in collaboration with the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, have conducted multiple expeditions in the area.

“These discoveries put Ethiopia ahead of any country as the origin of humankind. Your research results are valuable for our country and the global scientific community,” Abebaw said.

For her part, Prof. Rector said the discoveries include 13 newly found hominin teeth collected between 2015 and 2018. Among them is a premolar dated to about 2.78 million years ago, identified as belonging to early Homo, pushing back the known presence of the genus in the region.

Another set of teeth, slightly younger at around 2.63 million years, belonged to an entirely new Australopithecus species previously unknown to science. “This is the first time in Eastern Africa that we have found evidence of these two lineages overlapping in time and space,” she noted.

These teeth are the first Australopithecus fossils found in the Lower Awash Valley after the disappearance of Lucy’s species (Australopithecus afarensis). The evidence shows that both Homo and Australopithecus lived in the area during a critical evolutionary period, offering a far more complex picture of human ancestry than previously imagined.

The findings reaffirm Ethiopia’s unmatched role in uncovering the story of human origins. It was also learned that the government plans to establish a new national museum with a permanent exhibition dedicated to discoveries of such global importance.

BY TSEGAYE TILAHUN

THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD FRIDAY 15 AUGUST 2025