Scientists in Ethiopia have discovered what they believe is our oldest bipedal ancestor:
US and Ethiopian scientists working in north-eastern Ethiopia say the remains of the hominid, or primitive human, date back four million years.
The skeleton is said to be that of the world’s oldest animal walking on two feet, or biped.
The bones were found just 60km (40 miles) from the site where Lucy, one of the first hominids, was discovered.
Lucy, whose remains were found in 1974, lived 3.2 million years ago and is thought to have given rise to the Homo line which ended in modern humans.
But the as yet unnamed fossil found in February at a new site called Mille in Afar region of Ethiopia, might be a far earlier brother or sister.
Researchers believe it could provide valuable clues to the phases of human evolution before her.
“This is the world’s oldest biped,” said Bruce Latimer of the national history museum in Ohio, who made the discovery with his Ethiopian colleague Yohannes Haile-Selassie.
“It will revolutionise the way we see human evolution.”
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