Jaw and teeth fossils found found on March 4, 2011 in Ethiopia's Afar region represent a previously unknown member of humankind's family tree, that lived 3.3 to 3.5 million years ago alongside the famous human ancestor “Lucy,” scientists say.

In 1974, anthropologists in Ethiopia found the astonishing fossilised remains of a human-like creature who last walked the planet some 3.2 million years ago. “Lucy”was thought to be the only potential human ancestor species.

Named Australopithecus deyiremeda, the newly found hominid and Lucy are probably only part of a wider group of candidates for being our direct forerunners, said Yohannes Haile-Selassie of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

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