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A "remarkably complete" skull belonging to an early human ancestor that lived 3.8 million years ago has been discovered in Ethiopia.
This is the first time a skull belonging to Australopithecus anamensis has been found and the discovery sheds light on the evolutionary history of early human ancestors.
The skull, referred to as MRD, represents the early human ancestor known as Australopithecus anamensis that lived between 3.9 and 4.2 million years ago.
They are the ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis, to which the famed Lucy skeleton belonged, and is believed to have given rise to our genus, Homo. Afarensis came along later, living between 3 and 3.8 million years ago.