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| Jaw structures suggest that at least three Homo species once roamed the African plains |
A famous research family that found fossils recently in
northern Kenya says the discovery strengthens their theory that there were two
other pre-human species in addition to the one that eventually led to modern
humans eons ago.
A team led by the daughter-in-law of famed paleontologist
Louis Leakey found facial bones from one creature and jaw bones from two others
between 2007 and 2009. Meave Leakey said her team's subsequent research led it
to conclude that man's early ancestor, Homo erectus, had human-like company
nearly two million years ago in Africa.
In their new findings, published online Wednesday in the
journal Nature, the scientists said none of their newest fossil
discoveries matches Homo erectus, a species that originated in Africa and
spread as far as India, China and modern-day Indonesia. So the scientists
concluded the remains had to come from another flat-faced, relatively large
species with big teeth.
Meave Leakey is quoted as saying the new specimens,
which match a fossil her family helped discover 40 years ago, have "a
really distinct profile" and are "something very different" from
Homo erectus, discovered in Java more than a century ago.
Some prominent scientists believed that, the Leakeys
need more evidence to support their theory.