ASU scientists uncover oldest Homo Genus fossils in Africa

A team of international scientists including ones from ASU has discovered new fossils at a field site in Africa that indicate Australopithecus and the oldest specimens of Homo coexisted at the same place in Africa at the same time, between 2.6 million and 2.8 million years ago.

The paleoanthropologists discovered a new species of Australopithecus that has never been found anywhere. This field site has been famous before. In 2013, a team led by Kaye Reed– a research scientist at ASU, discovered the jaw of the earliest Homo specimen ever found at 2.8 million years old. Reed heads up The Ledi-Geraru Research Project. The site has previously revealed the oldest member of the genus Homo and the earliest Oldowan stone tools on the planet.

Christopher Campisano who is a Geologist at ASU joined “Arizona Horizon” to break the discoveries down.

From left: Arizona State University Professor Ramon Arrowsmith, President’s Professor Emeritus Kaye Reed and Associate Professor Christopher Campisano discussing the Homo teeth that were found in the Asboli, an area at the Ledi-Geraru site. Photo by Eric Scott, Courtesy of ASU