Researchers have uncovered fossils belonging to a previously unknown ancient human relative. And they may have lived in the same time and place as the earliest-known members of the genus Homo , from which modern humans evolved, according to a new study.

A team of archeologists working at Ethiopia’s Ledi-Geraru research project area unearthed a set of fossilized teeth that likely belonged to an unidentified species within the Australopithecus genus, known for having both human- and ape-like traits. The findings are published in Nature .

Until now, scientists have discovered six Australopithecus species in sites in Africa, including the famous Lucy fossil . But not all of these species intersected with our earliest human ancestors in the genus Homo.

The newly found teeth, fr

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