Chalachew Seyoum, an Arizona State University grad student, has found a piece of jawbone that pushes back the existence of our genus Homo by 400,000 years to 2.8 million years ago.
National Geographic notes:
The new jaw, known as LD 350-1, was found in January 2013 just a dozen miles from where [the mostly-complete skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis known as] Lucy was found in 1974.
[...] Fossils attributed to Homo in the period two to three million years ago are exceedingly rare.
[...] To the extent that the new jaw underscores an East African origin for the genus Homo, it would seem to confound the argument made by other researchers that the best candidate for our [genus'] immediate ancestor is a South African australopithecine, Australopithecus sediba.
El Reg adds:
The find is small--a tiny piece of jawbone from the left side of the face with five teeth embedded in it--but it tells us a huge amount about our time on the planet. The molars are small, typical of Homo species, and the bone contains a mix of ancient and more recent evolutionary features.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @02:27PM
Is it .4-2.8MYA older than "Lucy" or is it slightly older and the change is within error?
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday March 06 2015, @03:25PM
Well, I mean, the margin of error on strata dating isn't that large.
(Score: 5, Informative) by NotSanguine on Friday March 06 2015, @03:51PM
From TFS:
Chalachew Seyoum, an Arizona State University grad student, has found a piece of jawbone that pushes back the existence of our genus Homo by 400,000 years to 2.8 million years ago. [Emphasis added]
"Lucy" is not a member of the genus Homo. Rather, she is a member of the genus Australopithecus.
I read TFS to say the the new find puts the earliest Homo fossil at ~2.8 million years.
Lucy [wikipedia.org] is estimated to be 400,000 years older than that.
TFS wasn't really very confusing. Did you start drinking early?
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 06 2015, @08:30PM
I was going to ask GP to hand in his BioGeek card but then I realized the title stated that it was the oldest hominid and nobody reads TFS anyways. Then again hominid species older than Lucy aren't exactly new science.
Don't come back until you can tell hominin maxillae from hominid ones. [wikipedia.org]