A skull of a new species of ancient human has been discovered in Africa that experts believe was a direct ancestor of modern humans, Britain’s The Daily Mail reported.
The new species has been named Homo bodoensis, and lived during the Middle Pleistocene, around 500,000 years ago, it said Thursday.
According to the Daily, researchers from the University of Winnipeg hope the discovery will bring some clarity to this era, during which human evolution is poorly understood.
Dr Mirjana Roksandic, who led the study, said: “Talking about human evolution during this time period became impossible due to the lack of proper terminology that acknowledges human geographic variation.”
In the study, the researchers reassessed existing fossils from Africa and Eurasia dating back to the Middle Pleistocene period.
Traditionally, these fossils have been identified as either Homo heidelbergensis or Homo rhodesiensis.
However, recent DNA evidence has shown that some fossils in Europe identified as H. heidelbergensis were actually early Neanderthals.
Meanwhile, African fossils from this period have previously been identified as both H. heidelbergensis and H. rhodesiensis, confusing things even further.
In their new analysis, the researchers suggest that a skull found in Bodo D'ar, Ethiopia belongs to neither H. heidelbergensis or H. rhodesiensis, but instead, is a new species entirely.
In honor of the location in which the skull was discovered, the researchers have named the species H. bodoensis.
