How old are our earliest human ancestors? A million years older than we thought, study finds

New study says South African Australopithecus remains are between 3.4 and 3.7 million years old, making them contemporaries of the famous ‘Lucy’

The discovery suggests the hominid family tree is ‘more like a bush’, according to scientist

Reading Time:3 minutes

Mrs Ples, the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus ever discovered, was previously thought to be between 2.1 and 2.6 million years old. Photo: Prisma/UIG/Getty

Published: 7:05pm, 29 Jun 2022

The fossils of our earliest ancestors found in South Africa are a million years older than previously thought, meaning they walked the Earth around the same time as their East African relatives like the famous “Lucy”, according to new research.

The Sterkfontein caves at the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site southwest of Johannesburg have yielded more Australopithecus fossils than any other site in the world.

Among them was “Mrs Ples”, the most complete skull of an Australopithecus africanus found in South Africa in 1947.

Based on previous measurements, Mrs Ples and other fossils found at a similar depth of the cave were estimated to be between 2.1 and 2.6 million years old.

“[But] chronologically that didn’t fit,” said French scientist Laurent Bruxelles, one of the authors of a study published on Monday in the PNAS science journal.

“It was bizarre to see some Australopithecus lasting for such a long time.”

Around 2.2 million years ago Homo habilis – the earliest species of the Homo genus that includes Homo sapiens – was already roaming the region.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x