Incredible: Researchers uncover remains of ‘Little Foot’, a new human ancestor in South Africa

Australian researchers have raised the possibility of the existence of a new human ancestor in connection with one of the world’s most complete human fossils. The specimen, nicknamed ‘Little Foot’, does not fit neatly into any previously known species, prompting the suggestion that an as-yet unidentified human ancestor may have been discovered.

‘Little Foot’ is one of the most significant hominin fossils ever found and was first presented to the public in 2017. According to The Guardian, this skeleton is the most complete Australopithecus specimen ever discovered and could play a key role in understanding the early stages of human evolution.

Identification took decades

The fossil takes its name from the foot bones that were first discovered back in 1994 in South Africa’s famous Sterkfontein cave system. The excavation of the complete skeleton, however, proved to be an exceptionally slow and meticulous process: it took more than twenty years for researchers to recover and analyse the entire specimen.

From the outset, there has been debate over exactly which species ‘Little Foot’ belongs to. Ronald Clarke, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand and leader of the excavation, assigned it to the species Australopithecus prometheus. Other experts, however, argued that it represents Australopithecus africanus, remains of which had previously been found in the same cave system.

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Is ‘Little Foot’ truly a new human ancestor?

Researchers have concluded that the anatomical characteristics of ‘Little Foot’ do not match any known subspecies of Australopithecus. This raises the possibility that the fossil belongs to a previously unidentified, entirely new human ancestor species.

Dr Jesse Martin, the lead author of the study, emphasised that it is conceivable they have uncovered not merely a new point on the human family tree, but an entirely unknown branch of it.

Decisive anatomical differences

The researchers identified particularly significant differences at the back of the skull, in the so-called occipital plane. In the case of Little Foot, this region is longer than in specimens of Australopithecus africanus. This is especially important because the lower rear part of the skull is generally a relatively stable, slowly changing area in the course of human evolution.