New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity

@article{HaileSelassie2015NewSF,
  title={New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity},
  author={Yohannes Haile-Selassie and Luis Gibert and Stephanie M. Melillo and Timothy M Ryan and Mulugeta Alene and Alan L. Deino and Naomi E. Levin and Gary R. Scott and Beverly Z. Saylor},
  journal={Nature},
  year={2015},
  volume={521},
  pages={483-488}
}
Middle Pliocene hominin species diversity has been a subject of debate over the past two decades, particularly after the naming of Australopithecus bahrelghazali and Kenyanthropus platyops in addition to the well-known species Australopithecus afarensis. Further analyses continue to support the proposal that several hominin species co-existed during this time period. Here we recognize a new hominin species (Australopithecus deyiremeda sp. nov.) from 3.3–3.5-million-year-old deposits in the… 
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86 Citations

Palaeoanthropology: The middle Pliocene gets crowded
  • F. Spoor
  • Geography, Environmental Science
    Nature
  • 2015
TLDR
Another Middle Pliocene hominin, Australopithecus deyiremida, is described, which lived in Ethiopia at around the same time as Australipithecus afarensis ('Lucy') and other species such as Kenyanthropus platyops in Kenya and its morphology suggests that some dental features traditionally associated with later genera such as Paranthropus and Homo emerged earlier than previously thought.
The Pliocene hominin diversity conundrum: Do more fossils mean less clarity?
TLDR
A closer look at the currently available fossil evidence from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chad indicates that Australopithecus afarensis was not the only hominin species during the middle Pliocene, and that there were other species clearly distinguishable from it by their locomotor adaptation and diet.
A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia
TLDR
A nearly complete hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille (Ethiopia) that is date to 3.8 million years ago is described, providing the first glimpse of the entire craniofacial morphology of the earliest known members of the genus Australopithecus.
Introduction to KSD-VP-1/1: The Earliest Adult Partial Skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis
TLDR
This edited volume provides the taphonomy and paleoecology of the partial skeleton, as well as detailed comparative descriptions of the preserved elements of KSD-VP-1/1 and their implications for the understanding of early hominin paleobiology.
New Pliocene hominin remains from the Leado Dido'a area of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia.
Hominin dental remains from the Pliocene localities at Lomekwi, Kenya (1982-2009).
Mosaic habitats at Woranso-Mille (Ethiopia) during the Pliocene and implications for Australopithecus paleoecology and taxonomic diversity.
Dietary change among hominins and cercopithecids in Ethiopia during the early Pliocene
TLDR
It is shown that both hominins and some papionins expanded their diets to include C4 resources as early as 3.76 Ma, which indicates that the inclusion of C4 foods in hominin diet occurred as part of broader ecological changes in African primate communities.
Comparative description and taxonomy of new hominin juvenile mandibles from the Pliocene of Woranso-Mille (Central Afar, Ethiopia).
Middle Pliocene hominin distribution patterns in Eastern Africa.
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