2025/11/26 by Yohannes Haile‐Selassie, Gary T. Schwartz, Thomas C. Prang +5 · 2 voices
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Evolution and Paleontology Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology #Primate Behavior and Ecology
paper · doi:10.1038/s41586-025-09714-4
openalex publication_date 2025/11/26 · openalex created_date 2025/11/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The naming of Australopithecus deyiremeda1 from Woranso-Mille (less than 3.59 to more than 3.33 million years) indicated the presence of a species contemporaneous with Australopithecus afarensis in the Ethiopian Afar Rift. A partial foot (BRT-VP-2/73)2 and several isolated teeth from two Burtele (BRT) localities, however, were not identified to the species level. Recently recovered dentognathic specimens clarify not only the taxonomic affinity of the BRT hominin specimens but also shed light on the diet and locomotion of A. deyiremeda. Here we present a comparative description of these specimens and show that they are attributable to A. deyiremeda. We also find it parsimonious to attribute the BRT foot to this species based on the absence of other hominin species at BRT. The new material demonstrates that overall, A. deyiremeda was dentally and postcranially more primitive than A. afarensis, particularly in aspects of canine and premolar morphology, and in its retention of pedal grasping traits. Furthermore, the low and less variable distributions of its dental enamel δ13C values are similar to those from Ardipithecus ramidus and Australopithecus anamensis, indicating a reliance on C3 foods. This suggests that A. deyiremeda had a dietary strategy similar to the earlier A. ramidus and A. anamensis. The BRT foot and its assignment to A. deyiremeda provides conclusive evidence that arboreality was a significant component of the positional behaviour of this australopith, further corroborating that some degree of arboreality persisted among Pliocene hominins1,3–7. 3.4-million-year-old hominin fossils discovered in Ethiopia provide insight into the diet and locomotion of Australopithecus deyiremeda.