A discovery of Paranthropus remains in northern Ethiopia has revealed that the ape-like hominins inhabited a broader geographic area than previously thought. The 2.6-million-year-old jawbone and tooth, unearthed in the Afar region, suggest these early humans adapted to diverse environments. This finding challenges earlier views of their limited versatility.
In a breakthrough for human evolution studies, researchers have uncovered the first Paranthropus fossils in the remote Afar region of Ethiopia, at the Mille-Logya site. Excavations led by Zeresenay Alemseged of the University of Chicago have been ongoing since 2012 in this area, known for yielding Homo and Australopithecus remains. On January 19, 2019, a local assistant presented Alemseged with a toothless lower jawbone fragment, followed by the discovery of a left lower molar crown that same day. A CT scan verified distinctive Paranthropus features, including the bone's size, its width-to-height ratio, and intricate tooth roots. The specimen, dated to approximately 2.6 million years ago through multiple methods, is likely from Paranthropus aethiopicus or Paranthropus boisei, making it one of the oldest known examples of the genus, which existed from 2.7 to 1.4 million years ago across eastern and southern Africa. Previously, the northernmost find was a skull from Konso in southern Ethiopia, over 1,000 kilometers south of this site. Alemseged noted, “Paranthropus had been eluding us,” and described the jawbone's size as immediately striking. Carrie Mongle of Stony Brook University, not involved in the study, affirmed, “There’s no question that it’s Paranthropus,” and endorsed the dating. The location, a relatively open landscape, contrasts with wooded sites of earlier Paranthropus discoveries, indicating greater adaptability. Alemseged remarked, “Yes, they were specialised, [but] I think we might have inflated our understanding of that specialisation.” Their large jaws and teeth, once seen as limiting them to tough, chewy diets, did not prevent habitation in varied ecosystems, similar to Homo and Australopithecus. Recent evidence bolsters this view: 2023 findings in Kenya linked stone tools to Paranthropus teeth, and a 2025 description of a dexterous Paranthropus hand suggests tool use capabilities, possibly inherited from Australopithecus ancestors. The research appears in Nature (DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09826-x).
