An unknown species of hominin that lived 3.66 million years ago left its only trace of a few dozen footprints in the mud that volcanic ash quickly buried. While these tracks have been known for nearly 50 years, new research reveals that the sets of footprints may belong to two distinct hominins that walked eastern Africa at the same time.
“That is the first, oldest unequivocal evidence for that — two hominins existing at the same place at the same time,” says Ellison McNutt, a biological anthropologist the Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Researchers first discovered the tracks in the 1970s at the Laetoli site in Tanzania. Most reference them as the oldest clear evidence of human ancestors that walked on two feet. The site preserves the footprints of many species like elephants, rabbits and antelopes. And these early discoveries also included several trackways belonging to bipedal creatures.
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