New Fossils

Several new fossil pieces have been added to the hominid jig-saw:

from Ethiopia, a new hominid [1], a "Lucy" cranium [2] and some 160,000 year old Homo sapiens remains [3];
from Kenya, fossil remains of two - perhaps three - new hominids [4];
from South Africa, a foot of an australopithecine (2.5-3.5 my BP) [5];
from surprisingly far west in Africa, an australopithecine jaw (3-4 my BP), and an astonishing 7 million year-old skull [6];
from Ethipoia, another australopithecine [7];
from Kenya, "flat-faced man" [8];
from Kenya, Orrorin tugenensis [9];
from Chad, Sahelanthropus tchadensis [10];
Boxgrove in England, early Homo remains (500,000 yrs BP) [11];
from Spain, remains of possibly the oldest Europeans (780,000 yrs BP) [12].

How, in the light of all these developments, would you re-shape the hominid family tree?

Some startling recent developments have also taken place in Asia:

palaeo-anthropologists have re- interpreted an ancient hominid fossil from China, and concluded that it could be as old as Homo habilis [13];
new dating research suggests that Homo erectus may have become extinct much more recently than commonly supposed [14];
controversial research in Australia suggests that hominids may have arrived there much earlier than currently thought [15].

How, in the light of all these developments, would you re-shape the hominid family tree?