Iconic ‘Little Foot’ may actually be new human species, scientists say

One of the most complete fossils of human ancestors ever discovered may be that of an entirely new species, a new study suggests.

The fossil, discovered in South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves in 1998 and nicknamed “the little foot”, was widely believed to be a member of the species. Australopithecus a kind of ape-like, upright-walking human ancestors who lived between 3 million and 1.95 million years ago.

When the fossil was first revealed to the world in 2017, it was assigned to the species Australopithecus Prometheus. However, several experts have argued that it belongs to African Australopithecus.

Now, a new study suggests that Little Foot shares no unique traits with either species, suggesting it could be an entirely new species.

“This fossil remains one of the most important discoveries in the hominid record, and its true identity is key to understanding our evolutionary past,” said anthropologist Jesse Martin of La Trobe University.

“We think that’s clearly not the case. A Prometheus Or An African. It is more likely a previously unidentified human relative,” said Dr Martin, author of the new study published in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology.

“Our results challenge Little Foot’s current classification and highlight the need for more careful, evidence-based taxonomy in human evolution.”

“We note that the morphology preserved by StW 573 does not allow us to attribute this specimen to A Prometheus because it does not share a unique suite of primitive and derived traits in common with the A Prometheus specimen type MLD 1,” the researchers said in the latest study.

In future studies, scientists hope to test and clarify which species Little Foot represents and where that species fits in the human family tree.

“It is clearly different from the type specimen of Australopithecus Prometheuswhich was a name defined on the idea that these early humans produced fire, which we now know they did not do,” said anthropologist Andy Herries, another author of the study.

“Its importance and its difference from other contemporary fossils clearly show the need to define it as a unique species.”