Scientists discover a two-million-year-old skull of a human cousin

The skull of a close human cousin was unearthed at the Drimolen archaeological site at the Cradle of Humankind just north of Johannesburg in 2018 and studied by scientists and researchers from Melbourne’s La Trobe University.

According to BBC reports, archaeologists have been working for two years to put the pieces together and are only now ready to publish their findings.

The skull belonged to a “cousin” human species (not in direct line with modern humans) named Paranthropus robustus. Robustus was only one of three identified species of early humans found at the included site Standing man is Homo that coexisted and competed for food. In comparison to Erectus Robustus it had large teeth and strong jaws, implying that they ate mainly tubers and other plants which they could tear with their teeth and chew sufficiently. Robustus went extinct before Erectus survived for at least another 100 million years.

Dr. Angeline Leece of La Trobe University said: “” Over time, Paranthropus robustus it likely evolved to generate and resist higher forces produced during biting and chewing food that was difficult or mechanically demanding to process with their jaws and teeth. Other scientists explained that it was possible that a wetter environment caused by climate change may have reduced the available food Robustus.

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