What did the face of our ancestors look like three million years ago? Our international team has answered this question by virtually reconstructing the facial fragments of Little Foot, the most complete Australopithecus skeleton yet discovered. This reconstruction sheds light on the influence of the environment on how our face evolved. Our findings have just been published in the Comptes Rendus Palevol journal, and the new 3D face of Little Foot can be explored online on the MorphoSource platform.
The search for human origins has never been more fruitful, with fossil discoveries pushing back the appearance of the earliest humans (members of the genus Homo) to 2.8 million years ago, and the development of cutting-edge methods for analyzing these remains, such as recovering genetic information from fossils over two million years old.
Yet, while our knowledge of extinct human species grows with each discovery, the story of our ancestors before the first humans appeared remains blurry. It is during this pivotal period that the traits defining our humanity emerged, enabling our genus' evolutionary success.
Although the identity of our direct pre-Homo ancestor is far from resolved, one fossil group plays a central role in this search: Australopithecus. This genus, to which the famous "Lucy" belongs (discovered 50 years ago in Ethiopia), inhabited much of Africa and survived for over two million years. Australopithecus is known from many fossil remains, but often these are highly fragmentary, isolated, and have sometimes been distorted over the millions of years they have been buried. Notably, only a handful of skulls preserve nearly the entire face, a part of our anatomy that has profoundly shaped who we are today.
Through digestive, visual, respiratory, olfactory and non-verbal communication systems, the face is at the heart of interactions between individuals and their physical and social environments.
Significant changes occurred in the facial region throughout human evolution, with most structures generally becoming less robust. However, the factors driving these changes remain unclear. Were they caused by shifts in diet, social behavior, or both? Only the discovery of more complete skulls can clarify this debate, and this is why the skull of Little Foot is crucial.
The 'Cradle of Humankind'
South Africa has been and remains a crucial region for research into human origins. A century ago, the iconic "Taung Child" was published in Nature as a representative of a new African branch of humanity, Australopithecus. While scientific attention had previously focused on Eurasia, this discovery inspired decades of exploration and major finds across Africa.
In particular, South Africa saw a proliferation of paleontological sites in a region now UNESCO-listed and known as the "Cradle of Humankind." Among these, Sterkfontein has proven exceptionally rich in fossils, many attributed to the hominin genus Australopithecus, and including numerous remarkably preserved specimens.
But it was in 1994 and 1997 that Sterkfontein yielded its most spectacular find: the skeleton of Little Foot, over 90% complete, and the oldest human ancestor found in southern Africa. To date, it is the most complete Australopithecus skeleton ever discovered, far surpassing Lucy, of which only 40% of the anatomy is preserved.
Our team has been studying this skeleton since its complete excavation concluded in 2017. The skull, in particular, has been the focus of our attention, as it is relatively complete, preserving all parts of the head—the cranium and mandible. However, 3.7 million years of burial underground have fragmented and displaced parts of its fossilized face. This process is especially visible in the forehead and eye sockets (orbits), making it impossible to quantitatively analyze these informative areas. Given the exceptional and unique nature of this fossil, we decided to harness the most recent technological advances in imaging to restore the face of Little Foot.
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