Sun Nov 30 11:13:59 UTC 2025: Okay, here’s a summary and rewritten news article based on the provided text:

Summary:

Scientists have confirmed that 3.4 million-year-old “Burtele Foot” fossils found in Ethiopia belong to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a human ancestor that coexisted with Lucy’s species, Australopithecus afarensis. This discovery shows that early human evolution was not a linear process with only one species at a time. A. deyiremeda had a unique combination of bipedalism and tree-climbing adaptations, including an opposable big toe, and a diet limited to trees and shrubs. This contrasts with A. afarensis, which had a more generalist diet and a big toe suited for more efficient walking. The findings suggest that these two closely related species likely had different ecological niches, influencing their evolution and raising questions about potential competition.

News Article:

Early Human Ancestors Coexisted, Walked Differently, Ate Different Foods, New Research Reveals

ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA – November 30, 2025 – A groundbreaking new study has confirmed that a set of 3.4 million-year-old foot bones, dubbed the “Burtele Foot,” belonged to Australopithecus deyiremeda, a previously identified but enigmatic human ancestor that walked the earth alongside Australopithecus afarensis, the species best known for the fossil “Lucy.” The findings, published this week in the journal Nature, rewrite the understanding of early human evolution, showing that it was not a simple linear progression.

The “Burtele Foot,” discovered in the Afar region of Ethiopia in 2009, exhibited a unique combination of features. Unlike A. afarensis, whose big toe was aligned with the other toes for efficient walking, A. deyiremeda possessed an opposable big toe, suggesting it was also adept at climbing trees.

“These fossils provide us with the most conclusive evidence showing that A. afarensis – Lucy’s species – was not the only human ancestor that lived between 3.5 and 3.3 million years ago,” said paleoanthropologist Yohannes Haile-Selassie, lead author of the study and director of Arizona State University’s Institute of Human Origins.

Adding to the picture, chemical analysis of teeth enamel confirmed dietary differences. A. afarensis was a generalist eater, consuming grasses as well as foods from trees and shrubs. In contrast, A. deyiremeda stuck to a diet of plants found in trees and shrubs.

The coexistence of these two closely related hominin species raises fascinating questions about resource competition and the pressures that shaped their evolution. The researchers suggest that differences in locomotion and diet may have allowed the two species to coexist.

“Understanding the differences and similarities among these nearby hominins is key to understanding their environment and perhaps even how interactions with each other, even indirectly, may have shaped their evolution and how they relate to our own species,” said University of Michigan geochemist and study co-author Naomi Levin.

The research highlights the complex and multi-faceted nature of early human evolution, demonstrating that multiple “ways of being human” existed simultaneously. It underscores the importance of further investigation into the ecological context and potential interactions between these early hominin species to fully understand our evolutionary past.

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