Nature 371, 306 - 312 (22 September 2002); doi:10.1038/371306a0

Australopithecus ramidus, a new species of early hominid from Aramis, Ethiopia

Tim D. White^*, Gen Suwa^† & Berhane Asfaw^‡

^*Laboratory for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
^†Department of Anthropology, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-Ku, Hongo, Tokyo 113, Japan
^‡Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Sports Affairs, Paleoanthropology Laboratory, PO Box 5717, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Seventeen hominoid fossils recovered from Pliocene strata at Aramis, Middle Awash, Ethiopia make up a series comprising dental, cranial and postcranial specimens dated to around 4.4 million years ago. When compared with Australopithecus afarensis and with modern and fossil apes the Aramis fossil hominids are recognized as a new species of Australopithecus—A. ramidus sp. nov. The antiquity and primitive morphology of A. ramidus suggests that it represents a long-sought potential root species for the Hominidae.

References

1.	Johanson, D. C. & White, T. D. Science 202, 321−330 (1979).
2.	Sarich, V. M. & Wilson, A. C. Science 158, 1200−1203 (1967). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
3.	Hasegawa, M., Kishino, H. & Yano, T. J. molec. Evol. 22, 160−174 (1985). | PubMed | ChemPort |
4.	Pilbeam, D. R. Am. Anthrop. 88, 295−312 (1986).
5.	Sarich, V. M., Schmid, C. W. & Marks, J. Cladistics 5, 3−32 (1989).
6.	Andrews, P. & Martin, L. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 334, 199−209 (1991). | ChemPort |
7.	Andrews, P. Nature 360, 641−646 (1992). | Article | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
8.	Begun, D. R. Science 257, 1929−1933 (1992). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
9.	Dean, D. & Delson, E. Nature 359, 676−677 (1992). | Article | PubMed | ChemPort |
10.	WoldeGabriel, G. et al. Nature 371, 330−333 (1994). | Article | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
11.	Dart, R. A. Fol. Anat. Jap. 12, 207−221 (1934).
12.	Robinson, J. T. Transv. Mus. Mem. 9, 1−179 (1956).
13.	Le Gros Clark, W. E. Q. J. geol. Soc. 105, 225−264 (1950).
14.	Walker, A. C. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 65, 47−60 (1984). | PubMed | ChemPort |
15.	White, T. D. Anthropos (Brno) 23, 79−90 (1986).
16.	Ward, S. C. & Hill, A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 72, 21−37 (1987). | PubMed | ChemPort |
17.	White, T. D. et al. Nature 366, 261−265 (1993). | Article | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
18.	Kramer, A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 70, 457−473 (1986).
19.	Hill, A. & Ward, S., Yb. phys. Anthropol. 31, 49−83 (1988).
20.	Hill, A., Ward, S. & Brown, B. J. hum. Evol. 22, 439−451 (1992). | Article |
21.	Hill, A. Nature 315, 222−224 (1985). | Article | ISI |
22.	Pickford, M., Johanson, D. C., Lovejoy, C. O., White, T. D. & Aronson, J. L. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 60, 337−346 (1983). | PubMed | ISI | ChemPort |
23.	Coffing, K., Feibel, C., Leakey, M. & Walker, A. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 93, 55−65 (1994). | PubMed | ChemPort |
24.	Heinrich, R. E., Rose, M. D., Leakey, R. E. & Walker, A. C. Am. J. phys. Anthrop. 92, 139−148 (1993). | PubMed | ChemPort |
25.	Fleagle, J. G., Rasmussen, D. T., Yirga, S., Bown, T. M. & Grine, F. E. J. hum. Evol. 21, 145−152 (1991).
26.	Patterson, B., Beherensmeyer, A. K. & Sill, W. D. Nature 226, 918−921 (1970). | Article | ISI |
27.	Ferguson, W. W. Primates 24, 397−409 (1983).
28.	Ferguson, W. W. Primates 25, 519−529 (1984).
29.	Ferguson, W. W. Primates 28, 258−265 (1987).
30.	Ferguson, W. W. Primates 30, 383−387 (1989).
31.	Lovejoy, C. O. Science 211, 341−350 (1981). | ISI |
32.	Lovejoy, C. O. in The Origin and Evolution of Humans and Humanness (ed. Rasmussen, D. T.) 1−28 (Jones and Bartlett, Boston, 1993).