Woranso-Mille provides clear evidence that two related hominin species coexisted in the same region and period.

Dental and dietary data, together with foot morphology, imply that A. deyiremeda walked and foraged differently from A. afarensis, signaling diverse locomotion strategies among contemporaries.

New fossils from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia, including a skull and jaw with 12 teeth, support assigning the Burtele foot to A. deyiremeda and indicate a diet biased toward trees, shrubs, fruits, and leaves rather than Lucy's species’ broader woodland diet.

The findings were published in Nature, providing formal evidence for coexistence and lifestyle differences between the two species.

The results reinforce the view that ancient ecosystems hosted multiple hominin lineages coexisting without immediate extinction pressures, highlighting diversity in locomotion and diet.

The discovery challenges a linear, single-line evolution narrative and supports the idea that several closely related hominins lived in close geographic proximity during the Pliocene.

Despite proximity in space and time, A. afarensis and A. deyiremeda may have minimized food competition by occupying different ecological niches.

CT scans and tooth development studies suggest juvenile growth patterns in A. deyiremeda were consistent with other early hominins, indicating shared growth biology.

The study, published in Nature, underscores diverse evolutionary paths and the coexistence of Deyiremeda and afarensis in overlapping habitats.

Experts say the discovery points to multiple experimental paths to bipedality in early hominins and prompts reevaluation of how coexisting species navigated shared environments.

The Burtele foot preserves a primitive structure with an opposable big toe suitable for tree climbing but capable of supporting upright walking, with propulsion mainly from the second toe.

A 3.4-million-year-old Burtele foot is linked to a new hominin species, Australopithecus deyiremeda, living in the same region and era as Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy).