Little Foot hominin fossil may be new species of human ancestor

Dr Jesse Martin of LaTrobe University thinks Little Foot could be a whole new branch of the human family tree. Photograph: La Trobe University

Little Foot, one of the world’s most complete hominin fossils, may be a new species of human ancestor, according to research that raises questions about our evolutionary past.

Publicly unveiled in 2017, Little Foot is the most complete Australopithecus skeleton ever found. The foot bones that lend the fossil its name were first discovered in South Africa 1994, leading to a painstaking excavation over 20 years in the Sterkfontein cave system.