[21 January 2026, London UK] The discovery of a fossil in northern Ethiopia, attributed to the genus Paranthropus, has changed our understanding of this unusual branch of our early ancestors.
Paranthropus is popularly known as ‘Nutcracker Man’. Its fossils date from 1.4 to 2.8 million years ago and have previously been found in parts of southern and eastern Africa. Now, a new study published today in Nature describes a new Paranthropus fossil that was discovered in Ethiopia’s northern Afar region, 1000 km further north than its previously known occurrence, implying that the genus was more widespread than first thought.
Ethiopia’s Afar region has stood out in the study of human evolution for its vast array of hominin fossils, from some of the earliest known Homo sapiens dating to 160,000 years, to hominins dating as far back as 6 million years ago. However, the absence of Paranthropus fossils in the region has been a long-standing anomaly for researchers.
Dr Fred Spoor, palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum, London, said: “Despite many decades of fieldwork in the Afar region, Paranthropus remained unknown here. As such, it was thought that it never dispersed this far north, either due to ecological factors or because of competition with other species present in the area. The new discovery now suggests otherwise and the assumed absence was the result of an incomplete fossil record.”
The new fossil, known as MLP-3000 and part of a lower jaw, was found in the Mille-Logya research area of Ethiopia’s Afar region by a team led by Professor Zeresenay Alemseged of the University of Chicago. Geological studies showed that it is 2.6 million years old, and one of the oldest Paranthropus fossils. To study MLP-3000, Fred joined the team and extensive comparisons were made with fossils from all over Africa, using advanced digital imaging methods to visualise internal parts such as tooth roots.
The nickname ‘Nutcracker Man’ reflects that Paranthropus had notably large jaws and molar teeth, far larger than ours today. Alongside flaring cheek bones and ridges on the braincase marking strong chewing muscles, these features indicate that they were dietary specialists feeding on tough plant foods. This dedicated focus on chewing and diet would logically suggest that Paranthropus was limited in the environments it could live in, as determined by available food sources.
The new evidence now contests the limitations of this hypothesised ecological niche. Paranthropus indeed appears to have had greater dietary flexibility than first interpreted, could adapt to a wide range of environmental conditions and was as widely distributed in Africa as other groups of extinct human relatives, including Australopithecus and early Homo.
Interestingly, the broadly contemporary Afar species Australopithecus garhi also had notably large molars. This co-occurrence of two ‘heavy chewers’ is a first in human evolutionary history. However, dental size alone is too crude a factor to suggest the two competed over resources, and more evidence is needed to understand better how jaws, chewing and diet are related.
The discovery of Paranthropus in the Afar highlights how much more there is to uncover about human evolution in Africa during the crucial period between 3 and 2.5 million years ago, when the oldest fossils of this genus and the Homo lineage are found.
Afar fossil shows broad distribution and versatility of Paranthropus is published today in Nature.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
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Tel: +44 (0)20 7942 5654 / 07799690151
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Fred Spoor
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Journal Details
Afar fossil shows broad distribution and versatility of Paranthropus
Zeresenay Alemseged, Fred Spoor, Denné Reed, W. Andrew Barr, Denis Geraads, René Bobe & Jonathan G. Wynn
Nature https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09826-x
This research was supported by M. and W. Hearst, U.S.A., the University of Chicago, U.S.A., the Calleva Foundation, U.K. and the Max Planck Society, Germany. Research in the field and at the National Museum of Ethiopia is conducted under the auspices of the Ethiopian Heritage Authority of the Ministry of Tourism. Field work is undertaken with additional permission from the Afar Regional State Tourism and Culture Bureau.
Assets
Imagery is available to download HERE.
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