What did the researchers discover in northern Kenya?

Researchers studying fossils from northern Kenya have identified a new species of human that lived two million years ago. The discoveries suggest that at least three distinct species of humans coexisted in Africa. The research has been published in the journal Nature. Anthropologists have discovered three human fossils that are between 1.78 and 1.95 million years old. The specimens are of a face and two jawbones with teeth. The discoveries back the view that a skull found in 1972 is of a separate species of human, known as Homo rudolfensis. The skull was markedly different to any others from that time. It had a relatively large brain and long flat face. But for 40 years the skull was the only example of the creature and so it was impossible to say for sure whether the individual was an unusual specimen or a member of a new species. With the discovery of the three new fossils, researchers can say with more certainty that Homo rudolfensis really was a separate type of human that existed around two million years ago alongside other species of humans.