A preliminary anatomical diagnosis of the first Plio/Pleistocene hominid discoveries in the central Afar, Ethiopia

Five fragmentary hominid specimens including four associated postcranial (lower limb) bones and a temporal bone of another individual from the Plio/Pleistocene of the central Afar, Ethiopia, are described. These remains represent the primary discoveries of fossil hominids by an international team working since 1972 in recently recognized paleontological exposures in the Afar triangle. The descriptions presented are purely anatomical and no taxonomic assessment is intended. The postcranial material is comprised of two fragmentary proximal femurs, a right and a left, a right distal femur, and a right proximal tibia. The close association and morphological similarities of these four fragments strongly suggests that they are from the same individual. An eroded and fragmentary left temporal bone, from another locality, was also found. Both the cranial and postcranial material are from roughly equivalent stratigraphic horizons and may be of nearly the same geological age.