A new species of ancient human has been unearthed in the Afar region of Ethiopia.

Researchers have discovered jaw bones and teeth, which date to between 3.3 million and 3.5 million years old, reported the Nature magazine.

The new species has been called Australopithecus deyiremeda, which means “close relative” in the language spoken by the Afar people, reported the BBC Russian Service.

It means this new hominin was alive at the same time as several other early human species, suggesting our family tree is more complicated than was thought.