There are already three known species in the Paranthropus genus - Paranthropus aethiopicus, Paranthropus boisei and Paranthropus robustus - which lived between about 1 million and 2.7 million years ago.
Pictured, skull of Paranthropus boisei at National Archaeological Museum of Madrid] But the jawbone and teeth are slightly smaller than other Paranthropus specimens, leading the team to describe this as a new species – Paranthropus capensis.
Roughly 2.5 million years ago, the australopithecines are thought to have split into the genus Homo, which produced modern Homo sapiens and the genus Paranthropus that dead-ended.
Called Paranthropus capensis, it was a more slender member of the Paranthropus genus - a close relative of modern humans (homo sapiens).
The jawbone and teeth are smaller than other Paranthropus specimens, leading the team to describe this as a new species - Paranthropus capensis.
