The new female Homo erectus pelvis fossil from Gona.

The new female Homo erectus pelvis fossil from Gona.

An Afar colleague sitting at the horizon where the pelvic bone was excavated.

Map showing the location of the Gona study area, Afar, Ethiopia.

An overview of the Busidima area with an arrow pointing to the location of the pelvis site.

The Gona pelvis site. The arrow indicates the location of the excavated area of the fossil Homo erectus pelvis.

Geologists examining the horizon of the Gona fossil pelvis. Pink flags mark the in situ location of pelvic bones still buried in the sediment.

Gona excavation showing the pelvic bones in situ.

Gona excavation showing a close-up of one of the pelvic bones in place.

Comparison of three female pelves over the course of the last three million years. The pelvis of "Lucy" (Australopithecus afarensis, around 3.2 million years old) on the left, the new Gona pelvis (Homo erectus, about 1.2-1.3 million years old) in the middle, and a modern human female (Homo sapiens) on the right.

Three pelves with infants.
Image courtesy of Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation.

Comparison of the pelvis of a modern female (on the left) and a modern male (on the right).

Gona badlands showing the terrain in the Busidima Formation in the area near the pelvis site.

Sileshi Semaw at the Stone Age Institute.
Photo courtesy of the IU Office of Communications.