The skull of Nyctereutes lockwoodi as seen from the side and above. From Geraads et al, 2010.
In 2006 paleoanthropologists working in Ethiopia made a spectacular announcement - they had found the well-preserved remains of a juvenile Australopithecus afarensis, one of our prehistoric hominin relatives. Quickly dubbed "Lucy's baby" this 3.4 million year old specimen graced the cover of Nature and numerous news reports, yet its description represents only a fraction of the paleontological work being done in the area. Many other fossil animals have been found along the banks of the Awash, too, and in the latest issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology scientists Denis Geraads, Zeresenay Alemseged, René Bobe, Denné Reed have described a previously unknown species of dog which would have lived alongside the australopithecines.
