Two million-year-old skull of human cousin found by Australian team in South African cave

Paranthropus robustus walked the earth at roughly the same time as our direct ancestor Homo erectus

A two million-year-old skull from a large-toothed distant human cousin has been unearthed at an Australian-led archaeological dig deep in a South African cave system.

The discovery is the earliest known and best-preserved example of the small-brained hominin called Paranthropus robustus, La Trobe University researchers say.