Australopithecus bahrelghazali

Australopithecus bahrelghazali is a fossil hominin that was first discovered in 1993 by the paleontologist Michel Brunet in the Bahr el Ghazal valley near Koro Toro, in Chad, that Brunet named Abel. It was dated using Berylium based Radiometric dating as living circa. 3.6 million years ago.

The find consists of a mandibular fragment, a lower second incisor, both lower canines, and all four of its premolars, still affixed within the dental alveoli. The specimen's proper name is KT-12/H1; "Abel" is the informal name, a dedication to Brunet's deceased colleague Abel Brillanceau. The specimen located roughly 2,500 kilometers West from the East African Great Rift Valley.

The mandible KT-12/H1 discovered has similar features to the dentition of Australopithecus afarensis; this has brought researchears like William Kimbel to argue that Abel is not an exemplar of a separate species, but "falls within the range of variation" of the Australopithecus afarensis. By 1996, Brunet and his team classified KT 12/H1 as the holotype specimen for Australopithecus bahrelghazali. This claim is difficult to substantiate,as the describers have kept KT 12/H1 locked away from the general paleoanthropological community, contrary to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature 1999. This species is a mystery to some as it is the only australopithecine fossil found in Central Africa. It is also of great importance as it was the first fossil to show that geographically there is a "a third window" of early hominid evolution.