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This volume describes a 3.6 million-years-old partial skeleton of Australopithecus afarensis from the Woranso-Mille, central Afar, Ethiopia. This specimen is the first adult partial skeleton to be recovered since Lucy's (A.L. 288-1) discovery in 1974. It is older than Lucy by 400,000 years and sheds light on the paleobiology of early Australopithecus afarensis, particularly the morphology of the shoulder girdle and thoracic shape, which are thus far poorly understood and actively debated. The fauna associated with the partial skeleton tells us enormously about Au. afarensis paleoecology and give us another piece of the puzzle regarding habitat availability and use for Au. afarensis outside the Hadar region where it has been well-known for the last four decades.

The second volume in a series dedicated to fossil discoveries made in the Afar region of Ethiopia, this work contains the definitive description of the geological context and paleoenvironment of the early hominid Ardipithecus kadabba. This research by an international team describes Middle Awash late Miocene faunal assemblages recovered from sediments firmly dated to between 5.2 and 5.8 million years ago. Compared to other assemblages of similar age, the Middle Awash record is unparalleled in taxonomic diversity, composed of 2,760 specimens representing at least sixty five mammalian genera. This comprehensive evaluation of the vertebrates from the end of the Miocene in Africa provides detailed morphological and taxonomic descriptions of dozens of taxa, including species new to science. It also incorporates results from analyses of paleoenvironment, paleobiogeography, biochronology, and faunal turnover around the Pliocene-Miocene boundary, opening a new window on the evolution of mammals, African fauna, and its environments.The second volume in a series dedicated to fossil discoveries made in the Afar region of Ethiopia, this work contains the definitive description of the geological context and paleoenvironment of the early hominid Ardipithecus kadabba. This research