Story highlights An ancient species of human may have shared the planet with modern humans

Homo naledi had small brains, curved fingers and may have buried their dead

(CNN) An ancient species of human, that sparked global headlines when it was discovered two years ago in South Africa, is much younger than originally thought.

In a series of papers published in the journal eLife on Friday, a global group of scientists say Homo naledi roamed the grassland of Southern Africa near modern-day Johannesburg between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago.

Homo naledi was very different from archaic humans that lived around the same time. Left: Kabwe skull from Zambia, an archaic human. Right: ''Neo'' skull of Homo naledi.

It means the mysterious small-brained hominim could have lived at around the same time as the first modern humans in Africa, according to the research team, led by Professor Lee Berger of the University of Witwatersrand.

"If there was one other species out there that shared the world with 'modern humans' in Africa, it is very likely there are others. We just need to find them," says Berger.

Berger and other members of his team originally believed that the fossils could be much, much older.

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