Faces of our 7-million-year old ancestors recreated from fossil skulls

London, Jan 7 (ANI): Researchers have rebuilt faces of some of the most distant members of the human evolutionary 'family' - ancestors stretching back seven million years - with the help of forensic technology.

The 27 model heads displayed in Dresden, Germany, were created using fossil remains, and includes a glimpse of sahelanthropus tchadensis, an ancestor dated to about seven million years ago, when our 'hominid 'ancestors' first originated in Africa, the Daily Mail reported.

Salhelanthropus tchadensis dates to a time before humans and chimpanzees, our closest evolutionary cousins, became genetically separate.

"Using forensic anthropological methods, the various hominids were recreated not as characteristic ideals, but as individuals," said the museum.

"Each one tells its own story: where they lived, what they ate, their likely cause of death and much more," it stated.

A skull of Australopithecus africanus found in South Africa was used to rebuild a face of an ancestor who lived around two million years ago, known as Plesianthropus transvaalensis.

Some of the oldest spears ever found are also on display - dating back 400,000 years. (ANI)