In a study released Wednesday, April 10 by science journal Nature, the human family may have just found a new branch – the Homo luzonensis.Evidence gathered over a decade ago—seven teeth and six bones from the feet, hands and thighs of at least three individuals—points towards a previously known cousin of the human species. The study began when Dr. Armand Mijares of the University of the Philippines Diliman found a bone resembling a human foot in the Callao caves, a little over 200 miles north of Manila circa 2007.When it comes to what Homo luzonensis looked like, it’s hard to say since the researchers have not found enough bones to make an estimate. Homo floresiensis, another ancient relative discovered in the Indonesian island of Flores and dated to be at least 60,000 years old, stood only three feet high. Homo luzonensis, is dated to be 50,000 years old at least. The Homo erectus, a species that travelled from Africa all the way to Southeast Asia, may be the common ancestor of both species, scientists say.Yet Homo luzonensis shares other traits with other hominins (a term used by scientists for modern humans and our ancestors) too, including a toe bone that shares similarities with hominins who lived in Africa millions of years ago. The study also said that the discovered teeth were tiny and had three root canals instead of our one.The study has sparked discussions regarding the links of human evolution in the Southeast Asia region. Gert van den Bergh of the University of Wollongong in Australia posits that Homo erectus shrank in size as it adapted to life in the area. Matthew Tocheri, a paleoanthropologist at Lakehead University in Canada, suggests different: that Homo luzonensis had tiny ancestors to begin with.The discovery of a new human relative in the Philippines might be “smoke from a much, much bigger fire,” he said in an interview.