The homonid, the evolutionary branch of primates that led to humans, will be revealed when a two million-year-old skeleton of a child is unveiled this week.
The skeleton was discovered in the Sterkfontein region of South Africa - an area knows as 'the Cradle of Humanity' - by Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand.
Prof. Berger and his colleagues have remained silent about the significance of their find, but anticipation is high among the scientific community ahead of an official announcement on Thursday.
It's hoped the story of human evolution might be re-written should the discovery fill in crucial gaps in the chain of evolution.
Remnants of the species have been discovered previously, but previous finds were seldom more than a few bone fragments.
Experts who have seen the skeleton have reported that it shares features with Homo habilis, and revealed that it could shed light on when our ancestors began walking on two legs.
Prof. Phillip Tobias, a human anatomist and anthropologist who was one of the first to identify Homo habilis as a human species in 1964, has celebrated the 'wonderful' and 'exciting' discovery.
'To find a skeleton as opposed to a couple of teeth or an arm bone is a rarity,' he told The Telegraph. 'It is one thing to find a lower jaw with a couple of teeth, but it is another thing to find the jaw joined onto the skull, and those in turn uniting further down with the spinal column, pelvis and the limb bones.
It is not a single find, but several specimens representing several individuals.'
The skeltons were discovered in a limestone cave, which is believed to have shielded them from the elements and allowed them to remain intact.
They are said to link Australopithecus - from 3.9million years ago - with Homo habilis, which began appearing 2.5million years ago.
Link: Homo habilis lived about 2.5million years ago
Evolution: The latest discover could fill in a missing piece of the puzzle explaining how apes changed over millions of years to become humans
