Ethiopian Zeray Alemseged discovered the fossil known as ` ` the world 's oldest child '' The skeletal remains belonged to a three - year - old child who died 3.3 million years ago . Alemseged , who made the discovery in Ethiopia in 2000 , named the fossil Selam . So when I achieve that , I 'm Currently Alemseged is the director of anthropology at the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences .
Ethiopian Zeray Alemseged discovered the fossil known as ` ` the world 's oldest child '' The skeletal remains belonged to a three - year - old child who died 3.3 million years ago . Alemseged , who made the discovery in Ethiopia in 2000 , named the fossil Selam . Currently Alemseged is the director of anthropology at the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences .