As this region is believed to have been an evolutionary nest of hominins, the dates are important for generating a diachronic array of fossils, both hominoid and nonhominoid.
Prior to the recent discovery, all small-bodied ape-like creatures discovered featured a body plan too primitive to be closely related to living hominoids.
Although the hominoid fossil record is far from complete, and the evidence is often fragmentary, there is enough to give a good outline of the evolutionary history of humans.