An oldest known fossil of a hand bone has been discovered. The fossil looks like that of a man and it is now being suggested that it belongs to an unknown human relative that was much taller and larger than any of its age group.

The bone was of the 'pinky' finger of a left hand and was found in Tanzania. It is dated to be around 1.84 million years ago. The researchers said the fossil indicates that its owner was taller and larger than any of its group members.

The finding provides clue about when modern humanlike hands started appearing in the fossil record. It also indicates that the ancient human relatives may have been bigger than previously thought. Study's lead researcher Manuel Dominguez-Rodrigo, a paleoanthropologist at Complutense University of Madrid said that hand is considered to be one of the most vital anatomical features that define humans.

"Our hand evolved to allow us a variety of grips and enough gripping power to allow us the widest range of manipulation observed in any primate. It is this manipulation capability that interacted with our brains to develop our intelligence", said Manuel.

It was earlier considered that human hand started to evolve for tool use. But the finding suggests that hand began to take on a modern configuration earlier than what was thought before. The fossil finger bone belonged to a hominin lineage, akin to Homo erectus, the first species to make and possess tools.