Scientists in South Africa have announced the discovery of a
new species of human called "Homo naledi." The find, which includes
bones from 15 bodies, has been hailed as a "breakthrough" in
evolutionary research.
A previously unknown species of human has been discovered in South
Africa according to an announcement from researchers on Thursday. The
fossilized remains of 15 bodies were pieced together from 1,500
fragments, uncovered in hardly-accessible caves in 2013.
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"I am pleased to introduce you to a new species of human ancestor,"
announced Lee Berger, professor at the University of the Witwatersrand
in Johannesburg who led the work. Two researchers from the Max Planck
Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig were also involved in
the research.
The site is located 48 kilometers (30 miles) north of Johannesburg in
the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO world heritage site where numerous
hominin fossils have been found. Scientists had to squeeze through
complicated cave chambers to access the fossil site, with certain
passageways only 17.8 centimeters (7.5 inches) wide.
The research team named the creature "Homo naledi" which is a
combination of the "Homo" evolutionary group - which contains both
modern humans and extinct relatives - and the word for "star" in the
local Sesotho language.
Human-like traits
Scientists speculate that the Homo naledi fossil site is actually a
burial ground of sorts - a trait previously believed to be unique to
modern humans. The 15 different bodies ranged in age from infants to the
elderly and contained no tooth or claw marks.
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"It does appear after eliminating all other possibilities that Homo
naledi was deliberately disposing of its body in a repeated fashion,"
Berger told news agency Reuters in an interview. "That indicates to us
that they were seeing themselves as separate from other animals and in
fact perhaps from the natural world."
Along with burial practices, the naledi hands and feet contained a bone
structure similar to modern humans, but that is where the similarities
end. "H. naledi had a tiny brain, about the size of an average orange,
perched atop a very slender body," said John Hawks, a senior author on
the academic paper detailing the discovery from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison.
Additionally, Homo naledi was approximately 1.5 meters (about 5 feet)
tall and weighed about 45 kilograms (around 100 pounds). The exact age
of the fossils, however, remains uncertain. The discoverers believe the
fossils are around 2.5 million to 2.8 million years old, but say they
could be younger.
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