Another Missing Link Found in South Africa: Homo Naledi
The most significant early human discovery was unearthed in a small cavern in South Africa known as the “Star Chamber” or “Dinaledi” inside the “Rising Star Cave System.” The cave system is located 50 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg. It contained 1,550 partial human remains representing more than 15 individuals of the new ancestor know as Homo Naledi. Naledi means star. "Naledi is a fantastic new species, part of our family tree. Where it fits is something that's going to be the next phase of study. What we know about it is quite a lot right now. We know about it from 1,550 elements so far, but we have thousands left in the Dinaledi chamber where we discovered it." –(Professor …show more content…
Homo Naledi was originally discovered in 2013 in the same cave system, which fueled this recent expedition. The latest expedition was funded by National Geographic and was lead by Professor Lee Berger. Although the remains have not yet been dated, Berger claims that Homo Naledi could date back in excess of 2.5 MA.
"If you pop up back to the top and look at the arms, they're more and more human-like as you move away from that primitive shoulder, until you reach the wrist, which is incredibly human-like, the palm, which is human-like. The whole plan of the hand is human-like, but the distal fingers are some of the most curved we've ever seen in the entire human-ancestor record." – (Professor Lee Berger 2015)
Naledi has a small skull with a brain the size of an orange, small primitive teeth and the males stood under 5 feet tall as the females were approximately 4 feet tall. It had human like arms with an ape like thorax or upper body and was very skinny. Is this evidence that they swung through the treetops like apes? The pelvis was primitive and the hands were a mixture of human hands but were also curved like primitive hands. They were bipedal and their legs were long as the feet were very complex, resembling human
The most significant early human discovery was unearthed in a small cavern in South Africa known as the “Star Chamber” or “Dinaledi” inside the “Rising Star Cave System.” The cave system is located 50 kilometers northwest of Johannesburg. It contained 1,550 partial human remains representing more than 15 individuals of the new ancestor know as Homo Naledi. Naledi means star. "Naledi is a fantastic new species, part of our family tree. Where it fits is something that's going to be the next phase of study. What we know about it is quite a lot right now. We know about it from 1,550 elements so far, but we have thousands left in the Dinaledi chamber where we discovered it." –(Professor …show more content…
Homo Naledi was originally discovered in 2013 in the same cave system, which fueled this recent expedition. The latest expedition was funded by National Geographic and was lead by Professor Lee Berger. Although the remains have not yet been dated, Berger claims that Homo Naledi could date back in excess of 2.5 MA.
"If you pop up back to the top and look at the arms, they're more and more human-like as you move away from that primitive shoulder, until you reach the wrist, which is incredibly human-like, the palm, which is human-like. The whole plan of the hand is human-like, but the distal fingers are some of the most curved we've ever seen in the entire human-ancestor record." – (Professor Lee Berger 2015)
Naledi has a small skull with a brain the size of an orange, small primitive teeth and the males stood under 5 feet tall as the females were approximately 4 feet tall. It had human like arms with an ape like thorax or upper body and was very skinny. Is this evidence that they swung through the treetops like apes? The pelvis was primitive and the hands were a mixture of human hands but were also curved like primitive hands. They were bipedal and their legs were long as the feet were very complex, resembling human