On May 9th 2017, the scientists who discovered the species Homo Naledi announced in the journal eLife two new findings. They say that they have determined a younger age for their original find, and that they have found a second cave full of skeletal remains. The Naledi remains were first discovered in 2013 in a cave near Johannesburg, South Africa, by a team of researchers led by paleoanthropologist Lee Berger of University of Witwatersrand.
Dr. Berger and his team believe the bones from the earlier find in what's been called the Rising Star Cave, are from between 236,000 and 335,00 years ago. If this is true, then Naledi roamed Africa at the same time as Homo Sapiens. This means that while modern humans were evolving from large brained ancestors, a smaller brained version had managed to survive from a much earlier period, that may extend back some 2 million years.
The fossils' age range overlaps the early Middle Stone Age. Dr. Berger and his team speculate that it's possible that the stone-tool record from South Africa may not be just from modern humans. The team also discovered skeletal remains in a second chamber at the cave site that they are calling the Lesedi Chamber. As many as 130 specimens were recovered that are believed to represent two adults and one child. One of the male skeletons is preserved in a state comparable to the Lucy skeleton.
No comments:
Post a Comment