New Species in Human Lineage Is Found in a South African Cave

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/new-species-in-human-lineage-is-found-in-a-south-african-cave/ar-AAe8sRT?li=AAa0dzB
The New York Times
By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD
8 hrs ago

New Species in Human Lineage Is Found in a South African Cave

© AP Photo/Themba Hadebe A reconstruction of Homo naledi presented during the announcement made in Magaliesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015

Acting on a tip from spelunkers two years ago, scientists in South Africa discovered what the cavers had only dimly glimpsed through a crack in a limestone wall deep in the Rising Star cave: lots and lots of old bones.

The remains covered the earthen floor beyond the narrow opening. This was, the scientists concluded, a large, dark chamber for the dead of a previously unidentified species of the early human lineage — Homo naledi.

The new hominin species was announced on Thursday by an international team of more than 60 scientists led by Lee R. Berger, an American paleoanthropologist who is a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The species name, H. naledi, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; "naledi" means "star" in the local Sesotho language.

In two papers published this week in the open-access journal eLife, the researchers said that the more than 1,550 fossil elements documenting the discovery constituted the largest sample for any hominin species in a single African site, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Further, the scientists said, that sample is probably a small fraction of the fossils yet to be recovered from the chamber. So far the team has recovered parts of at least 15 individuals.

"With almost every bone in the body represented multiple times, Homo naledi is already practically the best-known fossil member of our lineage," Dr. Berger said.

Besides introducing a new member of the prehuman family, the discovery suggests that some early hominins intentionally deposited bodies of their dead in a remote and largely inaccessible cave chamber, a behavior previously considered limited to modern humans. Some of the scientists referred to the practice as a ritualized treatment of their dead, but by "ritual" they said they meant a deliberate and repeated practice, not necessarily a kind of religious rite.

"It's very, very fascinating," said Ian Tattersall, an authority on human evolution at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, who was not involved in the research. "No question there's at least one new species here," he added, "but there may be debate over the Homo designation, though the species is quite different from anything else we have seen."

A colleague of Dr. Tattersall's at the museum, Eric Delson, who also is a professor at Lehman College of the City University of New York, was also impressed, saying, "Berger does it again!"

Dr. Delson was referring to Dr. Berger's previous headline discovery, published in 2010, also involving cave deposits at the Cradle of Humankind site, 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg. He found many fewer fossils that time, but enough to conclude he was looking at a new species, which he named Australopithecus sediba. Geologists said the individuals lived 1.78 million to 1.95 million years ago, when australopithecines and early species of Homo were contemporaries.

Researchers analyzing the H. naledi fossils have not yet nailed down their age, which is difficult to measure because of the muddled chamber sediments and the absence of other fauna remains nearby. Some of its primitive anatomy, like a brain no larger than an average orange, Dr. Berger said, indicated that the species evolved near or at the root of the Homo genus, meaning it must be in excess of 2.5 million to 2.8 million years old. Geologists think the cave is no older than three million years.

The field work and two years of analysis for Dr. Berger's latest discovery were supported by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation. In addition to the journal articles, the findings will be featured in the October issue of National Geographic Magazine and in a two-hour NOVA/National Geographic documentary to air Wednesday on PBS.

Scientists on the discovery team and those not involved in the research noted the mosaic of contrasting anatomical features, including more modern-looking jaws and teeth and feet, that warrant the hominin's placement as a species in the genus Homo, not Australopithecus, the genus that includes the famous Lucy species that lived 3.2 million years ago. The hands of the newly discovered specimens reminded some scientists of the earliest previously identified specimens of Homo habilis, who were apparently among the first toolmakers.

At a news conference on Wednesday, John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a senior author of the paper describing the new species, said it was "unlike any other species seen before," noting that a small skull with a brain one-third the size of modern human braincases was perched atop a very slender body. An average H. naledi was about five feet tall and weighed almost 100 pounds, he said.

Tracy Kivell of the University of Kent, in England, an associate of Dr. Berger's team, was struck by H. naledi's "extremely curved fingers, more curved than almost any other species of early hominin, which clearly demonstrates climbing capabilities."

William Harcourt-Smith of Lehman College of the City University of New York, a researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, led the analysis of the feet of the new species, which he said are "virtually indistinguishable from those of modern humans." These feet, combined with its long legs, suggest that H. naledi was well suited for upright long-distance walking, Dr. Harcourt-Smith said.

In an accompanying commentary in the journal, Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, found overall similarities between the new species and fossils from Dmanisi, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, dated to about 1.8 million years ago. The Georgian specimens are usually assigned to an early variety of Homo erectus.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/new-species-of-human-relative-discovered_55f09c1ce4b093be51bd679f

Jacqueline Howard
Associate Science Editor, The Huffington Post
Posted: 09/10/2015 10:01 AM EDT

New Species Of Human Relative Discovered In South African Cave

"Stunning" trove of fossils may alter ideas about the human family tree.

Fossils belonging to a previously unknown species of human relative have been discovered in a cave system northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, an international team of scientists announced Thursday.

The discovery of Homo naledi is expected to shed new light on the human family tree, according to a written statement released by the National Geographic Society, the University of Witwatersrand, and the South African Department of Science and Technology.

What's more, the fossils seem to indicate that H. naledi deposited the bodies of its dead in a remote part of the cave -- a behavior previously believed to have been practiced only by humans. In all, an astonishing 1,550 fossils belonging H. naledi were found in the Rising Star cave system.

"There are over 1,500 hominin fossils and not a single other fossil from a large African mammal. That was the first indication that this locality was unusual and the absence of other fossils is an important piece of evidence that this accumulation of bodies was deliberate," Jeremy DeSilva, an associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and a co-author of a paper describing the new species, told The Huffington Post in an email. "It was stunning, and an absolute thrill, to work with such a large collection of hominin fossils."

Photo by Robert Clark/National Geographic

Researcher Lee Berger's daughter, Megan, acting as a safety caver on the expedition, alongside underground exploration team member Rick Hunter in the Rising Star cave in South Africa.

The fossils were unearthed in two expeditions conducted in November 2013 and March 2014. Since then, they have been cleaned, examined and analyzed by more than 50 scientists and researchers.

The researchers concluded that the fossilized bones belonged to at least 15 females, males and children who may have all been entombed at the same time at the site.

Photo by Robert Clark/National Geographic; Source: Lee Berger, Wits, photographed at Evolutionary Studies Institute
A composite skeleton of H. naledi, surrounded by some of the hundreds of other fossil elements recovered in the Rising Star cave in South Africa.

According to the researchers, an adult H. naledi probably had long legs, stood about 5 feet tall, weighed 100 pounds, and had ape-like shoulders as well as hands with peculiar fingers.

"The hands suggest tool-using capabilities," Dr. Tracy Kivell, a biological anthropologist at the University of Kent in England, who was part of the team that studied H. naledi's anatomy, said in a press release. "Surprisingly, H. naledi has extremely curved fingers, more curved than almost any other species of early hominin, which clearly demonstrates climbing capabilities."

Meanwhile, the feet of H. naledi may have been "virtually indistinguishable from those of modern humans," William Harcourt-Smith, assistant professor of anthropology at City University of New York's Lehman College, said in the same release. Harcourt-Smith led the study of H. naledi's feet.

The species also likely had a tiny brain and skull -- smaller than a modern human's.

National Geographic

The braincase of a composite male skull of H. naledi that measures about 560 cubic centimeters in volume -- less than half that of the modern human skull pictured behind it.


What do other scientists make of the discovery? Some were wowed by the news, but others were dubious that the fossils represent a new species, The Associated Press reported.

"From what is presented here, [the fossils] belong to a primitive Homo erectus, a species named in the 1800s," Tim White, professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, told the AP.

The researchers noted that more H. naledi fossils may be waiting to be discovered inside the cave -- and they are continuing to study the fossils that have been recovered.

For instance, further analyses of the teeth may provide insight into the species' growth, development and diet. As DeSilva said, "This is just the start."

The new research was published online Thursday in the journal eLife.

The H. naledi discovery will be featured in a NOVA/National Geographic Special, "Dawn of Humanity," which premieres on PBS Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. ET .

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http://www.ew.com/article/2015/09/10/dawn-of-humanity-nova-national-geographic

NOVA, National Geographic debut human fossil record film Dawn of Humanity

by Shirley Li • @shirklesxp

Dawn of Humanity 

Posted September 10 2015 — 11:48 AM EDT


How did ape-like ancestors (think the famous "Lucy") eventually lead to humans? Dawn of Humanity, a film about the discovery and retrieval of the fossils that link the timelines that debuted online Thursday, aims to answer the question.

The two-hour special is the first time PBS has offered its viewers a chance to watch its content before it airs. The network chose to release Dawn of Humanity because the film's subject matter coincides with the recent news of discoveries of new species from research institutions around the world, including University of the Witwatersrand and the South African Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation.

Dawn of Humanity follows the 2013 expedition to the South African cave known as Rising Star in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site, where research professor Lee Berger found bones belonging to the first relatives of humans, called the Homo naledi.

Dawn of Humanity is available online, and will air on PBS Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 9 p.m. ET.