Homo naledi
202187202187Homo naledi (†Homo ergaster (Berger et al., 2015))
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Dimensions: height - 130-145 сm, weight - 30-45 kg
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene of Southern Africa (0.335–0.236 Ma)
Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 years ago. Along with similarities to contemporary Homo, they share several characteristics with the ancestral Australopithecus as well as early Homo (mosaic evolution), most notably a small cranial capacity of 465–610 cm3 , compared with 1,270–1,330 cm3 in modern humans. H. naledi brain anatomy seems to have been similar to contemporary Homo, which could indicate comparable cognitive complexity. The persistence of small-brained humans for so long in the midst of bigger-brained contemporaries revises the previous conception that a larger brain would necessarily lead to an evolutionary advantage, and their mosaic anatomy greatly expands the known range of variation for the genus.
The excavation comprises 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this exceptionally high number of specimens, their classification with other Homo species remains unclear.
H. naledi is hypothesised to have branched off very early from contemporaneous Homo. It is unclear whether they branched off at approximately the time of H. habilis, H. rudolfensis, and A. sediba, are a sister taxon to H. erectus and the contemporaneous large-brained Homo, or are a sister taxon to the descendants of H. heidelbergensis (modern humans and Neanderthals). This places the branching from contemporary Homo in a range of time from as early as the Pliocene to 900,000 years ago at the latest. It is also possible that their ancestors speciated after an interbreeding event between Homo and late australopithecines. Comparison of skull features reveals that H. naledi has the closest affinities to H. erectus.
H. naledi occupied a seemingly unique ecological niche from previous South African hominins, including Australopithecus and Paranthropus. The teeth of all three species indicate that they needed to exert high shearing force to chew through perhaps plant or muscle fibres. The teeth of other Homo cannot produce such high forces perhaps due to the use of some food processing techniques, such as cooking.
Homo naledi could have produced Early Stone Age or Middle Stone Age industries because they have the same adaptations to the hand as other human species that are implicated in tool production. H. naledi is the only identified human species to have existed during the early Middle Stone Age of the Highveld region, South Africa, possibly indicating that this species manufactured and maintained this tradition at least during this time period. In this scenario, such industries and stone cutting techniques would have evolved independently several times among different Homo species and populations, or were transported over long distances by the inventors or apprentices and taught.
Homo naledi (†Homo ergaster (Berger et al., 2015))
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
Dimensions: height - 130-145 сm, weight - 30-45 kg
Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene of Southern Africa (0.335–0.236 Ma)
Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 years ago. Along with similarities to contemporary Homo, they share several characteristics with the ancestral Australopithecus as well as early Homo (mosaic evolution), most notably a small cranial capacity of 465–610 cm3 , compared with 1,270–1,330 cm3 in modern humans. H. naledi brain anatomy seems to have been similar to contemporary Homo, which could indicate comparable cognitive complexity. The persistence of small-brained humans for so long in the midst of bigger-brained contemporaries revises the previous conception that a larger brain would necessarily lead to an evolutionary advantage, and their mosaic anatomy greatly expands the known range of variation for the genus.
The excavation comprises 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this exceptionally high number of specimens, their classification with other Homo species remains unclear.
H. naledi is hypothesised to have branched off very early from contemporaneous Homo. It is unclear whether they branched off at approximately the time of H. habilis, H. rudolfensis, and A. sediba, are a sister taxon to H. erectus and the contemporaneous large-brained Homo, or are a sister taxon to the descendants of H. heidelbergensis (modern humans and Neanderthals). This places the branching from contemporary Homo in a range of time from as early as the Pliocene to 900,000 years ago at the latest. It is also possible that their ancestors speciated after an interbreeding event between Homo and late australopithecines. Comparison of skull features reveals that H. naledi has the closest affinities to H. erectus.
H. naledi occupied a seemingly unique ecological niche from previous South African hominins, including Australopithecus and Paranthropus. The teeth of all three species indicate that they needed to exert high shearing force to chew through perhaps plant or muscle fibres. The teeth of other Homo cannot produce such high forces perhaps due to the use of some food processing techniques, such as cooking.
Homo naledi could have produced Early Stone Age or Middle Stone Age industries because they have the same adaptations to the hand as other human species that are implicated in tool production. H. naledi is the only identified human species to have existed during the early Middle Stone Age of the Highveld region, South Africa, possibly indicating that this species manufactured and maintained this tradition at least during this time period. In this scenario, such industries and stone cutting techniques would have evolved independently several times among different Homo species and populations, or were transported over long distances by the inventors or apprentices and taught.
