Researchers Find New Evidence of Species Believed to Be Humanity's Cousin
Researchers excavating for fossils in a South African cave have found the remains of three Homo naledi individuals. State-of-the-art dating techniques showed that the bones were not that old, which indicated that another species of hominin survived alongside the first humans in Africa.
The Homo naledi is believed to be an ape–human species that lived alongside early humans known as Homo sapiens. The first of their fossils were discovered in 2013 at the same place in the Dinaledi cave, which is part of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa's Gauteng province.
Based on the skeletal features, the species was very different from archaic humans. Another difference noted was the smaller brain of the Homo naledi, which is the size of an orange. It is noted to be around a third of the size of a human brain. Their hands are ape-like with their long, curved fingers, which could have been useful in climbing.
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According to Prof. Paul Dirks of James Cook University in Queensland, most paleoanthropologists on the site were convinced that the new set of fossils dated back to a million or two million years ago. However, carbon dating revealed that the bones are between 236,000 and 335,000 years old.
This could mean that species crossed paths with the direct ancestors of modern humans. More than that, Dirk suggested that there could have been an interchange of tool use, cultural activities, and behaviors between Homo sapiens and the Homo naledi. Incidentally, the new dating puts the species' existence during the middle stone age.
Bone analysis of the Homo naledi's hand structure further indicated that it was capable of using tools. Moreover, the shape of the species' feet is very similar to humans, meaning it was well-adapted for standing and walking on two feet, not "hand-like" as apes do.
The fact that 1,500 hominin fossil fragments belonging to 15 individuals were found in the cave in 2013 indicated that the Homo naledi stored its dead which suggested intelligence. "This is clearly not a human, yet it seems to share a very deep aspect of behavior that we recognize, an enduring care for other individuals that continues after their deaths," said Dr. John Hawks of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
