New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa (original) (raw)
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Homo naledi: a new species of hominin from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
Paleoanthropology, 2016
Homo naledi is a previously unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Gauteng, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations, with a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including H. erectus, H. habilis, or H. rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike leg and foot. These humanlike aspects are contrasted in the postcrania with a more primitive or australopith-like trunk, shoulder, fingers, pelvis, and proximal femur. Nonetheless, the shared derived features that connect H. naledi with other members of Homo occupy most regions of the H. naledi skeleton and represent distinct functional systems, including locom...
We describe the physical context of the Dinaledi Chamber within the Rising Star cave, South Africa, which contains the fossils of Homo naledi. Approximately 1550 specimens of hominin remains have been recovered from at least 15 individuals, representing a small portion of the total fossil content. Macro-vertebrate fossils are exclusively H. naledi, and occur within clay-rich sediments derived from in situ weathering, and exogenous clay and silt, which entered the chamber through fractures that prevented passage of coarser-grained material. The chamber was always in the dark zone, and not accessible to non-hominins. Bone taphonomy indicates that hominin individuals reached the chamber complete, with disarticulation occurring during/after deposition. Hominins accumulated over time as older laminated mudstone units and sediment along the cave floor were eroded. Preliminary evidence is consistent with deliberate body disposal in a single location, by a hominin species other than Homo sapiens, at an as-yet unknown date.
Journal of human evolution, 2018
This study describes three incudes recovered from the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa. All three bones were recovered during sieving of excavated sediments and likely represent three Homo naledi individuals. Morphologically and metrically, the Dinaledi ossicles resemble those of chimpanzees and Paranthropus robustus more than they do later members of the genus Homo, and fall outside of the modern human range of variation in several dimensions. Despite this, when overall size is considered, the functional lengths in H. naledi and P. robustus are very similar to those predicted for a human with a similar-sized incus. In this sense, both taxa seem to show a relatively elongated functional length, distinguishing them from chimpanzees. The functional length in H. naledi is slightly longer in absolute terms than in P. robustus, suggesting H. naledi may already show a slight increase in functional length compared with early hominins. While H. naledi lacks th...
Paleoanthropology, 2021
Homo naledi is known from the Rising Star cave system, South Africa, where its remains have previously been reported from two localities: the Dinaledi Chamber (U.W. 101) and Lesedi Chamber (U.W. 102). Continued exploration of the cave system has expanded our knowledge of the Dinaledi Chamber and its surrounding passageways (the Dinaledi Subsystem), leading to the discovery of new fossil localities. This paper discusses the fossil assemblage from the locality designated U.W. 110. This locality is within a narrow fissure of the Dinaledi Subsystem approximately 12 meters southwest of the 2013–2014 excavation. Fossil remains recovered from this locality include six hominin teeth and 28 cranial fragments, all consistent with a single immature hominin individual. The dental morphology of the new specimens supports attribution to H. naledi. This is the first immature individual of H. naledi to preserve morphological details of the calvaria in association with dental evidence. This partial ...
Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
Myra Laird, Jill Scott, Christopher Walker, Lucas Delezene, Lee Berger, Charles Musiba, Joel D Irish, Shahed Nalla, Damiano Marchi, Will Harcourt-Smith, Peter Schmid, Heather Garvin, Bernhard Zipfel, Scott A. Williams, Shahed Nalla, Marc Meyer
Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations but a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike foot and lower limb. These humanlike aspects are contrasted in the postcrania with a more primitive or australopith-like trunk, shoulder, pelvis and proximal femur. Representing at least 15 individuals with most skeletal elements repeated multiple times, this is the largest assemblage of a single species of hominins yet discovered in Africa.