H. naledi skull specimensJOHN HAWKSThere are numerous different species for nearly every type of animal alive today—dozens of different whale species and thousands of ant varieties for example, yet there’s only one species of human. That wasn’t always the case, of course. In the distant past there were at least nine animals in our genus, Homo, including H. erectus, H. habilis, and Neanderthal. Now scientists have discovered a new species to add to our family tree, H. naledi.
From deep inside a nearly inaccessible cave, researchers in Southern Africa excavated 1,550 bone fragments belonging to H. naledi—more hominin fossils than had been discovered in the previous 90 years of exploration in the region. The bones come from at least 15 individuals, male and female, of various ages. “If you are an anthropologist this is as good as it gets,” said John Hawks, a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin and a collaborator on the excavation. The findings are published today (September 10) in eLife.
Hawks and his colleagues describe the shoulders, chest, and pelvis of H. naledi as primitive in morphology, similar to Australopithecus and other early hominin species that existed up to 4 million years ago. H. naledi’s cranial capacity ...
