Carson Trinh June 10, 2016 Homo naledi In 2015, a major, yet baffling find sparked much attention from both the scientific and public community. A massive collection of fossils of some sort of species had been found in the Dinaledi Chamber of South Africa's Rising Star cave system. While parts of it seemed to be of the genus Homo, other parts seemed to be much more primitive; it was a mix of old and new traits. The age of the fossils have not been confirmed yet, but it appeared to have existed around the split between Homos and australopithecines. The research team for the project has decided that the fossils are a new and very early species of the genus Homo. They named the new species Homo naledi. How did these scientists come to their …show more content…
These conclusions were decided based on the evidence provided by the fossils. In addition to the remains, the unique placement of the bodies and the discrete location of the site may indicate a burial chamber, supporting the Homo status of the species as Homo sapiens is one of the few species to bury their dead. So while Homo naledi have several features present in the genus Australopithecus, they share more features with the Homo species. Homo naledi remains support the conclusion that Homo naledi is a new species of the genus Homo. The limbs of Homo naledi strongly indicate the Homo nature of these species as opposed to australopithecines, or any other genus or species for that matter. Among the 1500 fossils found, a nearly fully articulated hand was recovered. This has never happened for any of the other early Homo fossils discovered. The bones of the Homo naledi hand appear to be more similar to modern humans than any australopithecines, although there are traces of both genuses, as is the case for the other parts of Homo …show more content…
One of the great controversies of Homo naledi is how to bodies got to where they were. The cave in which the bodies were found is highly inaccessible. Four hypotheses of how the bodies got there occupation, water transport, predation, and death trap were ruled out. A new hypothesis was formulated what if Homo naledi intentionally buried their dead? Although there is not enough evidence yet to confirm this, such behavior would be significant in that it would precede previous cases of the behavior in Neanderthals and humans. This would add to the argument that Homo naledi are of the genus Homo. When Homo naledi was first uncovered, the confusing yet rich set of fossils shrouded the species' past, leaving anthropologists around the world scratching their heads and stroking their chins. It was not clear where the species fit on the evolutionary tree was it part of the genus Homo or the genus Australopithecus? Upon examination of these fossils, it was concluded that Homo naledi were definitely a new species of the Homo genus. While its exact location on the evolutionary tree has not been determined, this ambiguity is a testament to how early this species might have existed in relation to the genus. As new information surfaces, we may be able to gain an even deeper understanding of our roots.
These fossils are having a major impact on the scientific world’s view of human evolution and scientists may even have to rethink some present ideas about it. Because the skull of Toumai has characteristics that are very similar to those found in the Homo family, some scientists are beginning to question whether or not Australopithecus, an early member of the hominid family from about four to one million years ago and they are characterized by their fully upright posture and their small brain size, is even part of the evolution record of humans from apes. Bernard Wood, of George Washington University in Washington DC, argues that if Australopithecus has more ape-like features than the features found on an older
The first morphological features that later would become typical of Neanderthals, the projecting middle part of the face and a depression at the back of the skull, have been observed in fossils found in Europe as old as 400,000 years (Stringer & Hublin, 1999). These fossils belonged to Homo heidelbergensis, which in one of the various evolutionary scenarios that ties Neanderthals and modern humans is considered the ancestor of both Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens (Hubmlin, 2009).
... that was obtained on skull measurements was only on H. ergaster, H. erectus and H. sapiens. The evidence that ultimately decided the positioning of species were the muzzle angles, brain and body weight. The reason to choose this evidence as a primary source was because this data was the only data that covered the whole phylogeny.
Dorey, Fran. “Homo floresiensis - Australian Museum.” Australian Museum, 11 September 2013. Web. 19 March 2014
As an example of transitional fossils found outside of Africa and in accordance with the multi-regional model of human evolution, the remains found in the Ngangdong beds of the Solo River in Indonesia are an excellent beginning. Dating from roughly 250,000 years ago, the skulls of the thirteen individual recovered lack faces, but the crania are markedly archaic, football-shaped and flattened in general contour (Poirier 1987: 222). Other archaic features include heavy supraorbital ridges and thick cranial walls (222). Their archaic features put the Solo remains in the classification of Homo erectus, but the skulls display at least one distinctive modern tra...
Disagreements surface in regard to the publishing of a paleoanthropologist’s discoveries of new hominid species. According to Luskins, “paleoanthropology is rife with dissent and with few universally accepted theories among its practitioners.” A large quantity of the controversies within paleoanthropology arises from fellow paleoanthropologist. In the midst of the field, each
The species A. afarensis is one of the better known australopithecines, with regards to the number of samples attributed to the species. From speculations about their close relatives, the gorilla and chimpanzee, A. afarensis’ probable social structure can be presumed. The species was named by Johanson and Taieb in 1973. This discovery of a skeleton lead to a heated debate over the validity of the species. The species eventually was accepted by most researchers as a new species of australopithecine and a likely candidate for a human ancestor.
Based on certain morphological bone structure and the presence of bipedal locomotion in Neanderthals has made it possible to classify them as part of Modern Humans’ family tree/ phylogenetic tree. The time of their existence also contributes to this classification; making Neanderthals the closest related Hominids to modern humans (Noonan, 2010: 547). However, even with that acknowledgment, there are constant debates about Neanderthals relationship to modern humans and if they are the direct ancestors of what we considered modern Europeans, if they contributed some genes to our species, modern humans, or if they were fully replaced by modern humans without gene contribution (Krings et. al., 1997: 19).
In the quest to explain human origins it is necessary to find a species that bridges modern man (Homo sapiens) with the apes. To fill this gap evolutionists have set forth Homo erectus, who lived approximately 400,000 to 1.6 million years ago (Johanson and Shreeve1989). Although the distinctions are somewhat vague, below the neck, Homo sapiens and Homo erectus are practically Identical and Homo erectus was responsible for pioneering the use of standard tools (such as the hand axe), big-game hunting, and the use of fire (Johanson and Shreeve1989).
The earliest known peoples of the world are known as Homo Habilis. These early peoples have been known to have lived in Ethiopia millions of years ago. They started out being around 4 feet tall weighing about 100 pounds. They had strong jaws allowing them to eat meat, long arms which helped them climb trees, and could walk upright. As for their shelter, they slept in nest high up in trees. Their existence helped the development of hand tools. Fossils have shown signs of the beginning of stone tools called “primitive tools” which included lumps of rocks but also sharp flakes used for cutting (Choi). However, lack of resources, and attacks of
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the number of skull characteristics shared between humans and other hominid species indicates evolutionary distance. It was hypothesized that if there is a large number of similar skull characteristics shared between humans and other hominid species, then the species diverged recently from a common ancestor because there would not be a lot of time for the species to evolve differently if there was a short evolutionary distance. This hypothesis was supported because when comparing the cladogram data and the experimental data, the number of similar skull characteristics did indicate how recently the species diverged from a common ancestor. According the the cladogram, Homo Neanderthalensis and
For Anthropologists, H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis are two of the most studied hominoid species. Yet, between them, there remains an anomaly. For hundreds of thousands of years, each species lived together in harmony, both consuming the same foods and using relatively similar technology. However, beginning about 15,000 years prior to H. neanderthalensis’s extinction at 30,000 BCE, archaeological evidence shows H. sapiens beginning to use more advanced tools and technology. During this period, H. sapiens began to develop more advanced hunting tools, more advanced shelters, and more complex art forms then H. neanderthalensis.
Australopithecus sediba is one of the most recently discovered human fossils. In this paper I will discuss this fossil and its estimated age, its discovery, its interpretation by scientists and its coverage in the popular media. I will also compare its coverage in scientific articles versus its coverage in popular media.
The best and the worst thing about a question like, “who was the first real human?” is that it is impossible to answer. There is no universally accepted, definitive trait that defines humanness. Consequently, I can attempt to answer this question, but intrinsic in the question is the inability to answer it. Each possible theory may have strong evidence to support it, but it will also have strong evidence against it. In this paper I will assert that Homo erectus is the first official human. I will explore Homo Erectus’s control of fire, use of acheulian tools, morphological and anatomical advances, and human like diet as evidence to support my theory. Although there are flaws in my theory, I am inclined to believe that Homo erectus was the first
In 2004, the world was shocked by the discovery of Homo floresiensis. The discovery opened up worldwide debates about the validity of the species. To this day, the excavators and researchers are still examining the archaeological site at Liang Bua to get more insight into whether or not H. floresiensis was extinct before H. sapiens, or if their existence overlapped (Callaway et al., 2014). However, with the information from the excavation that already has already been researched, aids to the validity of the species. An examination of the history of the discovery, ancestral patterns, and the LB1 feet and mandible determines that H. floresiensis is, in fact, a novel species.