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Could a recently discovered species from South Africa be the ancestor of us all?
March 20, 2012 | 5
Nearly two million-year-old skull of a young male Australopithecus sediba, a fossil human species recently discovered in South Africa.
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Skeleton of the young male A. sediba, one of two largely complete skeletons recovered thus far at Malapa.
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Rolling, rocky hills of the John Nash Nature Reserve and the Malapa Nature Reserve.
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Two kudu, a type of antelope, nearly disappear against the rugged terrain in and around Malapa.
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Giraffes and other game animals abound in the protected area around Malapa.
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Paleoanthropologist Bernard Wood of George Washington University inspects the mining pit at Malapa, where the two skeletons and some remains of several other individuals were found.
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End of hominin shinbone pokes through the sediment at Malapa, waiting to be excavated.
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5 Comments
Add CommentDr, Berger,
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThese are such very interesting articles and images for us neophytes. Thank you for sharing this tremendously intriguing research.
I have a question, as to why you are ranging so far afield for future research, including the Congo. As an admittedly naive armchair archaeologist, I admit to having had a long-standing prejudice toward looking more closely at (today's) more humid West Africa, its coasts and greatest rivers, even though (or because) they aren't in accord with theory that humans would be forged out of the more arid and sparse environment of East Africa, as intuitively appealing as that might be. West Africa is where today's greatest concentrations of humans and primates exist-- as well as research conditions less pleasant that pioneer archaeolgists enjoyed in the northern Rift Valley; let's face it, who wanted to dig in the muck of a hot, humid, insect-infested jungle? Would you or have you shared your thinking along these lines?
I guess that I should have mentioned my gratitude to Katie Wong, my very favorite science journalist on all things human history!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJudging from the appearance of the scull shown here all the creatures found in that particular spot may have been victims of an ancient pyroclastic flow.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe scull? Maybe they were time travelers from a collegiate rowing team. But the waters around South Africa are kind of treacherous for sculling, no?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you're going to put on a slide show, put on a slide show. I neither need nor want your freaking commeercials.
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