The team of scientists funded by the National Geographic claims to find new human species in Rising Star cave, located 50 kilometers from Johannesburg, South Africa.
The claim was based on the findings of fossils in the deepest part of the cave called Dinaledi, a wide space that can only be reached by the high caving skills. To achieve this space, someone must pass through the Superman Crawl hole with a width of only 25 centimeters and Dragon Back whose width is only 20 centimeters.
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| Scientists claim a new species of ancient human discovered and named 'Homo naledi'. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1M0Jqr8) |
The team of scientists named the new human species as 'Homo naledi'. This discovery was published in two papers in the journal eLife.
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| The Homo naledi fossils finding location. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1M0Jqr8) |
Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Witwatersrand, who led the study, said the new human species similar to Homo erectus that existed 1.5 million years ago. Homo naledi is a small-headed, long-legged and skinny with male has a height of about 152 centimeters. Based on the analysis of approximately 1,500 pieces of fossils thought to belong to 15 individuals, Berger revealed that Homo naledi is a blend of modern and ancient humans.
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| Lee Bergen’s daughter Megan and underground exploration team member Rick Hunter navigate the narrow chutes leading to the Dinaledi chambere. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1M0Jqr8) |
Homo naledi's brain is small, as small as a gorilla and has a simple teeth. And their chest characteristics similar to the ape, but the hands are modern, capable of supporting the tool making activities. Their legs were upright support upright walking activities, but their hand bend, like the hands of a monkey who likes hanging of a tree. Berger saw, the Homo naledi able to shed light on human evolution. Possibly, 3 million years ago, the maximum time prediction of Homo naledi lived, while an intelligent man already there.
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| The comparison of brain size between Homo sapiens and Homo naledi. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1M0Jqr8) |
If this kind of early humans, such as the coelacanth (ancient fish), which survive through time and just turned tens of thousands of years, or hundreds of thousands of years, it means that as long as we have a complex species which inhabit Africa, which might be able to make tools," Berger said as quoted by The Guardian on Thursday, September 9, 2015.
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| The team lays out fossils of Homo naledi at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Evolutionary Studies Institute. (Picture from: http://bit.ly/1M0Jqr8) |
John Hawks, another researchers who involved in the research, revealed that although the new species has the characteristics of modern humans, they are perhaps the most ancient species of the genus Homo.
"This may indicate that the history of human evolution different from what we imagine," he said. Meanwhile, Paul Dirks, another scientists who involved, saying that the fossil bones will be studied before making a carbon dating to reveal the age of the ancient human. He said carbon dating could potentially damage the material.
The claims of discovery of a new kind of human has sparked debate among scientists. Without carbon dating, other scientists assess the findings of this new man can not be justified.
William Jungers, an anthropologist at Stony Brooks School of Medicine in New York, said, "If the new man was older than 2 million years, maybe he is an early version of Homo erectus in South Africa, which is already known. If it is new, it may This modern humans who experience isolation. "
Christoph Zollikofer, an anthropologist from the University of Zurich, said bone characteristic which is used to justify the invention of a new kind of man sometimes can not be the basis.
"The unique characteristics that could potentially be used to define a new species to be studied further because they may simply reflect individual variations, or variations in population levels," said Zollikofer.
The paleoanthropologists at the University of California, Berkeley, believes that it is the Homo erectus species. Naledi human controversy not just the novelty of its kind, but also the way to the deepest space in cave that must be taken through a very difficult track.
Berger had a radical explanation. He said, "We, after eliminating all possible, have come to a conclusion that Homo Naledi that utilize this space for rituals that aim to make themselves dead."
Meanwhile, other scientists argue him. Chris Stringer, head of the Department of the Origins of Man in the Natural History Museum in London, said, "If we talk about the purpose exile, we talk about being the creatures with a size of gorilla brain that goes into the cave deep, dark, and put the body through narrow lanes to reach to the cave room. It is (too) complex behavior for what we think of as primitive human species." *** [EKA FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | THE GUARDIAN]
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