Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa

Author:

Berger Lee R1ORCID,Hawks John12,Dirks Paul HGM13ORCID,Elliott Marina1,Roberts Eric M13

Affiliation:

1. Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa

2. Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States

3. Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

Abstract

New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib10">Berger et al., 2015</xref>) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib36">Dirks et al., 2017</xref>), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib55">Hawks et al., 2017</xref>) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (<xref ref-type="bibr" rid="bib34">Dirks et al., 2015</xref>) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.

Funder

National Geographic Society

National Research Foundation

Lyda Hill Foundation

Australian Research Council

Publisher

eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd

Subject

General Immunology and Microbiology,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Medicine,General Neuroscience

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3