Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa.

Lee Berger ,Bernhard Zipfel,Alia Gurtov,Damiano Marchi,Shahed Nalla,Barry Bogin,Markus Bastir,Caroline Vansickle,Peter Schmid,Mana Dembo,Zachary Throckmorton,Lauren Schroeder,John Hawks,Pianpian Wei,Juliet K Brophy ,Myra F Laird ,Michelle S.m Drapeau ,Daniel García‐Martínez ,Tracy L Kivell ,Joel D Irish ,Scott A Williams ,Darryl J De Ruiter ,Elen Feuerriegel ,Ashley Krüger ,Andrew S Deane ,Lucas K Delezene ,Zachary Cofran ,Jeremy M Desilva ,Caley M Orr ,William E H Harcourt‐Smith ,Matthew M Skinner ,David J Green ,Joseph W Scott ,Matthew W Tocheri ,Charles M Musiba ,Enquye W Negash ,Marc R Meyer ,Marina Elliott ,Kimberly A Congdon ,Debra R Bolter ,Steven E Churchill ,Davorka Radovčić ,Trenton W Holliday ,Rebecca Rogers Ackermann ,Heather M Garvin ,Christopher S Walker ,Noël Cameron

doi:10.7554/elife.09560

Abstract

Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations but a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike foot and lower limb. These humanlike aspects are contrasted in the postcrania with a more primitive or australopith-like trunk, shoulder, pelvis and proximal femur. Representing at least 15 individuals with most skeletal elements repeated multiple times, this is the largest assemblage of a single species of hominins yet discovered in Africa.

Highlights

Fossil hominins were first recognized in the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star cave system in October 2013
The overall morphology of H. naledi places it within the genus Homo rather than Australopithecus or other early hominin genera
Manipulatory, and masticatory systems have both historical and current importance in defining Homo (Wood and Collard, 1999; Holliday, 2012; Anton et al, 2014), and H. naledi fits within our genus in these respects

Summary

Introduction

Fossil hominins were first recognized in the Dinaledi Chamber in the Rising Star cave system in October 2013. During a relatively short excavation, our team recovered an extensive collection of 1550 hominin specimens, representing nearly every element of the skeleton multiple times (Figure 1), including many complete elements and morphologically informative fragments, some in articulation, as well as smaller fragments many of which could be refit into more complete elements. The collection is a morphologically homogeneous sample that can be attributed to no previously-known hominin species. We describe this new species, Homo naledi. ELife digest Modern humans, or Homo sapiens, are the only living species in their genus. As recently as 100,000 years ago, there were several other species that belonged to the genus Homo. These extinct human species, our immediate ancestors and their close relatives, are collectively referred to as ‘hominins’

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Conclusion