Abstract
Recent fossil material found in Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, was initially described as a new species of genus Homo, namely Homo naledi. The original study of this new material has pointed to a close proximity with Homo erectus. More recent investigations have, to some extent, confirmed this assignment. Here we present a phenetic analysis based on dentocranial metric variables through Principal Components Analysis and Cluster Analysis based on these fossils and other Plio-Pleistocene hominins. Our results concur that the Dinaledi fossil hominins pertain to genus Homo. However, in our case, their nearest neighbors are Homo habilis and Australopithecus sediba. We suggest that Homo naledi is in fact a South African version of Homo habilis, and not a new species. This can also be applied to Australopithecus sediba.
Highlights
Lee Berger and other 46 co-authors (Berger et al 2015) presented new important findings of fossil hominins in South Africa
As can be seen in the figure, there is a strong association between Homo naledi, Homo habilis, and Australopithecus sediba which occupy the central upper part of the graph
From what Berger et al (2015) have proposed as the most possible scenario to interpret their new findings, our results strongly suggest that Homo naledi has a marked dentocranial similarity with Homo habilis, and with Australopithecus sediba
Summary
Lee Berger and other 46 co-authors (Berger et al 2015) presented new important findings of fossil hominins in South Africa. From other discoveries in East and South Africa, skeletal remains of approximately 15 individuals were found at the same locus of a cave chamber denominated by the authors as Dinaledi. Valuable information about the cranial and dental morphology of these Plio-Pleistocene specimens was obtained from approximately five skulls. In spite of this limitation Berger et al (2015) suggested several phylogenetic scenarios to accommodate the new findings.
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