Homo naledi, discovered in South Africa, could combine land walking and tree swinging. The fossils of at least 15 individuals-totaling 1,550 skeletal pieces-have since been excavated from the cave. New new discoveries stun the science community. It’s way too early to tell if modern humans are descended from this species, but it’s clear we share a common ancestor. It probably weighed about 100 pounds, and stood almost five feet tall.
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This does pose a little bit of a thriller, although, as it’s believed naledi might have lived tens of millions of years in the past, and that it had a mind concerning the measurement of a contemporary chimp’s mind.
The foot was more like the modern day humans particularly in the anatomy of the ankle joint. The bones have yet to be dated, making it impossible for scientists to work out where the species fits in the story of human evolution.
“But regardless of age, this species is going to cause a paradigm shift in the way we think about human evolution”, both in terms of behaviour and anatomy, says William Harcourt-Smith, lead author of the study focusing on the foot. But its lower arch and curved toe bones are more ape-like.
“Homo naledi feet are like yours and mine in so many ways, it is easier to just point out the subtle differences”, DeSilva told Gizmodo. The first study found the hominid had a bulky heel and short, straight toes that lay close together, similar to modern humans.
The researchers concluded that, aside from that of Homo sapiens and the Neanderthals, Homo naledi possessed a few of the most capable hands and feet found in fossils on record. “The legs are long, the knees are like ours, the feet are human-like”.
The scientists who discovered it call Homo naledi one of the most primitive members of the genus Homo, which includes modern humans. It might be closely related to H. erectus, but the brain is smaller and it has a Lucy-like shoulder with curved fingers.
The pelvis is more outward flaring, like that of Lucy – the famous Australopithecus afarensis. “H. naledi is no exception”. The researchers say the hand exhibits features never seen before in a human fossil. He also appears to have been able at the same time precise manual manipulation.
“The wrist bones and thumb show anatomical features that are shared with Neanderthals and humans and suggest powerful grasping and the ability to use stone tools”, Kivell pointed out.
If, on the other hand, H. naledi ends up being relatively perhaps 100,000 years old-then primitive characteristics, like curved fingers, were retained (or developed independently) in a hominin that co-existed with modern humans.
This mix of seemingly ancient and modern features demonstrates that H. naledi’s hand was specialized for both complex tool-use activities and climbing.
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“The tool-using features of the H. naledi hand in combination with its small brain size has interesting implications for what cognitive requirements might be needed to make and use tools”, Kivell described.
