MAROPENG (South Africa): The fossilised bones of 15 members of a previously unknown branch of the human family tree have been discovered in a cave in South Africa, scientists said on Thursday, hailing the find as a breakthrough in evolution research.

About 1,500 fossils were found deep in a cave system near Johannesburg, hidden in a chamber only accessible via several steep climbs and narrow rock crevasses.

The hominid --- described as a “new species” of humans --- has been named Homo naledi after the “Rising Star” cave where the bones were found. Naledi means “star” in Sesotho, a South African language.

Experts are uncertain how old the bones are, but say they were probably placed there after death --- a discovery that shines light on ancient human rituals.

“We have just met a new species of human relative that deliberately disposed of its dead,” Lee Berger, project leader and paleoanthropologist at Johannesburg’s University of the Witwatersrand, announced as the fossils were unveiled.

“Until this moment in history we thought the idea of ritualised behaviours directed towards the dead... was actually unique to Homo sapiens.

“We saw ourselves as different. We have now seen, we believe, a species that had that same capability --- and it is an extraordinary thing.”

The bones were first discovered in 2013 by Witwatersrand University scientists and volunteer cavers in the Cradle of Humankind, a Unesco World Heritage Site, about 50 kilometres northwest of Johannesburg.

Ancient human remains have been found in the area since excavations begun in the 1920s.

“The discovery of so many fossils belonging to at least 15 individuals is remarkable,” said Professor Chris Stringer, from the Natural History Museum in London, one of the lead analysts on the discovery.

The find highlighted “the complexity of the human family tree and the need for further research to understand the history and ultimate origins of our species,” he added.

Scientists say the hands, wrists and feet of the bodies were similar to modern humans, but the brain size and upper body were much more like the earliest humans.

“Homo naledi had a tiny brain, about the size of an average orange, perched atop a very slender body,” said John Hawks, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a senior author on the academic paper detailing the new species.

The hominid was approximately five feet tall and weighed about 45 kilos.—AFP

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2015

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