Harassment: Cradle of Humankind’s HOMO NALEDI
I have highlighted a few
points from your information I found on the internet about your new discovery
Homo Naledi. I was shocked to find similar information to that of my daughter
Naledi Catherine Shoko Maluleka’s personal information.
I do not know where your
Professor Lee Berger could have found this information from. My daughter and I
do not know her and have never been to The Cradle of Humankind.
This information is so
similar and leaves me with no choice but to conclude that it is based on my
daughter. We are not new to harassment from the South African government and
its departments. The South African Broadcasting Corporation has also been
harassing me for more than 25 years and now my family and friends. Efforts to
have this harassment stop has left me and my family with more harassment from
them.
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SCIENTISTS ANNOUNCE
GROUNDBREAKING DISCOVERY AT MAROPENG
September 10, 2015
A small cave
nestled in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site has become the backdrop
for one of the most compelling stories in the world - the discovery of a new
ancient human relative, Homo naledi.
The stunning
discovery was made in September 2013 by research teams from the University of
the Witwatersrand and has been announced to the world at the Maropeng Visitors
Centre today.
Homo naledi, has been named after the Dinaledi cave
system in which it was found. "Naledi" means "star" in Setswana.
The fossils of this newest member of our genus are incredibly unique for a
number of reasons, says Professor Lee Berger, who led the Rising Star
expedition into the cave system to recover fossils from the site.
"They would
stand at about 1.5m tall. They had tiny brains – slightly larger than an
orange. That is as small as the smallest Australopithicenes we have seen. Yet a
cranial shape that’s that of a member of our genus.
"From
midway down the arm, right through to the wrist and the palm – this species
looks like a human. The thumb is utterly unique and long. The hand itself is
approximately proportioned like a human, but the phalanges and fingers are
hyper curved. So curved that the only creature we have with curvature like that
are four- or five-million-year-old primitive members of our species. We have no
idea what that means," says Berger.
The newest member
of the genus Homo. Meet Homo naledi
More uniquely
though, is the context in which the fossils were discovered. They were simply
lying on the floor of the remote deep underground cave – something that is itself unprecedented,
Berger says.
Homo Naledi: "They would stand at about 1.5m tall. I am 1.52m tall and Naledi Catherine is 1.55m
tall?
Scientists had to
squeeze through a chute that narrowed to 17cm in width at one point, to access
the chamber in the Dinaledi system
Perhaps
the most intriguing part of the discovery was the fact that the the remains of Homo naledi appeared to have been
deliberately disposed of inside the remote chamber over a period of time in a
ritualistic manner. "That's something that previously, we thought was
confined to only modern human behaviour," Berger adds.
"We have
males and females, we have near-foetal age individuals, we have infants,
children, teens, tweens and the extreme elderly," says Berger.
"We
eliminated that this is some sort of mass death event. We can tell that they
came in over time. We know that they were not washed into this chamber. We know
that this chamber has never been opened directly to the surface. All sediments
accumulate from within this chamber itself.
"We
know that no predator was involved in this. No marks on any of the bones. They
had not been dragged into this remote, deep location. They sit in this deep
chamber that took us 45 minutes to reach with modern equipment. And we have
come to this inevitable conclusion that this was a deliberate body disposal
situation.
"What
is remarkable about that – this is the first time in all of history that human
beings have encountered a non-human species that deliberately disposes of its
dead," adds Berger.
Homo naledi seemed aware
of its own mortality, a trait that was thought to be unique to humans, says
Professor Lee Berger
"This is a
unique moment in history. Where that goes and studies that are undertaken
beyond this, some may go beyond the realm of science, but they may actually go
on to contemplate what makes us human now," says Berger.
The sheer number
of fossils in the cave was also unprecedented. By the end of the 21-day expedition,
the team recovered the largest assemblage of primitive hominin specimens ever
discovered on the continent of Africa.
At the launch,
scientists revealed their findings on 1 550 individual hominin remains – in
more than 60 papers released online.
"That is more
individual remains than have been discovered in the previous 90 years in South
Africa," says Berger.
The
historic fossils will be on display at Maropeng for a month to allow as many
people as possible to get a chance to see the remarkable find. We will be
giving a 25% discount for all tickets to the Visitor Centre while the fossils
are here from Friday, 11 October.
NEWS – RISING STAR
September 17, 2015
| Andrew Howley | Category: Homo naledi, Rising Star, News
From
the tip of the jaw to the top of the head, remains from five naledi skulls
provide tantalizing early hints about the lives of these newly found ancient
human relatives.
Homo Naledi: What
does the five Naledi skulls mean? Homo Naledi is 00 years old in 2015? Naledi Catherine was born on the fifth in 2000, she is 15 years in 2015.
00 year and 2015 appears on both?
Homo Naledi’s Nike-Ready Foot
September 16, 2015
| Andrew Howley | Category: Homo naledi, Rising Star, News
See how early in
the excavation, a single ankle bone was able to show researchers that Homo
naledi was walking comfortably on two feet.
My
daughter Naledi Catherine Shoko Maluleka has a scar on her right foot that
looks like a Nike sign. She got hurt when she was a child.
‘Naledi’
Catherine Shoko Maluleka’s foot?
Homo naledi’s Powerful Hand Up Close
September 16, 2015 | Andrew Howley | Category: Homo naledi, Rising Star, News
With an incredibly
muscular thumb and curved fingers for powerful gripping, the newly found Homo
naledi could have given today’s rock climbers like Alex Honnold a run (or a
climb) for their money.
Homo Naledi: MUSCULAR THUMB AND CURVED FINGERS?
Naledi Catherine has curved
fingers, she inherited this from her Dad Barnabas Ramarumo Maluleka
September 15, 2015 | Andrew Howley | Category: Homo Naledi, Rising Star, News
With Africa’s
largest hominin fossil find unearthed and in the lab, Lee Berger called in
experts and early-career scientists for an innovative workshop to figure out
just what they’d found. Read more
Homo naledi: 1,500 Fossils Revolutionize Human Family Tree
Two years after
being discovered deep in a South African cave, the 1,500 fossils excavated
during the Rising Star Expedition have been identified as belonging to a
previously unknown early human relative that scientists have named “Homo
naledi.” Read more
September 10, 2015 | Category: Homo naledi, Rising Star, News
The world’s eyes are on Maropeng, where a
team of scientists from around the world have announced the discovery of a new
species, Homo naledi. An intriguing ancient species, that it seems, was aware
of its own mortality, a trait that has been thought to be unique to humans.
Homo Naledi: was aware of its own
mortality? Is this a death threat?
We are
being harassed by stalkers in the entertainment industry, and constantly being
threatened with death
Wrapping Up Round Two
April 02, 2014 | Guest Blogger | Category: Rising Star
By Becca Peixotto,
Caver/Scientist. In only eight days of digging, we retrieved more than 320
numbered fossil specimens and an awful lot of sediment. Don’t worry: there’s
plenty more. Read more
Young Visitor Helps Recover First Top Jaw From the Site
• March 29, 2014 | Guest Blogger | Category: Rising Star
Principal
excavator Becca Peixotto reports back on this week’s activity at the Rising
Star hominin fossil cave site.
• March 29, 2014 | Guest Blogger | Category: Rising Star
Discover what’s
new about this expedition returning to the hominin fossil chamber at Rising
Star.
A critical piece of the hominin puzzle
March 26, 2014 | John Hawks | Category: Rising Star, News
The team is back
in the cave to recover a tantalizing piece of upper jaw and other fossils in
preparation for the groundbreaking workshop to begin in May.
HOMO NALEDI’S NIKE-READY
FOOT
September 16, 2015
| Andrew Howley
After the excitement of Homo naledi’s discovery and extraction
from deep in a narrow cave in South Africa, and the implication that these
non-humans may have intentionally carried their dead deep into the earth, we
are left with the bones themselves, what they tell us about these creatures,
and what new questions they inspire.
These sketches and notes come from interviews and
conversations during both the 2013 Rising Star Expedition and the 2014 workshop
where established experts and early-career scientists came together to analyze
the 1,550 fossil pieces.
The
Foot
There was a recurring comment at the
workshop in June, 2014, that analyzed the first batch of remains of what would
come to be called Homo naledi: The
body seemed primitive in the core, but more human at the extremities. It was as
though the body parts that contacted the physical world most directly were
adapting to new conditions and uses, but news of the innovations hadn’t yet
reached the heartland.
The foot was a big part of this.
During the
excavations in November, 2013, before the foot bones proper were found and
reassembled, a single bone from the ankle widened eyes and led the team to
expect that whatever this creature was, it was pretty efficiently bipedal.
The bone was the talus, which sits right
below the tibia, or shin bone, and it had a remarkably level top. In humans, the
top of the talus is level from side to side, allowing the leg to rotate
directly over the foot in the path of motion. In other apes, the top of the
talus is tilted, pushing the shinbone and knee away from the center of gravity,
and giving them a bowlegged appearance. (This is possibly why the guys in Planet of the Apes are such fine
horsemen. Err, “horseapes.”)
So before a single toe was
found, the team had an idea of what to expect.
When the toes were finally unearthed, they
were found to be slightly curved, but mostly straight, with the big toe coming
up right alongside the others. For anyone else who’s ever wished they could use
their feet like hands, Homo naledi
was no better off than we are. What it lacked in gripping ability though,
naledi’s foot made up for with support and efficiency of back and forth motion.
The feet of bonobos and other apes have an
arch similar to ours that runs from the heel to the toes, but they are mostly
flat from the inside to the outside. Naledi however begins to show the
“transverse arch” that literally puts a spring in your step. This dualarching
structure wouldn’t do much for an animal that’s shuffling with a side-to-side
sway or leaning forward on its hands, but like the arches in a cathedral
holding up a soaring ceiling, it does wonders for someone walking with all
their weight balanced over those two back feet.
When the first
bones emerged from the cave, no one knew what creature they had come from. With
feet made for walking like us, dexterous thumbs, and a nice round skull though,
it soon became clear that whatever it was, it was remarkably familiar looking.
The stories of its discovery and excavation make Homo naledi unforgettable, but its bones are what make it like us .
Homo Naledi: nice
round skull? Naledi Catherine: She
inherited this from her Dad, they have round heads.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM HOMO NALEDI’S SKULL?
September 17, 2015 |
Andrew Howley
|
|
After the excitement of Homo naledi’s discovery and extraction
from deep in a narrow cave in South Africa, and the implication that these
non-humans may have intentionally carried their dead deep into the earth, we
are left with the bones themselves, what they tell us about these creatures,
and what new questions they inspire.
These sketches and notes come from interviews and
conversations during both the 2013 Rising Star Expedition and the 2014 workshop
where established experts and early-career scientists came together to analyze
the 1,550 fossil pieces.
The Skull
Modern humans have
a very large, high-arching, round cranium (or brain case), and the mandible (or
lower jaw), is positioned directly below the front half of the skull.
A very early
hominin like an australopithecine (“southern ape”) such as Lucy, has a much
smaller, almond-shaped cranium (not that there’s much of Lucy’s actual cranium
to go by—this comes from other specimens), with the mandible jutting out in
front of the face.
Homo naledi is in the interesting position of having a
very small skull, but a very round one, and there is only a shallow slope down
from the nose to the teeth.
This is similar to
what is seen in Australopithecus sediba,
also found by Lee Berger nearby, which while not in the genus Homo, shares more skull shape traits
with us than with other australopiths. (Quick Guide: Know Your
Hominid Skulls)
That roundness of
the skull and flatness of the face are both related to having smaller teeth and
chewing muscles, relative to our other relatives. So they probably ate more
like us than say chimps or gorillas do.
N.B.
on Nose Bones
The jaw changes
have other impacts on our facial appearance as well. Instead of thinking that
human noses jut out while other ape noses lie flat, to a certain extent you can
actually picture that as our our jaws shrank and scooted back, they left our
noses sticking out all alone in the front. (Further adaptations then gave the
noses of some human groups much more prominent bridges.) Tiny Skull
The small size of
the skull is one of naledi’s surprises. For a long time, large brains have been
considered a defining characteristic of the genus Homo. No one expected to find a creature with so many physical
attributes of our genus, but with a brain the size of an orange (smaller than a
modern chimp’s!). Neurologists will tell you though that the volume of a brain
is less important to its abilities than the structure. It raises interesting
questions about what the mental capacity of naledi might have been.
There is always the chance that a tiny
skull is just from a juvenile. Here though, the bones themselves make the
answer clear. First off, the sutures that close between the different skull
elements as we grow are all clearly in an advanced state. The more exciting
piece of evidence though is that there’s not just one skull, there are pieces
of five—and they’re all about the same size.
All
Together, Boys and Girls
That brings up
another point though: each skull falls into one of two groups: the slightly
larger and the slightly smaller (by about 15 percent), which the team members
see as male and female, respectively.
Having only a
small difference between the physical size and appearance of the sexes is
another one of the intriguing aspects of Homo
naledi. It is too early to apply this reliably to a newly discovered
species, but studies of chimps and bonobos, as well as wolves and dogs, wild
and tame foxes, and even human facial preferences, show that smaller, rounder
skulls, and lesser differences between the sexes are connected to a selection
for tameness, whether through outside pressures or the individual choices of
mates. Long Before Porches or Rocking
Chairs
There is one other
aspect of the naledi skulls that might give an early clue to their social or
emotional lives: the teeth and bone of one mandible are so worn down that they
would have come from an individual of considerable age. Combined with the
implication that these individuals were all intentionally put into this cave by
other members of their group, such a jawbone hints at a story of keeping a
group together for multiple generations, and supporting members with impaired
capabilities.
It’s almost like
they’re human.
But then again,
chimps have been known to do this too.
And so have
elephants.
Use your reduced
mandibular structures to chew on that.
NEXT
Homo naledi’s Nike-Ready Foot
HOMO NALEDI’S POWERFUL HAND UP CLOSE
September 16, 2015 | Andrew Howley
After the excitement of Homo naledi’s
discovery and extraction from deep in a narrow cave in South Africa, and the
implication that these non-humans may have intentionally carried their dead
deep into the earth, we are left with the bones themselves, what they tell us
about these creatures, and what new questions they inspire.
These sketches and notes come from interviews and
conversations during both the 2013 Rising Star Expedition and the 2014 workshop
where established experts and early-career scientists came together to analyze
the 1,550 fossil pieces.
The
Hand
Now maybe everyone
just had rock-climbing on the brain since that’s what it took to recover the
bones of naledi from the cave.
But that said, during its excavation, as
the various finger bones were extracted and laid out, it was clear that Homo naledi could have given Alex
Honnold a run (or a climb) for his money.
The first clue to
the strength of these hands was the size and shape of the thumb. The bones
themselves are longer in proportion to the other fingers than ours are, and the
contours of the bones show they had very large muscles attached.
Other apes have
long palms and fingers, with smaller thumbs kept out of the way down by the
wrist. Their hands are enormously powerful, with an average female chimp having
the grip strength of an NFL linebacker, and they can obviously climb with ease
and dexterity.
Human
thumbs on the other hand (so to speak) are more like equal players with the
other fingers. They are similar in size and range of motion, which is great for
manipulating objects with precision, but the reduced size of the fingers and
palms makes them weaker, and the prominent thumb is prone to painful snags if
we try to swing through the trees.
Naledi seems to
have the best of both worlds. Like humans and australopithecines such as Lucy
and sediba (Lee Berger’s other big find), the thumb is opposable, but uniquely,
it is also huge and muscular. That’s intriguing, but alone it’s not evidence
that the creature was a good climber. For that there is another clue.
We might tend to
think of a skeleton as basically a steel superstructure our muscles are draped
over, but our bones are living, growing, and changing based on use just as much
as the rest of us. For climbers of all sorts, the suspension of weight and the
repeated strong gripping applies stresses that induce the digits of the fingers
to curve. This is visible in x-rays of athletes, and it’s visible in the bones
of naledi’s fingers as they rest in your hand.
Since the naledi
find has not yet been dated, we do not know if the creatures lived among dense
forest or open savanna, and so whether they would have spent much time in and
among trees. Regardless of the groundcover though, the ground itself would have
been largely the same: undulating hills with rocky outcroppings and caves
everywhere.
Climbing
could certainly have been an advantage, and naledi would have had to rely on
strong hands to do it. Its feet wouldn’t have been much help. They were too
much like ours.
The official visitor centre
for The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, Gauteng, South Africa
“But we can see from their physical
morphology or appearance where their species originates in time. If our present
understanding is correct, then that must be in excess of 2.5 million years,”
said Berger.
The surrounding
area is a U.N. World Heritage site, named the “Cradle of Humankind” by the
South African government because
of its rich
collection of hominin fossils.
GUESS WHO PERFORMED AT THE CONCERT? MISS LIRA????
HOMO
NALEDI FAREWELL CONCERT: WILL YOU BE THERE?
October 09, 2015 | Daphney Mngomeni
Following the grand unveiling of Homo naledi – one of the most
unforgettable and significant hominin fossil discoveries to be announced – it
is only fair that it is bid farewell in style.
Book your concert tickets here.
On Sunday 18 October 2015, Maropeng will be hosting the Homo
naledi farewell concert, and the whole family is invited.
Visitors can look forward to a late-afternoon family picnic
and concert featuring leading South African artists such as Johnny Clegg, Lira,
The Soil, Glen Lewis and DJ G-Force, to name a few.
On 10 September 2015, a team of scientists from around the
world made a groundbreaking announcement that shook the world of science, the
discovery of a new ancient human relative, Homo naledi. The announcement made
it on to the front page of several international publications, including
National Geographic, and trended at number one worldwide on Twitter.
You definitely don’t want to miss this event.
When: Sunday 18 October 2015
Where: Maropeng Amphitheatre
Time: 1pm to 7pm
Price: R250 per person; kids
under 12 enter for free.
Tickets will give visitors access to the concert and the Homo
naledi display.
For any enquiries, contact + 27 (0)14 577 9000
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