Homo naledi was a prehistoric hominin known from fossils discovered in South Africa. Hominins are a group of living things that includes human beings and early humanlike ancestors. The first fossils of H. naledi were discovered at Rising Star cave about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Johannesburg. Excavations in the following years recovered fossilized bones representing several individuals. The anatomy of these specimens led anthropologists to recognize the fossils as belonging to a previously unknown hominin that they named Homo naledi. The name comes from Dinaledi, the name for the excavation site in the language of the local Lesotho people.
The fossils of H. naledi date from about 335,000 to 236,000 years ago. The dates indicate that H. naledi lived at the same time as more advanced hominins in Africa. The anatomy of H. naledi shows a puzzling mixture of primitive and modern features. The anatomy of the hands and shoulders suggests that H. naledi could easily climb trees. But the anatomy of the legs and feet show that H. naledi walked upright, much as do modern humans.
The braincase of H. naledi is smaller compared to other hominins that lived at the same time in Africa and other parts of the world. The brain of H. naledi is more similar in size to hominins known as Australopithecines, which lived between about 4 million and 2 million years ago. Yet the teeth and jaws of H. naledi are smaller compared to those of the more ancient hominins. Modern humans are recognized in part by their smaller teeth and jaws.
The combination of anatomical features and the recent age of the fossils makes it difficult for anthropologists to determine the evolutionary relationship of H. naledi to other hominins. Most scientists consider H. naledi to be a human relative that lived alongside other human ancestors in southern Africa. However, they do not consider H. naledi to be an ancestor to our species, Homo sapiens.
See also Australopithecus; Human being; Prehistoric people.
