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ffr

(22,649 posts)
Thu Sep 10, 2015, 01:42 PM Sep 2015

NATGEO: This Face Changes the Human Story. But How?

Scientists have discovered a new species of human ancestor deep in a South African cave, adding a baffling new branch to the family tree.



While primitive in some respects, the face, skull, and teeth show enough modern features to justify H. naledi's placement in the genus Homo. Artist Gurche spent some 700 hours reconstructing the head from bone scans, using bear fur for hair.

<snip>

“It was day three or four, and we still hadn’t found any fauna,” Elliott said. On the first day a few little bird bones had been found on the surface, but otherwise there was nothing but hominin bones.

That made for a mystery as perplexing as that of H. naledi’s identity: How did the remains get into such an absurdly remote chamber? Clearly the individuals weren’t living in the cave; there were no stone tools or remains of meals to suggest such occupation. Conceivably a group of H. naledi could have wandered into the cave one time and somehow got trapped—but the distribution of the bones seemed to indicate that they had been deposited over a long time, perhaps centuries... - National Geographic October 2015 issue


The hypothesis of this discovery is not just the discovery itself, but the way the fossil remains were presented; they were deliberately put there.

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NATGEO: This Face Changes the Human Story. But How? (Original Post) ffr Sep 2015 OP
I had him for fourth grade jberryhill Sep 2015 #1
Burial cave? shrike Sep 2015 #2
That's what it looks like ffr Sep 2015 #3
They always make them a little on the melanin deficient side. Spitfire of ATJ Sep 2015 #4
Natgeo was just purchased by MMTampa Sep 2015 #5
 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
1. I had him for fourth grade
Thu Sep 10, 2015, 01:49 PM
Sep 2015

How on earth did one of my grade school teachers end up in a cave in South Africa?

ffr

(22,649 posts)
3. That's what it looks like
Thu Sep 10, 2015, 02:07 PM
Sep 2015

Until there's a better explanation for why there are 18 individuals, all complete individuals, not parts (if I'm interpreting this correctly). Very surprising for what they're calling a small brained creature; one that exhibits large brained behavior.

MMTampa

(82 posts)
5. Natgeo was just purchased by
Thu Sep 10, 2015, 05:12 PM
Sep 2015

Rupert Murdoch. Wait till 21st. Century Fox starts to put their spin on these discvoveries...

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