Australopithecus sediba moved, walked and chewed two million years ago, now scientists are publishing six studies in the journal science describing how the early human ancestor did it.
Video courtesy of the University of the Witwatersrand
The researchers from the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of Witwatersrand (Wits) and 15 other global institutions published their work in the prestigious journal Science, according to the university.
Professor Lee Berger, the lead author and project leader describes the find as providing an “unprecedented insight into the anatomy and phylogenetic position of an early human ancestor”.
The papers represent four years of work following the fossil's discovery at the Malapa site in August of 2008.
The papers are called: Dental morphology and the phylogenetic “place” of Australopithecus sediba ; Mandibular remains support taxonomic validity of Australopithecus sediba ; The upper limb of Australopithecus sediba ; Mosaic morphology in the thorax of Australopithecus sediba; The vertebral column of Australopithecus sediba ; and The lower limb and the mechanics of walking in Australopithecus sediba, with the introduction entitled The Mosaic Anatomy ofAustralopithecus sediba.
“This examination of a large number of associated, often complete and undistorted elements, gives us a glimpse of a hominin species that appears to be mosaic in its anatomy and that presents a suite of functional complexes that are both different from that predicted for other australopiths, as well as that for early Homo.
Such clear insight into the anatomy of an early hominin species will clearly have implications for interpreting the evolutionary processes that affected the mode and tempo of hominin evolution and the interpretation of the anatomy of less well preserved species,” Berger said.