The unearthing of two new hominin fossils is “exciting”‚ Dr Dominic Stratford said on Thursday‚ as “they possess a mixture of intriguing features that raise many more questions than they give answers”.
The finger bone and molar –found in a previously uninvestigated chamber in the Sterkfontein Caves – “seem to be from early hominins that can be associated with early stone tool-bearing sediments that entered the cave more than 2-million years ago‚” a University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) statement said.
The “very large proximal finger bone‚ is significantly larger and more robust than any other hand bone of any hominin yet found in South African plio-pleistocene sites”.
“It is almost complete and shows a really interesting mix of modern and archaic features. For example‚ the specimen is markedly curved – more curved than Homo naledi and is similarly curved to the much older species Australopithecus afarensis‚” said Stratford‚ of the Wits School of Geography‚ Archaeology and Environmental Studies.
“The finger is similar in shape to the partial specimen from Olduvai Gorge that has been called Homo habilis‚ but is much larger. Overall‚ this specimen is unique in the South African plio-pleistocene fossil hominin record and deserves more studies.”
The tooth fossil – a nearly complete adult 1st molar - has striking similarities to species Homo habilis‚ but added Stratford‚ “in size and shape it also bears a resemblance to two of the 10 1st molars of the H.naledi specimens‚ although further and more detailed comparisons are needed to verify this”.
Stratford said: “The specimens are exciting not only because they are associated with early stone tools‚ but also because they possess a mixture of intriguing features that raise many more questions than they give answers.”
Two other hominin fossils found at Sterkfontein are still being studied‚ he added.
