“These fossils give us an extraordinarily detailed picture of anew chapter in the evolution of manand draws the veil back on a crucial period during which hominids no longer depended on life in trees to establish themselves in the soil, “explains Lee Berger, a paleoanthropologist at the University of the Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, and lead author of the study, published in the magazineScience.
The bones belong toan adult female and a male of about 10 years, and were found in a cave in Malapa (South Africa), close to each other and very well preserved. Thebrainof the male, the only one whose skull was found, had avolume 420 to 450 cubic centimeters, small compared to the human brain (1,200 to 1,600 cubic centimeters). The two hominidsthey walked uprightand shared several traits with the earliest known species ofHomo. Theirarms were long like monkeys, but with short, strong hands. They were gifted with an evolved pelvis, small teeth, and long legs, which allowed them to run like a human. Alsothey could probably jump between the trees. In fact, thesediba he was apparently comfortable in both ways of life, according to Berger.
The two fossils are 1.95 to 1.78 million years old and the structure of their skeleton is similar to that of the first species.Homo, like the famous‘Lucy’ (Australopithecus afarensis), 3.2 million years old and long considered the common ancestor of mankind until the discovery of ‘Ardi’ (Ardipithecus ramidus), 4.4 million years old, which brings us closer to the common ancestor with the chimpanzee. And its characteristics show thatthe transition between the first hominids and the genus Homo occurred very slowly.
Along with the hominids, the scientists also identified thefossils of at least25 species of animals, including a hyena, a wild dog, antelope and a horse.
