Posted on 09/10/2015 5:12:13 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
Rising Star Cave, South Africa (CNN)When an amateur caver and university geologist arrived at Lee Berger's house one night in late 2013 with a fragment of a fossil jawbone in hand, they broke out the beers and called National Geographic.
Berger, a professor at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, had unearthed some major finds before. But he knew he had something big on his hands.
What he didn't know at the time is that it would shake up our understanding of the progress of human evolution and even pose new questions about our identity.
Two years after they were tipped off by cavers plumbing the depths of the limestone tunnels in the Rising Star Cave outside Johannesburg, Berger and his team have discovered what they say is a new addition to our family tree.
The team is calling this new species of human relative "Homo naledi," and they say it appears to have buried its dead -- a behavior scientists previously thought was limited to humans.
Berger's team came up with the startling theory just days after reaching the place where the fossils -- consisting of infants, children, adults and elderly individuals -- were found, in a previously isolated chamber within the cave.
(Excerpt) Read more at edition.cnn.com ...
I was just building a thread-link thingy for a related NYT article on the same subject (not that I like the NYT, but I don't like CNN either, if you know what I mean).
Link to NYT article;
excerpt;
The new hominin species was announced on Thursday by an international team of more than 60 scientists led by Lee R. Berger, an American paleoanthropologist who is a professor of human evolution studies at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The species name, H. naledi, refers to the cave where the bones lay undisturbed for so long; “naledi” means “star” in the local Sesotho language.In two papers published this week in the open-access journal eLife, the researchers said that the more than 1,550 fossil elements documenting the discovery constituted the largest sample for any hominin species in a single African site, and one of the largest anywhere in the world. Further, the scientists said, that sample is probably a small fraction of the fossils yet to be recovered from the chamber. So far the team has recovered parts of at least 15 individuals.
The next paragraph seemed contrary to the headline;
“With almost every bone in the body represented multiple times, Homo naledi is already practically the best-known fossil member of our lineage,” Dr. Berger said.
but I suppose it may depend upon what the definition "new" is, as in how new are the discoveries, along with the opinions concerning those, which should not be confused as being entirely interchangeable.
Uncle's Monkey ping to SunkenCiv.
Did you mean FRAGment or FAGment?
I remember hurting myself laughing when I once heard two English tourists mention they needed a pack of fags.
They had no idea why we were laughing so hard.
It’s amazing what they say they can tell by a single bone fragment. All holes are square, all pegs are square.
Oh ye of little faith. How long must the intelligentsia suffer thee?
Eat yor peas, say hail to the Goracle, hurrah! the oceans are going to rise and keep us damp and cool while we fry.
The quest to kill God and dehumanize humans continues.
What I don’t understand is this discovery was made in 2013 but just now being put out there.
Indeed! These people are insane. They would rather believe grandpa was an ape than bow before the Lord. Regardless of what they believe, say, or do, the day is coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
This is why all cartographers are men. Only men can believe that one inch equals a mile.
Thanks BlueDragon. Now here's something unexpected:
I was just building a thread-link thingy for a related NYT article on the same subject...Here's the shortcut bookmark I use.
I usually do a search first when I run across something I know would be appreciated, then go from the top of an open FR tab to 'post' in order to open up that page.
This time, when I first ran across the CNN article, I'd checked to see if it had been posted, and came up empty -- then decided to try another source after I was partway through the process.
Searching again before posting from the NYT source (instead of CNN, even though it was all basically the same story) saw it was posted, as I knew it would be eventually, since it was in the sidebar of another article previously linked to FR. That did entail doing two more additional searches, so took a little bit of time.
I think I didn't even begin what turned into being semi-aborted process before this thread was posted, but had missed this thread in the initial search.
We have enough duplicate threads as it is. It's the way it goes. I think I understand how and why, and I'm only talking about for the benefit of those who may be timid when it comes to initiating threads, and posting replies, etc.
I'm sure you know the ropes around here, up to the higher elevation vines that a we glorified monkeys with keyboards can swing around on...
My thought, too, Mr B. This looks a lot more like an ape than a man to me.
You beat blam. :’)
Now if I could just escape blam (and I’m not talking about any freeper) that could be worthwhile, and of enduring significance.
Give up! ;’)
I demand my rights.
You're harshing my mellow, man.
Maybe I could find one of those creepy caves to hide in (hide from the blams).
Somehow, I think if it comes to that, wifi might be difficult to come by...
Tortillas cooked on a hot rock might be the greatest luxury.
( don't tell anyone where I'm at, unless they have beer)
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