In 1998, researchers discovered one of the most complete human ancestral fossils known in South Africa’s Sterkfontein Caves. Nearly two decades later, Ronald Clarke, the paleoanthropologist who led the excavation and analysis, identified the remains as a Australopithecus prometheuswhile others argued that it was a African Australopithecus. New research suggests it’s neither.
In investigation Published last month in the American Journal of Biological Anthropology, researchers have questioned the classification of StW 573, nicknamed “Little Foot,” pointing to the possibility of a previously undocumented human species.
A new human relative?
“This fossil remains one of the most important discoveries in the hominid record and its true identity is key to understanding our evolutionary past,” said Jesse Martin, lead author and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge, at a La Trobe University conference. statement. “We believe that it is evident that it is not true that it is A. Prometheus either A. African. “It is more likely that this is a previously unidentified human relative.”
australopithecus is an extinct group of modern human ape-like relatives (or potentially ancestors) that walked upright and existed in South Africa between 3 and 1.95 million years ago. Martin and his colleagues concluded that Little Foot and A. Prometheusas well as Little Foot and A. AfricanThey do not have a single set of characteristics in common. They are the first to question the identification of the remains since they were revealed to the world in 2017.
“Our findings challenge the current classification of Little Foot and highlight the need for more careful, evidence-based taxonomy in human evolution,” explained Martin, who is also an adjunct at La Trobe University. In the future, students from Martin University and La Trobe will investigate the species of Little Foot and their position in the human family tree.
Information about early humans
According to La Trobe paleoanthropologist Andy Herries, the remains are among the most complete and important fossils ever found and offer key insights into early human diversity and how our ancestors adapted to the different environments of southern Africa. At La Trobe, Herries led an Australian Research Council grant that supported the new research.
“It is clearly different from the type specimen of Australopithecus prometheus“Its importance and difference from other contemporary fossils clearly show the need to define it as a unique species.”
It remains to be seen what Martin and the students’ research will conclude on Little Foot, the most complete ancient hominid fossil known, and how the rest of the academic community will take it.
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