Australopithecus sediba?

[Recusant]

"Early human fossils from South Africa could upend longheld view of human evolution" by Kate Wong for Scientific American online.

... last spring Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, and his colleagues announced their discovery of two partial human skeletons (pictured above) from that mysterious period that might well revolutionize researcher's understanding of how our genus got its start. The specimens, which date to around 1.95 million years ago, were said to exhibit a mosaic of traits linking them to both Australopithecus and Homo, leading the team to propose that they represent a previously unknown species of human "Australopithecus sediba" that could be the direct ancestor of Homo. The interpretation was controversial. Some critics argued that the fossils do belong in Australopithecus, but have no special relationship to Homo; others contended that they represent a dead-end branch of Homo, rather than ancestor of later species, including H. sapiens.

On April 12 at the annual meeting of the Paleoanthropology Society and on April 16 at the annual meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Berger and his colleagues gave presentations on the results of their latest analyses of the A. sediba bones. The findings underscore the mosaic nature of the remains, and threaten to topple a leading model of human evolution.

So potentially another transitional fossil to put on the shelf along all the others which anti-evolutionists continue to deny the existence of.

It will be entertaining to hear what the Creationists will make of this one.  They have a couple of options that I can think of off of the top of my head.

"It's not even clear this creature is ancestor of modern people."

The old stand-by: "See, they can't keep their story straight. One year they say one thing, then the next they decide it was wrong!"

I'm a bit curious about one thing. In the linked article, they mention, "Berger enumerated other mosaic traits, including the apelike ribcage and long arms combined with the humanlike hand, with its short fingers and long thumb."  Yet in the accompanying image, I see no thumb bones beyond what looks like a partial metacarpal.  I imagine that they extrapolated from what they do have, but it seems a bit much to describe a body part so definitively when it appears they don't have an example of it.

Still, some intriguing content in the article.

EDITED to repair the image of the A. sediba skeletons.

[Tank]

Interesting article, thanks for the link.

[Xjeepguy]

http://richarddawkins.net/articles/642995-african-fossils-put-new-spin-on-human-origins-story

Very interesting read. The gaps are closing......

Title revised to indicate content - Tank

[Tank]

Interesting article.

[Asmodean]

Interesting article..? Yes.

The post, however, could have been better. A proper description of what's behind the URL, for instance.

[MinnesotaMike]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14846566

"Scientists in South Africa say two skeletons could completely change our understanding of how and where humans evolved.

Humans are thought to have descended from a creature called Homo erectus, which lived more than a million years ago, and it in turn was descended from more primitive species.

But the two 1.9-million-year-old fossils, from a species known as Australopithecus sediba, suggest creatures with anatomy and capabilities more advanced than other species from the same time, making them more likely ancestors for H. erectus."

[Tank]

Australopithecus Sediba Paved the Way for Homo Species, New Studies Suggest

ScienceDaily (Sep. 8, 2011) — Researchers have revealed new details about the brain, pelvis, hands and feet of Australopithecus sediba, a primitive hominin that existed around the same time early Homo species first began to appear on Earth. The new Au. sediba findings make it clear that this ancient relative displayed both primitive characteristics as well as more modern, human-like traits. And due to this "mosaic" nature of the hominin's features, researchers are now suggesting that Au. sediba is the best candidate for an ancestor to the Homo genus.

The discoveries are casting doubt on some long-standing theories about human evolution, including the notion that early human pelvises evolved in response to larger brain sizes. And there is also some new evidence suggesting that Au. sediba may have been a tool-maker.

These new findings, which include the most complete hand ever described in an early hominin, one of the more complete pelvises ever discovered and brand new pieces of the foot and ankle, are detailed in five separate studies. The Au. sediba research also boasts a high-resolution scan of an early hominin's cranium along with work that refines the date of this early hominin site in Malapa, South Africa, to nearly 2.0 million years ago, close to the emergence of Homo...

Detailed report.

Merged two threads and changed the thread title to indicate content.

[Xjeepguy]

Sorry about the title guys, and thanks for fixing it, Tank.

[Asmodean]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14846566

"Scientists in South Africa say two skeletons could completely change our understanding of how and where humans evolved.

Humans are thought to have descended from a creature called Homo erectus, which lived more than a million years ago, and it in turn was descended from more primitive species.

But the two 1.9-million-year-old fossils, from a species known as Australopithecus sediba, suggest creatures with anatomy and capabilities more advanced than other species from the same time, making them more likely ancestors for H. erectus."

See, THIS is how you describe them links. 

[Tank]

Sorry about the title guys, and thanks for fixing it, Tank.

'tis what janitors do. 

[Tank]

I thought I'd seen this before! Recusent beat us all to the punch!

Two threads merged.

[Tank]

Your thoughts on evolution

Some comments about the discovery published at CNN

EDIT: The whole CNN article, some of the comments are mind numbing, you have been warned! http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/08/ancient-fossils-question-human-family-tree/

[Recusant]

Your thoughts on evolution

Some comments about the discovery published at CNN

EDIT: The whole CNN article, some of the comments are mind numbing, you have been warned! http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/2011/09/08/ancient-fossils-question-human-family-tree/

I like the article, but I agree that the comments section is a dung-heap. The usual condemnations and dogmatic bleatings from the anti-evolutionists, and the usual snarky abuse from the anti-anti-evolutionists.

Thanks for the fine "janitorial" efforts, Tank.