Researchers Say S. African Bones Are From Previously Unknown Human Relative

Ancient, but so far undated, remains found in a South African cave (more than 1500 pieces of bone and teeth) have been declared by the team which discovered them to represent a previously unknown kind of human relative, which they have dubbed Homo naledi. New submitter chapman writes: The human-like bones discovered in the Rising Star cave, 50km from Johannesburg, may belong to a new species of "long-legged," "pinheaded," and "gangly" human relative. Apparently the chamber in the cave where the discovery was made is so inaccessible (only 8 inches wide) that the team brought in a group of lightly-built female researchers in order to excavate the bones. Science Mag, too, describes the find as well as the controversy about the unusual publicity surrounding the exploration. The Guardian's article notes that the identification of the bones as belonging to a new species is disputed by some anthropologists, who say that based on the evidence presented so far, the bones may simply be examples of the previouly named Homo erectus.

Comments

Re:Prehistoric NBA player?

[Tablizer]

As an NBA fan, I watch for player tendencies and patterns. There appears to be an "ethnic related" pattern regarding certain types of movements. I'm just reporting what I have observed. I agree my observations may somehow be flawed or biased due to some subconscious brain activity on my part or some kind of sampling error that escaped me, but I'm just raising the question to see if anybody else has opinions or data they can share on the topic. I did not intend to offend. Being a nerd, I'm just curious. Peace!