Homo naledi, a New Species of the Genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa

Authors

• Lee R. Berger, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• John Hawks, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Darryl J. de Ruiter, Texas A & M University - College Station
• Steven E. Churchill, Duke University
• Peter Schmid, University of Zurich, Switzerland
• Lucas K. Delezene, University of Arkansas
• Tracy L. Kivell, University of Kent, U.K.
• Heather M. Garvin, Mercyhurst University
• Scott A. Williams, New York University
• Jeremy M. DeSilva, Dartmouth College
• Matthew M. Skinner, University of Kent, U.K.
• Charles M. Musiba, University of Colorado Denver
• Noel Cameron, Loughborough University, U.K.
• Trenton W. Holliday, Tulane University
• William Harcourt-Smith, Lehman College
• Rebecca R. Ackermann, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Markus Bastir, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain
• Barry Bogin, Loughborough University
• Debra Bolter, Modesto Junior College
• Juliet Brophy, Louisana State University
• Zachary D. Cofran, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan
• Kimberly A. Congdon, University of Missouri - Columbia
• Andrew S. Deane, University of KentuckyFollow
• Mana Dembo, Simon Fraser University, Canada
• Michelle Drapeau, Université de Montréal, Canada
• Marina C. Elliott, Simon Fraser University, Canada
• Elen M. Feuerriegel, Australian National University, Australia
• Daniel Garcia-Martinez, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Spain
• David J. Green, Midwestern University - Downers Grove
• Alia Gurtov, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Joel D. Irish, Liverpool John Moores University, U.K.
• Ashley Kruger, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
• Myra F. Laird, New York University
• Damiano Marchi, University of Pisa, Italy
• Marc R. Meyer, Chaffey College
• Shahed Nalla, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
• Enquye W. Negash, George Washington University
• Caley M. Orr, University of Colorado
• Davorka Radovcic, Croatian National History Museum, Croatia
• Lauren Schroeder, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Jill E. Scott, University of Iowa
• Zachary Throckmorton, Lincoln Memorial University
• Matthew W. Tocheri, Lakehead University, Canada
• Caroline VanSickle, University of Wisconsin - Madison
• Christopher S. Walker, Duke University
• Pianpian Wei, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, China
• Bernhard Zipfel, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Abstract

Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations but a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike foot and lower limb. These humanlike aspects are contrasted in the postcrania with a more primitive or australopith-like trunk, shoulder, pelvis and proximal femur. Representing at least 15 individuals with most skeletal elements repeated multiple times, this is the largest assemblage of a single species of hominins yet discovered in Africa.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-10-2015

Notes/Citation Information

Published in eLife, v. 4, article 09560, p. 1-35.

© 2015, Berger et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09560

Funding Information

National Geographic Society
-Lee R Berger

The National Research Foundation of South Africa
-Lee R Berger

The Palaeontological Scientific Trust
-Lee R Berger

Lyda Hill Foundation
-Lee R Berger

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)
-John Hawks

Texas A and M University
-Darryl J de Ruiter

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Related Content

The Hand of Homo naledi, Tracy L. Kivell et al., published in Nature Communications, v. 6, article 8431, p. 1-9, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9431. Available in UKnowledge: http://uknowledge.uky.edu/neurobio_facpub/35/

Geological and Taphonomic Context for the New Hominin Species Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, Paul HGM Dirks et al., published in eLife, v.. 4, article 09561, p. 1-37, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.09561#sthash.IxUz6Pgr.dpuf.

Human Evolution: The Many Mysteries of Homo Naledi, Chris Stringer, published in eLife, v.. 4, article 10627, p. 1-3, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10627#sthash.81NLitUb.dpuf.

Repository Citation

Berger, Lee R.; Hawks, John; de Ruiter, Darryl J.; Churchill, Steven E.; Schmid, Peter; Delezene, Lucas K.; Kivell, Tracy L.; Garvin, Heather M.; Williams, Scott A.; DeSilva, Jeremy M.; Skinner, Matthew M.; Musiba, Charles M.; Cameron, Noel; Holliday, Trenton W.; Harcourt-Smith, William; Ackermann, Rebecca R.; Bastir, Markus; Bogin, Barry; Bolter, Debra; Brophy, Juliet; Cofran, Zachary D.; Congdon, Kimberly A.; Deane, Andrew S.; Dembo, Mana; Drapeau, Michelle; Elliott, Marina C.; Feuerriegel, Elen M.; Garcia-Martinez, Daniel; Green, David J.; Gurtov, Alia; Irish, Joel D.; Kruger, Ashley; Laird, Myra F.; Marchi, Damiano; Meyer, Marc R.; Nalla, Shahed; Negash, Enquye W.; Orr, Caley M.; Radovcic, Davorka; Schroeder, Lauren; Scott, Jill E.; Throckmorton, Zachary; Tocheri, Matthew W.; VanSickle, Caroline; Walker, Christopher S.; Wei, Pianpian; and Zipfel, Bernhard, "Homo naledi, a New Species of the Genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa" (2015). Neuroscience Faculty Publications. 34.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/neurobio_facpub/34