Australopithecus sediba: Ground-breaking research revealed

Apr 11, 2013

Figure 10 1
The female skeleton MH2 (left) and the male skeleton MH1 (right). Photo by Brent Stirton, courtesy of Lee Berger and the University of the Witwatersrand
Unprecedented insights into the way in which Australopithecus sediba walked, moved and chewed will be published on 12 April 2013 in the prestigious journal, Science.

The six research papers, authored by a team of South African and international scientists from the Evolutionary Studies Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand and 15 other global institutions, report on some of the most complete early human ancestral remains ever discovered – the 2-million-year-old fossils belonging to Australopithecus sediba.

The papers are the culmination of more than four years of research into the anatomy of Australopithecus sediba, led by South African Professor Lee Berger, whose son initially discovered the fossil remains at the Malapa site in the Cradle of Humankind in August 2008.

The research delves into the holotype and paratype skeletons commonly referred to as MH1 and MH2, as well as the adult isolated tibia referred to as MH4.

Figure 3
Composite reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba based on recovered material from MH1, MH2 and MH4 and based upon the research presented in the accompanying manuscripts. As all individuals recovered to date are approximately the same size, size correction was not necessary. Femoral length was established by digitally measuring a complete femur of MH1 still encased in rock. For comparison, small-bodied female modern Homo sapiens on the left, male Pan troglodytes on the right. Photo by Lee Berger, courtesy of the University of the Witwatersrand
In essence, the studies describe how the 2-million-year-old Australopithecus sediba walked, chewed and moved.

“This examination of a large number of associated, often complete and undistorted elements, gives us a glimpse of a hominin species that appears to be mosaic in its anatomy and that presents a suite of functional complexes that are both different from that predicted for other australopiths, as well as that for early Homo,” summarises Berger.

“Such clear insight into the anatomy of an early hominin species will clearly have implications for interpreting the evolutionary processes that affected the mode and tempo of hominin evolution and the interpretation of the anatomy of less well-preserved species.”

Aside from the 26 authors from 16 institutions involved in the publications, the team focusing its research efforts on Australopithecus sediba and Malapa now numbers more than 100 researchers from around the world – one of the largest dedicated archaeological or palaeontological research programmes.

Berger concludes: “Discoveries such as Australopithecus sediba and the Malapa site demonstrate the need for further African-based exploration in the rich fossil fields of Southern Africa, and additionally demonstrate the tremendous promise of the palaeosciences on the continent.”