Homo Naledi: New Human Species Discovered In the Evolution Chain

Scientists in South Africa have discovered Homo Naledi, as the new species is called, in the chain of human evolution. Working on a tip received from spelunkers two years ago, scientists in South Africa. Some cavers had discovered a fine crack in one of the limestone wall in the Rising Star cave, reported New Scientist

The announcement of the discovery was made by Dr Berger along with team of 60 scientists. The team was formed by the American paleoanthropologist when he posted a requirement on the social media for the scientists required for the excavation. One of the major requirements was to be extremely thin. According to Dr. Berger it was one of the dangerous and tedious discoveries of fossils as the crack was indeed small and without any natural light.

The species was named as Homo Naledi meaning "star" in local Sesotho language. There are bones and skulls of at least 15 individuals. An adult male is expected to be 1.5 meters tall and study to the structure suggests that it was bipedal. The forearms and curved structure of fingers suggests that Homo Naledi also dwelled on trees similar to apes.

All bones discovered from the cave are closely related may be of the same tribe or closely related family. There is a range of ages from infant to adult and probability of both male and female bones are expected to be present, said NBC News.

The bones were exactly discovered near Johannesburg, South Africa in a cave lying towards north-west in a Dinaledi chamber which forms are part of Rising Star cave system. There are approximately 1500 or more bones scattered in the caves. Researchers anticipate that the bodies were either deposited there deliberately as the structure of the cave has not changed in thousands of years, said the NYTimes