Paleontologists announced a new member of our family tree this week, Australopithecus sediba. They were found in a cave in South Africa, nicely preserved although 1.9 million years old.
Australopithecus sediba appears to have a nice combination of ape and human characteristics, and the authors claim it kicks Homo habilis off the human line, that these guys were the real transition to our genus.
Others suggest it's just another in a bushy evolutionary tree full of all sorts of Australopithecines, that evolution was simply having fun spinning off species right and left during this period.
No matter. Our human lineage is always under construction as more fossils are discovered and the pieces of the puzzle are shuffled about.
What makes this discovery so grand is the condition of the fossils. There are two full skulls, a pelvis, a foot and a hand. Well, that's pretty much all you need to reconstruct a creature 1.9 million years old.
Most charming of all, the cache of fossils was discovered by an 8-year-old boy, son of the head paleontologist. He was chasing his dog into a cave and tripped and fell on them. "Dad, I found a fossil," he cried.
It was apparently "take your kid to work" day and this kid certainly knew a fossil when he saw one.
And giving credit where credit is due, the foto in The Times this week shows young Matthew standing next to the fossils, with Dad beaming at his son.
Australopithecus sediba appears to have a nice combination of ape and human characteristics, and the authors claim it kicks Homo habilis off the human line, that these guys were the real transition to our genus.
Others suggest it's just another in a bushy evolutionary tree full of all sorts of Australopithecines, that evolution was simply having fun spinning off species right and left during this period.
No matter. Our human lineage is always under construction as more fossils are discovered and the pieces of the puzzle are shuffled about.
What makes this discovery so grand is the condition of the fossils. There are two full skulls, a pelvis, a foot and a hand. Well, that's pretty much all you need to reconstruct a creature 1.9 million years old.
Most charming of all, the cache of fossils was discovered by an 8-year-old boy, son of the head paleontologist. He was chasing his dog into a cave and tripped and fell on them. "Dad, I found a fossil," he cried.
It was apparently "take your kid to work" day and this kid certainly knew a fossil when he saw one.
And giving credit where credit is due, the foto in The Times this week shows young Matthew standing next to the fossils, with Dad beaming at his son.
