Cidersomerset
12th April 2013, 14:19
Interesting article.....
Team reconstructs 'human ancestor'
12 April 2013 Last updated at 10:36
Team reconstructs 'human ancestor'Australopithecus sediba The researchers were able reconstruct the species using bones from three different individuals Continue reading
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66957000/jpg/_66957287_66957285.jpg
The most complete view yet of a possible human ancestor uncovered in South Africa
has revealed an intriguing mix of human and ape traits.The two-million-year-old
remains of several partial skeletons belonging to a previously unknown humanlike
species were found in 2008 near Johannesburg.The new analysis shows this species -
Australopithecus sediba - had a human-like pelvis, hands and teeth, and a chimpanzee-
like foot.
The findings appear in Science journal.
In six separate research reports, scientists probed further into the anatomy of a juvenile
male skeleton, commonly referred to as MH1, a female skeleton, known as MH2, and an
isolated adult tibia or shinbone, known as MH4.The specimens were found at Malapa in
the famous Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, just to the northwest of
Johannesburg. They were pulled from a pit - a depression left in the ground by a cave
complex that lost its roof through erosion.
Scientists think the female and male could well have been mother and son.
It seems they died together in some tragic accident that saw them either fall into the
cave complex or become stuck in it. After death, their bodies were washed into a pool
and cemented in time along with the skeletons of many other animals - sabre-tooth
cats, hyenas, antelope, even birds and mice.
The individuals from Malapa fall within a broad group known as the australopithecines,
upright-walking humanlike creatures that roamed Africa between four million and two
million years ago.An analysis of Au. sediba's lower limb anatomy by Jeremy DeSilva
from Boston University and colleagues suggests that the species walked in a unique
way. Its small heel resembles that of a chimpanzee more than it does a human. This
suggests it likely walked with an inward rotation of the knee and hip, with its feet
slightly twisted.
This primitive way of walking might have been a compromise between upright walking
and tree climbing, the researchers suggest, since Au. sediba seems to have had more
adaptations for tree-climbing than other australopithecines.The findings suggest that
some species of australopithecine climbed trees, some walked on the ground, and some
did both.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66957000/jpg/_66957724_66957723.jpg
Comarisons Here. Au. sediba is compared with a modern human (L) and a chimp (R)
Meanwhile, Joel Irish from Liverpool John Moores University and colleagues investigated
Au sediba's teeth. Like other parts of the skeleton, the teeth are a collage of primitive
and human-like features.They bear many resemblances to the teeth of another South
African australopithecine, known as Au. africanus, suggesting these two species formed
a southern group, distinct from East African forms such as Au. afarensis, represented by
the famous "Lucy" skeleton.Lead investigator Lee Berger, from the University of
Witwatersrand, has been investigating whether thinly layered material excavated with
the specimens represents fossilised skin from the creatures. Prof Berger submitted
preliminary findings to the recent Paleoanthropology Society meeting in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22108784
=====================================================
Anthropologists Reconstruct Diet of Early Human Ancestors
Aug 10, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro
http://cdn4.sci-news.com/images/2012/08/image_521.jpg
Reconstructions of Homo habilis, Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus (Edward Foster / John Gurche / Myartprints.com)
The study, published online in Nature, sheds more light on the diet and home ranges of
early hominins belonging to three different genera – Australopithecus africanus,
Paranthropus robustus and early Homo – that were discovered at sites such as
Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai in the Cradle of Humankind, about 50 km from
Johannesburg.
The anthropologists conducted an analysis of the fossil teeth, indicating that
Australopithecus, a predecessor of early Homo, had a more varied diet than early
Homo. Its diet was also more variable than the diet of another distant human relative
Paranthropus.
“The results of the study show that Paranthropus had a primarily herbivorous-like diet,
while Homo included a greater consumption of meat,” said co-author Prof Francis
Thackeray, Director of the Institute for Human Evolution at Wits University.
Signatures of essential chemical elements have been found in trace amounts in the
tooth enamel of the three fossils genera, and the results are indicators of what South
African hominins ate and what their habitat preferences were.
Strontium and barium levels in organic tissues, including teeth, decrease in animals
higher in the food chain. The scientists used a laser ablation device, which allowed them
to sample very small quantities of fossil material for analysis.Since the laser beam was
pointed along the growth prisms of dental enamel, it was possible to reconstruct the
dietary changes for each hominin individual.
“The greater consumption of meat in the diet of early forms of Homo could have
contributed to the increase in brain size in this genus,” Prof Thackeray explained.
Australopithecus probably ate both meat and the leaves and fruits of woody plants. The
composition of this diet may have varied seasonally.Apart from the dietary differences,
the new results indicate that the home-range area was of similar size for species of the
three hominin genera.The scientists also measured the strontium isotope composition of
dental enamel. Strontium isotope compositions are free of dietary effects but are
characteristic of the geological substrate on which the animals lived.According to the
study results, all the hominids lived in the same general area, not far from the caves
where their bones and teeth are found today.
“Up until two millions years ago in South Africa, the Australopithecines were generalists,
but gave up their broad niche to Paranthropus and Homo, both being more specialized
than their common ancestor,” said lead author Prof Vincent Balter of the Geological
Laboratory of Lyon in France.
Another study has recently reconstructed the diet of Australopithecus anamensis, a
hominid that lived in the east of the African continent more than 4 million years ago.
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/article00521.html
Team reconstructs 'human ancestor'
12 April 2013 Last updated at 10:36
Team reconstructs 'human ancestor'Australopithecus sediba The researchers were able reconstruct the species using bones from three different individuals Continue reading
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66957000/jpg/_66957287_66957285.jpg
The most complete view yet of a possible human ancestor uncovered in South Africa
has revealed an intriguing mix of human and ape traits.The two-million-year-old
remains of several partial skeletons belonging to a previously unknown humanlike
species were found in 2008 near Johannesburg.The new analysis shows this species -
Australopithecus sediba - had a human-like pelvis, hands and teeth, and a chimpanzee-
like foot.
The findings appear in Science journal.
In six separate research reports, scientists probed further into the anatomy of a juvenile
male skeleton, commonly referred to as MH1, a female skeleton, known as MH2, and an
isolated adult tibia or shinbone, known as MH4.The specimens were found at Malapa in
the famous Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, just to the northwest of
Johannesburg. They were pulled from a pit - a depression left in the ground by a cave
complex that lost its roof through erosion.
Scientists think the female and male could well have been mother and son.
It seems they died together in some tragic accident that saw them either fall into the
cave complex or become stuck in it. After death, their bodies were washed into a pool
and cemented in time along with the skeletons of many other animals - sabre-tooth
cats, hyenas, antelope, even birds and mice.
The individuals from Malapa fall within a broad group known as the australopithecines,
upright-walking humanlike creatures that roamed Africa between four million and two
million years ago.An analysis of Au. sediba's lower limb anatomy by Jeremy DeSilva
from Boston University and colleagues suggests that the species walked in a unique
way. Its small heel resembles that of a chimpanzee more than it does a human. This
suggests it likely walked with an inward rotation of the knee and hip, with its feet
slightly twisted.
This primitive way of walking might have been a compromise between upright walking
and tree climbing, the researchers suggest, since Au. sediba seems to have had more
adaptations for tree-climbing than other australopithecines.The findings suggest that
some species of australopithecine climbed trees, some walked on the ground, and some
did both.
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/66957000/jpg/_66957724_66957723.jpg
Comarisons Here. Au. sediba is compared with a modern human (L) and a chimp (R)
Meanwhile, Joel Irish from Liverpool John Moores University and colleagues investigated
Au sediba's teeth. Like other parts of the skeleton, the teeth are a collage of primitive
and human-like features.They bear many resemblances to the teeth of another South
African australopithecine, known as Au. africanus, suggesting these two species formed
a southern group, distinct from East African forms such as Au. afarensis, represented by
the famous "Lucy" skeleton.Lead investigator Lee Berger, from the University of
Witwatersrand, has been investigating whether thinly layered material excavated with
the specimens represents fossilised skin from the creatures. Prof Berger submitted
preliminary findings to the recent Paleoanthropology Society meeting in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22108784
=====================================================
Anthropologists Reconstruct Diet of Early Human Ancestors
Aug 10, 2012 by Enrico de Lazaro
http://cdn4.sci-news.com/images/2012/08/image_521.jpg
Reconstructions of Homo habilis, Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus (Edward Foster / John Gurche / Myartprints.com)
The study, published online in Nature, sheds more light on the diet and home ranges of
early hominins belonging to three different genera – Australopithecus africanus,
Paranthropus robustus and early Homo – that were discovered at sites such as
Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Kromdraai in the Cradle of Humankind, about 50 km from
Johannesburg.
The anthropologists conducted an analysis of the fossil teeth, indicating that
Australopithecus, a predecessor of early Homo, had a more varied diet than early
Homo. Its diet was also more variable than the diet of another distant human relative
Paranthropus.
“The results of the study show that Paranthropus had a primarily herbivorous-like diet,
while Homo included a greater consumption of meat,” said co-author Prof Francis
Thackeray, Director of the Institute for Human Evolution at Wits University.
Signatures of essential chemical elements have been found in trace amounts in the
tooth enamel of the three fossils genera, and the results are indicators of what South
African hominins ate and what their habitat preferences were.
Strontium and barium levels in organic tissues, including teeth, decrease in animals
higher in the food chain. The scientists used a laser ablation device, which allowed them
to sample very small quantities of fossil material for analysis.Since the laser beam was
pointed along the growth prisms of dental enamel, it was possible to reconstruct the
dietary changes for each hominin individual.
“The greater consumption of meat in the diet of early forms of Homo could have
contributed to the increase in brain size in this genus,” Prof Thackeray explained.
Australopithecus probably ate both meat and the leaves and fruits of woody plants. The
composition of this diet may have varied seasonally.Apart from the dietary differences,
the new results indicate that the home-range area was of similar size for species of the
three hominin genera.The scientists also measured the strontium isotope composition of
dental enamel. Strontium isotope compositions are free of dietary effects but are
characteristic of the geological substrate on which the animals lived.According to the
study results, all the hominids lived in the same general area, not far from the caves
where their bones and teeth are found today.
“Up until two millions years ago in South Africa, the Australopithecines were generalists,
but gave up their broad niche to Paranthropus and Homo, both being more specialized
than their common ancestor,” said lead author Prof Vincent Balter of the Geological
Laboratory of Lyon in France.
Another study has recently reconstructed the diet of Australopithecus anamensis, a
hominid that lived in the east of the African continent more than 4 million years ago.
http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/anthropology/article00521.html