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A Close Relative
fossil of the out hominid known asAustralopithecus sedibawere accidentally strike by the 9 - year - old son of a scientist in the remains of a cave in South Africa in 2008 , findings detailed by researcher last twelvemonth . The fossils ' commixture of human and primitive trait plant in the wit , hips , feet and custody make a strong compositor’s case for it being the immediate ancestor to the human lineage , scientists cover in the Sept. 9 , 2011 , issue of the journal Science . The fossils include remains of a male juvenile ( whose cranium is shown here ) along with a female person of the same species , who was potential in her XX or thirty .
Holding a Skull
Researcher Lee Berger holds the cranium of Australopithecus sediba — Australopithecusmeans " southern copycat , " and is a radical that includes the iconic fossil Lucy , whilesedibameans " wellspring " in the South African nomenclature Sotho .
Grapefruit-Size Brain
This virtual endocast ( green ) usher the reconstructive memory of the interior of the cranium where the encephalon would have been in the adolescent male . Though the brain showed many humanlike feature , it would ’ve been small , with the adult nous being about the sizing of a grapefruit .
Made for Having Babies
Reconstructed pelvises of the juvenile ( left ) and adult female ( right ) , as pick up from the front ( top row ) and from above ( bottom row).Did the female have offspring ? Sometimes female build up modest pits ( called scars of parturition ) on the back side of the pubic bone when they deliver a babe , due to stress on the ligaments crossing the front of the pelvis . The female specimen may have one such mark ; however , these pits can also be produced by other factors , and thus they are not always indicative that a female has given birth . It is likely that a female Australopith of her age would have had children .
Made for Making Tools
The fossils ofAu . sedibashowed its hand was adequate to of the strong taking hold needed for Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - mounting , but that it also had a long thumb and short fingers . These would have allow it a precision grip useful for tools , one involving just the thumb and fingers , where the palm does not act as an combat-ready part .
Hand in Hand
The right paw skeleton of the grownup female ( MH2 ) against a modern human hand . The deal , seen here in palmar view , miss three wrist joint bones and four terminal phalanx , but is otherwise complete .
Made for Climbing
show here , a practical Reconstruction Period of the right-hand ankle joint bones of the adult female Australopith , in the positioning in which they were come upon . The three bone ( from top to bottom ) are : fond tibia , talus , calcaneus or list . analytic thinking showed the ankle joint is mostly anthropomorphic with some evidence of a humanlike archway and Achilles tendon . However , its heel was more willowy , while it had a more robust medial malleolus ( lowest part of tibia or shin bone ) than expected . The findings suggestAu . sedibamay have drill a unequalled mannequin of bipedalism , and would have almost certainly wax trees .
Intense X-Rays
This is a 3 - D rendition of the skull of Australopithecus sediba made from cristal - ray information gathered in an experimentation at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility ( ESRF ) .
