Scientists: a new kind of man from South Africa had human gait – RIA Novosti

© Photo: Peter Schmid and William Harcourt-Smith | Wits University

MOSCOW, October 6 – RIA Novosti . A detailed analysis of the arms and legs Homo naledi, recently opened contender for the role of a human ancestor, showed that this ancient primate had a typical human gait and still maintain the ability to climb trees and odnovremenon with the use of tools, according to two articles published in the journal Nature Communications.

In 2013, the South African paleontologist Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa) and his colleagues found in a cave Rising Star are many remains of ancient people who in September 2015 had been presented to the public as Homo naledi, one of the earliest representatives of our own species, which claims to be the ancestor of mankind.

In his new job Berger and a dozen other paleontologists involved in the extraction and analysis of the remains of Homo naledi, analyzed in detail the way were arranged his hands and feet, and tried to figure out who he was more like – in the modern people of ancient Homo or even more ancient Australopithecus and Ardipithecus.

A large number of remains of “people-Stars,” as translated their name from the Latin language and the Bushmen , allowed the scientists to not only understand how to move this ancient people, but also to restore his gait. She confirmed that Homo naledi have walked upright beings, and was much closer to the way go people today than existed at the time of Australopithecus.

“Homo naledi could walk stride and travel long distances through the curved foot and toes are not adapted to grasping. While in their anatomy, there are small differences on how to look limbs of modern humans, their legs are arranged so as supposedly looked legs Homo erectus, the first being, like on the device body to us. Homo naledi could be their kinsman, although it is hampered by the fact that his brain was quite small, like Australopithecus “- says Jeremy DeSilva (Jeremy DeSilva) from Dartmouth College (USA).

On the other hand, the device this primate hands, it is not similar to human hands, it was quite unique, not similar to the anatomical structure of the limbs of any other existing or extinct hominids. On the one hand, almost human wrist and a well-developed thumb suggests that Homo naledi could use tools and a good grasp and hold in the hands of various items.

© Photo: Berger et al. / ELife 2015

At the same time, his knuckles were very long and rounded, which is typical for drevolazayuschih primate species and quite peculiar anatomy of humans, Homo erectus and even Australopithecus Afar. This means that Homo naledi was both adapted to life on the trees, and the use of tools and walk upright.

All of this suggests that these hominids held an extremely interesting ecological niche that DeSilva calls ” microenvironment. ” According to him, Homo naledi to live in small groups of trees left on the site of ancient forests growing in the African savannah. Long legs helped them move from one “mikrolesa” in another, and the unusual hand – provide food and steppes, and the branches of trees.