By now you've probably heard of Australopithecus sediba, the 1.95-million-year-old human species that made news on April 8. In a nutshell, researchers have found two beautifully preserved partial skeletons that they say represent a previously unknown member of the human family--one that may have given rise to our genus, Homo. You can read my story on the find here.
There's a lot to talk about with this discovery, so I thought I'd supplement the story with some tidbits from the cutting room floor and material that came in after my deadline.
First, some tidbits:
- Lead investigator Lee Berger's nine-year-old son Matthew spotted the first A. sediba fossil--a collar bone that turned out to be from a juvenile individual around Matthew's age. Matthew was originally listed as a co-author on the Science paper describing the fossils, but the reviewers of the paper rejected that idea, according to a news story that accompanied the technical reports in the journal.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Observations: Discoverer of "Lucy" raises questions about Australopithecus sediba, the new human species from South Africa
Author: Kate
Wong
