Australopithecus sediba

Computer-generated reconstruction of A. sediba

We're all Homo here Evolution

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Australopithecus sediba was possibly another transitional species between humans and earlier apes.

Bugs and features

Sediba could likely climb better than later hominids, despite also walking upright.

Its brain was relatively small, possibly smaller than average for Australopithecus afarensis.

A. sediba had a relatively human-like hand, with a grip which may indicate tool use.

Human, after all?

Given the existence of primitive human species such as Homo floresiensis and Homo habilis, both of which display features more primitive than what even Homo erectus displays, some have argued that Au. sediba should be included within the genus Homo, even though Au. sediba displays traits more reminiscent of the australopithecines than of humans, such as a brain size to body ratio roughly similar to modern chimpanzees. However, as mentioned above, the hand grip of Au. sediba displays features suggesting it was a tool maker, and oddly enough stone tools have been found to predate the appearance of Homo by almost a million years, so the jury's still out on this one. To be frank this entire dispute can go back to the fact that Homo lacks a precise definition, because when Linnaeus first came up with the genus Homo he didn't think there would be any new species of human to ever be discovered, since this was before Darwin's day.

External links

• EA-CCC-09, Australopithecus sediba — Data from a 3D scan of A. sediba fossil hand bones

References

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