In the journal Science September 9 edition, a collection of reports generated a storm of controversy on the evolution status of Australopithecus sediba. Nicknamed Karabo, meaning “answers,” the fossils have emerged as the latest human ancestor candidate. While last week’s topic focused on Karabo’s transitional links, this week examines the dating of these two remarkable fossilized skeletons recovered from the Malapa site in South Africa. The dating of Karabo was a surprise.
Robyn Pickering (pictured right), a geochemist specializing in the dating of early hominid sites, calculated and incorporated the date into the title of the report: “Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma, and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo.” Using a uranium-lead (U-Ph) dating method, The 1.977 + 0.002 million years date is far earlier than expected. Ironically, the dating of Karabo raises more questions than answers.
The Australopithecus sediba saga intensified last week with a new series of reports published in the journal of Science. The journal is the official weekly publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, AAAS. Last week’s edition (cover pictured left) featured eight articles and news reports specifically on A. sediba, inflaming a flurry of speculations on the human “missing link.”
This last week was the second Science edition to focus on human evolution findings in South Africa. Earlier, in April 2010, Science featured the initial report of two A. sediba partial skeletons discovered by paleoanthropologistLee R. Berger (pictured right) of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, entitled “Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa.”
With Berger’s 2010 report,Science published the report of geologist Paul H. G. M. Dirks of the University of the Witwatersrand, entitled “Geological Setting and Age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa.” Science journalist Michael Balternoted in “Candidate Human Ancestor From South Africa Sparks Praise and Debate,” this “may be the best candidate yet for the immediate ancestor of our genus, Homo.”
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In the journal Science September 9 edition, a collection of reports generated a storm of controversy on the evolution status of Australopithecus sediba. Nicknamed Karabo, meaning “answers,” the fossils have emerged as the latest human ancestor candidate. While last week’s topic focused on Karabo’s transitional links, this week examines the dating of these two remarkable fossilized skeletons recovered from the Malapa site in South Africa. The dating of Karabo was a surprise.
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