Oops. Much vaunted 'Homo Naledi' find not nearly as old as thought
'This is surprising. It was believed it would have been millions of years in age'
About 300 000 years ago‚ South Africans shared their land with another human-like species: Homo Naledi. Today‚ the age of Homo Naledi was announced and it was revealed these species were much younger than thought. "It is very possible that Homo Naledi‚ this brained species encountered Homo Sapiens (humans)." The fossils of this new species‚ a human-like creature that walked on two feet and had a very small brain‚ were found in the Cradle of Humankind and announced in 2015 to great fanfare. At the time‚ Wits Professor Lee Berger said the discovery of the new species was "unprecedented" in palaeontology. But he faced serious criticism from foreign palaeontologists that the fossils had not been aged. "I have never been asked more about dating in my life since I was 16‚" Berger joked. It was difficult to age the bones without damaging them. The Naledi fossils have now been dated. The dating shows the species to be surprisingly young — between 335‚000 and 236‚ 000 years old. "This is sur...
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