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Scientist Makes Dramatic Apeman Find
Updated 11:34 AM ET April 25, 2000 By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African scientists are set to reveal details about the most complete apeman skull ever excavated and scientifically described, shedding light on humanity's distant origins.
The 1.5 million to two million-year-old skull was found in a previously unreported site a few miles from the renowned Sterkfontein Caves north of Johannesburg, where the most complete arm and hand of an apeman dating back 3.3 million years was recently unearthed.
"The teeth have been almost perfectly preserved -- they are a marvelous set of choppers," Dr Graham Baker, editor of the South African Journal of Science (SAJS), told Reuters in a telephone interview Tuesday.
An article on the skull will be published later this month in the SAJS.
Dr Andre Keyser, the retired geologist who made the previously unannounced find, will outline details Wednesday at the University of Witwatersrand, where the skull will be placed on public display for the first time.
Keyser will reveal the hominid's scientific name and the exact location of the discovery.
Baker said scientists believe the skull did not belong to a direct ancestor of modern humans but to a line of hominids that eventually became extinct.
Scientists hope its similarities to and differences from humanity's ancestors, and the reasons for its extinction, will provide clues to humanity's march up the evolutionary ladder.
The reasons for hominid extinctions are a matter of debate in the scientific community. Some speculate that modern man at a very early stage may have shown his dark side by eliminating potential rivals.
The Sterkfontein Caves and the surrounding areas -- declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO -- have a rich history in the search for human roots and bolster Africa's claim to being the "cradle of humanity."
The first fossil of an adult apeman ever discovered was found at Sterkfontein in 1936 by Dr Robert Bloom.
The recent discovery of the complete 3.3 million-year-old arm and hand greatly excited the scientific community, as the primate's skull is very ape-like but the hand bones have more in common with modern man.
It is from discoveries such as those in and around Sterkfontein -- where dolomite caves preserve bones through calcification -- that scientists hope to eventually piece together when and why humans and apes parted company on the evolutionary tree.
S.African Apeman Skull Stirs Scientific Excitement
Updated 1:06 PM ET April 26, 2000 By Ed Stoddard
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - South African scientists Wednesday revealed details about a pair of fossils, including the most complete ape-man skull ever excavated, which they hope will shed light on our distant origins. The pair, christened Orpheus and Eurydice after the Greek mythological lovers, are 1.5 to 2.0 million years old and have been identified as Paranthropus robustus, a hominid line that became extinct about one million years ago. "They are not direct ancestors of modern humans but are more like 'kissing cousins' of our ancestors," Lee Berger told Reuters after a news conference, where the pair -- discovered in 1994 but revealed only now -- were put on public display for the first time. Scientists say the skull belongs to a female of the species while the other fossil, a lower jawbone or mandible, belongs to a male. The fossils were unearthed seven kilometers (four miles) from the renowned Sterkfontein caves north of Johannesburg, which have yielded many hominid finds, including the recent discovery of a complete 3.3 million-year-old arm and head. Describing the day he and his team made the discovery, paleontologist Andre Keyser said: "I knew immediately what I was dealing with and was extremely excited and absolutely delighted to have found it. It was certainly the highlight of my career as a paleontologist." GENDER DIFFERENCES HIGHLIGHTED Scientists say the significance of the find includes the fact that they now know what a female Paranthropus robustus looks like and know the difference between the male and female of the species. Those differences are highlighted by a crest along the top of the male's skull to which the muscles of the lower jaw were anchored. The female, apart from being smaller, has no such crest -- a distinction found today in male and female gorillas. Scientists hope the species' differences from and similarities to humanity's ancestors, and the reasons for its extinction, may provide clues to our own march up the evolutionary ladder. The reasons for hominid extinctions are a matter of debate in the scientific community. Some speculate that modern man at a very early stage may have shown his dark side by eliminating potential rivals. Berger said humanity's ancestors, as omnivores who ate both meat and plant matter, may have outcompeted the specialist Paranthropus, which was primarily a vegetarian, like today's Great Apes. Like the baboons who live in the same area today, the pair of hominids may have wintered in the cave where they were eventually entombed for scientific posterity. But Berger said they "had more in common with humans than the Great Apes." The Sterkfontein caves and the surrounding areas -- declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO -- have a rich history in the search for human roots and bolster Africa's claim to being the "cradle of humanity." The first fossil of an adult apeman ever discovered was found at Sterkfontein in 1936 by Robert Broom. The startling discoveries in the Sterkfontein area -- where dolomite caves preserve bones through calcification -- give scientists hope that they will eventually piece together when and why humans and apes parted company on the evolutionary tree. The volcanic ash deposits and ancient lake beds of Kenya and other parts of East Africa have also yielded ancient hominid fossils but they are not nearly as complete as those found in and around Sterkfontein.
