homo naledi

Researchers, led by Lee Berger, had claimed in a Netflix documentary that the species buried its dead, used fire, used tools, and made rock art.

They claim that the small-brained species had high intelligence and engaged in activities like burying their dead, using fire, and engaging in cave wall art.

I could not find a single reviewer who accepted the claims of the papers. They were harshly critical of claims of intentional burial of the skeletons.

Berger et al.’s claims about the species have been disputed and their idea that it lived 2-3 million years ago was exaggerated by a factor of 10.

This fascinating study also counters arguments that Homo naledi was beginning to develop a human-like intellect.

In 1982, paleontologists Niles Eldredge and Ian Tattersall noted that it is a “myth that the evolutionary histories of living beings are essentially a matter of discovery.”

Some scientists hoped that H. naledi would prove to be the fossil to bridge an evolutionary gap.

Most intriguingly, Luskin answers the question: Is H. naledi a human ancestor?

So far, the find’s pathway reminds me of other hominin fossils whose “transitional” or “ancestral” status ultimately went belly up.

Numerous fossils of a new species of hominin have been found in a nearly inaccessible cave in South Africa.

Considering the checkered history of grandiose claims and controversies in paleoanthropology, some caution may be wise.

The fossil hominin Homo habilis was described 1964 by Louis Leakey and his colleagues from the 1.9 million year old Olduvai Gorge locality in Tanzania.