What similarities are found in hominoid and hominids?
Answers
One of the largest studies on some of the most complete remains of early human ancestors has culminated in a comprehensive look into how an early hominid (Australopithecus sediba) moved and chewed. The study, collaborated on by an international team of scientists and published in six papers in the journal Science, details not only early traits but also describes notable features that set it apart from modern humans.
The research has focused on the remains of two individuals taken from the site of Malapa, about 30 miles northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. The site, discovered in August 2008, has yielded more than 200 bones of at least five early hominids. The fossils at the Malapa site date 1.977 to 1.98 million years ago, according to researchers.
The 2008 discovery was led by Prof. Lee Berger of University of Witwatersrand´s (Wits) Evolutionary Studies Institute (ESI) in South Africa. Berger is also coauthor on the latest study, and has described the research as an “unprecedented insight into the anatomy and phylogeny position of an early human ancestor.” The sediba species was also named by Berger and his colleagues in 2010.