A new Homonin fossil called, Neo, has been found in South Africa, at a place where the discovery of Homo Naledi was made in 2015.
Scientists from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg led by Lee Berger made the discovery at the Cradle of Human Kind in Krugersdorp in Gauteng Province, South Africa, reports SABC.
“We’ve found a most remarkable creature,” says Berger. “This new discovery is the single largest fossil hominin find in Africa to date. It shakes up our understanding of the human family tree and has the potential to transform understanding of human evolution.”
The remains were found 30 meters underground in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site, where the scientists have uncovered more than 1,550 fossil elements, representing an unprecedented 15 individuals of the new species Homo naledi.
Neo is said to be cousin to Homo Naledi and was found in a new chamber called, Lesedi in the cave where Homo naledi remains were discovered, inside a Dinaledi chamber.
There were three remains of – two adults and a child- found in Lesedi chamber, and the tough-looking specimen believed to be male and has been named “Neo”.
Researchers currently have two possibly explation to the Homo naledi , either they are the earliest branches of Homo habilis or it diverged more than a million years ago from a more advanced form of Homo erectus.
Homo naledi is between 335 and 236 thousand years old #sabcnews pic.twitter.com/28FczgMbrL
— lebotshangela (@lebotshangela) May 9, 2017
