Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 333, Issue 6048, Pages 1411-1417Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1202625
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Funding
- South African Department of Science and Technology
- South African National Research Foundation
- Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand
- University of the Witwatersrand
- National Geographic Society
- Palaeontological Scientific Trust
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
- Ford Foundation
- U.S. Diplomatic Mission to South Africa
- French embassy of South Africa
- Oppenheimer and Ackerman families
- Sir Richard Branson
- Witwatersrand's Schools of Geosciences and Anatomical Sciences
- Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontology
- Gauteng Government
- Gauteng Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Environment
- Cradle of Humankind Management Authority
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Hand bones from a single individual with a clear taxonomic affiliation are scarce in the hominin fossil record, which has hampered understanding the evolution of manipulative abilities in hominins. Here we describe and analyze a nearly complete wrist and hand of an adult female [Malapa Hominin 2 (MH2)] Australopithecus sediba from Malapa, South Africa (1.977 million years ago). The hand presents a suite of Australopithecus-like features, such as a strong flexor apparatus associated with arboreal locomotion, and Homo-like features, such as a long thumb and short fingers associated with precision gripping and possibly stone tool production. Comparisons to other fossil hominins suggest that there were at least two distinct hand morphotypes around the Plio-Pleistocene transition. The MH2 fossils suggest that Au. sediba may represent a basal condition associated with early stone tool use and production.
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