@article{Rak_Geffen_Hylander_Ginzburg_Been_2021, title={One hominin taxon or two at Malapa Cave? Implications for the origins of Homo}, volume={117}, url={https://sajs.co.za/article/view/8747}, DOI={10.17159/sajs.2021/8747}, abstractNote={<p>A report on the skeletons of two individuals from the Malapa cave site in South Africa attributes them both to a new hominin species, <em>Australopithecus sediba</em>. However, our analysis of the specimens’ mandibles indicates that <em>Australopithecus sediba</em> is not a ‘<em>Homo</em>-like australopith’, a transitional species between <em>Australopithecus africanus</em> and <em>Homo</em>. According to our results, the specimens represent two separate genera:<em> Australopithecus</em> and <em>Homo</em>. These genera are known to have jointly occupied sites, as seen in several early South African caves, so one cannot rule out the possibility that Malapa also contains remains of the two taxa. Our results lead us to additionally conclude that all the <em>Australopithecus</em> species on which the relevant mandibular anatomy is preserved (not only the ‘robust’ australopiths but also the ‘gracile’ – more generalised – ones) are too specialised to constitute an evolutionary ancestor of <em>Homo sapiens</em>. Furthermore, given that the Malapa site contains representatives of two hominin branches, one of which appears to be <em>Homo</em>, we must seek evidence of our origins much earlier than the date assigned to Malapa, approximately 2 million years before present. Support for this claim can be found in Ethiopian fossils attributed to the genus <em>Homo</em> and dated at 2.4 and 2.8 million years before present.<br><br><strong>Significance:</strong></p> <ul> <li>The proposed hominin species <em>Australopithecus sediba</em>, from the Malapa Cave in South Africa, seems to actually consist of two species, each of which represents a different hominin genus: <em>Homo</em> and <em>Australopithecus</em>. If, indeed, this is the case, <em>Homo</em> must have originated prior to the Malapa remains, contrary to the scenario suggested in the original report on <em>Au. sediba</em>.</li> </ul>}, number={5/6}, journal={South African Journal of Science}, author={Rak, Yoel and Geffen, Eli and Hylander, William and Ginzburg, Avishag and Been, Ella}, year={2021}, month={May} }