Human ancestors discovered that he was able to walk and climb

Decades-old debate about ancient humans Whether or not they were able to climb surfaces, they came to their conclusion, thanks to the discovery that the ancestors of ancient humans had the ability to walk on two legs like modern humans, but also to climb trees like ancient primates.

Petrified – baptized Australopithecus sediba It is nearly two million years old and represents the “missing link” of the period when our biological ancestors began behaving less like primates and more like humans.

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In all, 17 institutions – including New York University and the University of the Witwatersrand – announced their findings in a joint statement. from studying Focus on the discovery in the open scientific journal electronic life.

Discovery Sediba It was originally introduced in 2008 in Malaba, South Africa, by Professor Lee Berger (Wittwatersrand) and his nine-year-old son, Matthew. In 2015, while installing tracks for an ore mine, fossils It was actually discovered, raising Malaba to the status of a UNESCO cultural heritage.

In the region, specialists have recently been able to restore the vertebral joint in the lumbar spine Australopithecus sediba, was deposited inside a rock known as ‘breccia’. Instead of risking damage, scientists scanned it tomographyand maintain osteoporosis.

The group was compared to results from previous years to determine if it belonged to the same individual – female nicknamed “Jesus‘, which means ‘protector’ in Swahili. Upon confirmation, it was determined that the fossil Sediba It had five vertebrae in the lower back, just like modern humans.

Professor Scott Williams, a professor in New York and lead author of the book paper about discovery. “groups of lumbar vertebrae are extraordinarily rare in the hominid fossil record – only three other groups of lower vertebral columns are known from the entire ancient African record.”

Isa, along with another specimen, is one of the only hominid species with preserved records of the lower vertebrae and teeth – allowing us to verify its identity without dispute.

Previously, it was speculated that the backbone of Australopithecus sediba It was straighter, which brought her closer with a Neanderthal (neanderthal). However, the joint found specifically shows “lordosis” – that is, the curvature of the spine we have today that is a sign of adapting to life on two legs – repositioning your life history into something closer to standing man.

According to Professor Gabriel Russo, of Stony Brook University and co-author of the study, the presence of this lordosis is not only a sign of a life adapted to walking on two legs, but also of great upper-body strength – an indicator of arboreal activities, such as climbing logs .

“The backbone is what ‘links’ all these details together,” said Professor Cody Prang of Texas A&M University. “How these groups persisted in our early ancestors, including adapting to walking on the ground and climbing trees efficiently, is perhaps one of the biggest questions The rest is about human origins.

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