Homo naledi

Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system in Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind. The fossils date to the Middle Pleistocene, about 335,000 to 236,000 years ago, and the excavation has yielded about 1,550 bone specimens from at least 15 individuals. The species mixes features of the ancestral Australopithecus and early Homo, with a small cranial capacity of 465 to 610 cubic centimetres, an estimated height of about 144 centimetres and a weight near 40 kilograms. Its anatomy suggests a humanlike stride but more climbing ability in trees than other Homo, and tooth wear points to gritty foods such as nuts and tubers. How it relates to other Homo species remains unclear, and the claim that its dead were deliberately placed in the chamber is controversial.