Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo

Robyn Pickering; Paul H. G. M. Dirks; Zubair Jinnah; Darryl J. de Ruiter; Steven E. Churchill; Andy I. R. Herries; Jon D. Woodhead; John C. Hellstrom; Lee R. Berger

doi:10.1126/science.1203697

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Abstract

Newly exposed cave sediments at the Malapa site include a flowstone layer capping the sedimentary unit containing the Australopithecus sediba fossils. Uranium-lead dating of the flowstone, combined with paleomagnetic and stratigraphic analysis of the flowstone and underlying sediments, provides a tightly constrained date of 1.977 ± 0.002 million years ago (Ma) for these fossils. This refined dating suggests that Au. sediba from Malapa predates the earliest uncontested evidence for Homo in Africa.

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Further U-series dating and the magnetic stratigraphy of the hosting cave deposits show that Australopithecus sediba lived just under 2 million years ago, near or just before the emergence of Homo.

Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo

Abstract

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