Description

Homo naledi is an extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star cave system, South Africa. They lived during the Middle Pleistocene, roughly 335,000 to 236,000 years ago (i.e. as contemporaries of early Homo sapiens in Africa).

Anatomically, they display a puzzling mosaic of features:
Their cranium (braincase) is small, more comparable to australopithecines or early Homo, ranging ~ 465–610 cm³. Yet many postcranial (below-the-head) traits are more “derived” (i.e. Homo-like). Their hands and wrists show adaptations for manipulation, their feet and legs for upright walking. But their fingers are strongly curved, suggesting climbing was still part of their repertoire.

They were likely modest in stature: estimates suggest about 1.45 m tall on average, and body weights in the ballpark of 39–55 kg. Because of its mix of primitive and derived traits, H. naledi has been placed near the base of Homo, possibly branching early, or representing a lineage that preserved “archaic” features long into later epochs.

One of the most intriguing—and controversial—aspects of H. naledi is the possibility that it deliberately disposed of its dead in deep cave chambers, perhaps even engaging in simple symbolic behaviour (e.g. engraving on cave walls). If that claim holds, it would push back the earliest known mortuary behavior in hominins. But many paleoanthropologists remain skeptical and argue the evidence is not yet definitive.