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Little Foot is a near-complete Australopithecus skeleton — essentially the most full ever found — from South Africa. Researchers first unveiled the small historical human in 2017, however exactly the place it sits on our household tree has been the topic of scientific debate.
Some have proposed that Little Foot is a beforehand unknown species and needs to be given the identify Australopithecus prometheus. Nevertheless, A. prometheus is a recycled identify that was initially meant for an additional South African fossil found in 1948, however fell out of favour after researchers determined that the fossil was probably from the identified species Australopithecus africanus. One other risk was that Little Foot was additionally A. africanus.
The brand new claims derive from a examine revealed final month within the American Journal of Organic Anthropology. Right here, the analysis staff argues that neither A. prometheus nor A. africanus is an acceptable classification for Little Foot.
The classification of human fossils is commonly contested, so I am eager to see how different anthropologists react to the brand new examine and can comply with up with extra info because it emerges.
Patrick Pester
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