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The new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein, South Africa: age and preliminary assessment
Author(s) -
Partridge Timothy C.,
Shaw John,
Heslop David,
Clarke Ronald J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1417(199907)14:4<293::aid-jqs471>3.0.co;2-x
Subject(s) - geology , paleontology , skeleton (computer programming) , biostratigraphy , sequence (biology) , anatomy , biology , genetics
A new hominid skeleton from Sterkfontein Member 2 attaches to foot bones recovered from loose blocks during the 1980s and first described in 1995. Several flowstone horizons are present above and below the skeleton and have given clear palaeomagnetic signatures. Five changes in magnetic polarity have been identified; when constrained by the available biostratigraphy, this sequence can be placed confidently between 3.22 and 3.58 Ma. Interpolation of sedimentation rates over the small intervals between reversals allows this range to be reduced to 3.30–3.33 Ma. The skeleton is thus the oldest yet discovered and is considered to belong to a species of Australopithecus other than africanus . Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.