2 million year old "almost human" remains discovered in South Africa

(NLDO) - Scientists have just found the remains of a strange Paranthropus in South Africa, with a body shorter than the "Hobbit" in Indonesia.

Inside 1.7-2.3 million-year-old sedimentary rock from the Swartkrans limestone cave in South Africa's "Cradle of Humankind" region, scientists found the distinctive remains of a young Paranthropus robustus.

This species is a member of Paranthropus, meaning "almost human" in Greek, an extinct genus of the hominin tribe to which our species also belongs.

Paranthropus were described as "near-human" creatures, walking like us but with a strong ape-like appearance - AI Illustration: Thu Anh

What's most surprising, according to Live Science , is that the remains — including the hip and left leg bones — show that this ancient hominid was only 1.03 meters tall.

This makes it one of our smallest relatives ever known.

This height is even smaller than Lucy, an Australopithecus found in Ethiopia, as well as the extinct human species nicknamed "Hobiit" in Indonesia.

Paranthropus robustus was previously known, but data regarding the leg bones were lacking.

Therefore, specimens in South Africa - a female individual tentatively called SWT1/HR-2 - helped the research team led by paleoanthropologist Travis Pickering from the University of Wisconsin - Madison (USA) to more completely reconstruct the appearance of this species.

Reconstructions show them to be shorter and stockier than the smallest modern peoples – groups whose average male height is less than 1.5 metres.

In addition, they also moved mainly by walking instead of moving in trees like previous hominins, which is shown through their strong hips and legs.

Unfortunately, this did not save SWT1/HR-2 from a gruesome death. According to the marks on the bones, this ancient hominid may have been eaten by a leopard.

Another piece of evidence supporting this hypothesis is the many leopard teeth that have been found around the area.

Although the leg bones provide important new evidence about the species' lives, scientists still cannot explain why they were so short despite living on the continent.

Typically, species living in isolated environments on new islands evolve ways to shrink their bodies, as exemplified by the Hobbits of Indonesia.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/phat-hien-hai-cot-gan-nhu-nguoi-2-trieu-tuoi-o-nam-phi-196250322084122477.htm