2 million year old "near 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 are described as "near-human" creatures, walking like us but with a strong ape-like appearance - Illustration AI: Thu Anh

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

This makes it one of our smallest known relatives.

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

Paranthropus robustus was known previously, 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 reconstruct more completely the appearance of this species.

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

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

Unfortunately, this did not save SWT1/HR-2 from a gruesome death. Based on the marks on its bones, the ancient ape 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 the Hobbits of Indonesia are an example.

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