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- Berger et al. (2015): "If the fossils prove to be substantially older than 2 million years, H. naledi would be the earliest example of our genus that is more than a single isolated fragment. [...] A date younger than 1 million years ago would demonstrate the coexistence of multiple Homo morphs in Africa, including this small-brained form, into the later periods of human evolution." Can be read here.
Homo naledi is an extinct species of hominin, which anthropologists first described in 2015 and have assigned to the genus Homo. In 2013, fossil skeletons were found in South Africa's Gauteng province, in the Rising Star Cave system, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. As of 10 September 2015, fossils of at least fifteen individuals, amounting to over 1550 specimens, have been excavated from the cave. The species is characterized by a body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations, a smaller endocranial volume similar to Australopithecus, and a skull shape similar to early Homo species. The skeletal anatomy presents ancestral features known from australopithecines with more recent features associated with later hominins. The fossils have not been chronometrically dated, but estimates derived from statistical analysis of cranial traits have yielded a range of 912,000 years to 2 million years (+/- 0.5 million years).
- Shreeve, Jamie (10 September 2015). "This Face Changes the Human Story. But How?". National Geographic News. Can be read here.
- Dembo, Mana; Radovčić, Davorka; Garvin, Heather M.; Laird, Myra F.; Schroeder, Lauren; Scott, Jill E.; Brophy, Juliet; Ackermann, Rebecca R.; Musiba, Chares M. (2016-08-01). "The evolutionary relationships and age of Homo naledi: An assessment using dated Bayesian phylogenetic methods". Journal of Human Evolution. 97: 17–26. Can be read here.