Fossils found in South Africa’s Rising Star Cave were named as the hominin species Homo naledi.
The species was announced in 2015 after researchers studied fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber, a difficult-to-reach room deep within the Rising Star cave system in Gauteng. The name naledi means “star” in Sesotho, linking the species to the cave’s name. The chamber’s name, Dinaledi, likewise refers to stars.
The fossils represent numerous individuals and display a mosaic of traits. Homo naledi had a small brain compared with modern humans but also showed features associated with walking upright and with the genus Homo. This combination made its place in human evolution especially significant and difficult to simplify.
The fossils were discovered in 2013 by recreational cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker. They were recovered by a team that included specially selected “underground astronauts,” who had to navigate extremely narrow passages. The fossils were initially dated to about 335,000–236,000 years ago, making Homo naledi surprisingly recent despite its primitive-looking anatomy.