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Cradle Of Humankind
The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site that is located about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, the site is home to the largest known concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. The site currently occupies and contains a complex system of limestone caves. The registered name of the site in the list of World Heritage Sites is Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa. According to the '' South African Journal of Science'', Bolt's Farm is the place where the earliest primates were discovered. Bolt's Farm was heavily mined for speleothem (calcium carbonate from stalagmites, stalactites, and flowstones) in the terminal nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Sterkfontein Caves were the site of the discovery of a 2.3-million-year-old fossil '' Australopithecus africanus'' (nicknamed " Mrs. Ples"), found in 1947 by Robert Broom and John T. Robinson. The fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence (such as petrified skeletal remains, bone fragments, footprints) and cultural evidence (such as stone tools, artifacts, and settlement localities). The field draws from and combines primatology, paleontology, biological anthropology, and cultural anthropology. As technologies and methods advance, genetics plays an ever-increasing role, in particular to examine and compare DNA structure as a vital tool of research of the evolutionary kinship lines of related species and genera. Etymology The term paleoanthropology derives from Greek palaiós (παλαιός) "old, ancient", ánthrōpos (ἄνθρωπος) "man, human" and the suffix -logía (-λογία) "study of". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John T
John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second Epistle of John, often shortened to 2 John * Third Epistle of John, often shortened to 3 John People * John the Baptist (died ), regarded as a prophet and the forerunner of Jesus Christ * John the Apostle (died ), one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ * John the Evangelist, assigned author of the Fourth Gospel, once identified with the Apostle * John of Patmos, also known as John the Divine or John the Revelator, the author of the Book of Revelation, once identified with the Apostle * John the Presbyter, a figure either identified with or distinguished from the Apostle, the Evangelist and John of Patmos Other people with the given name Religious figures * John, father of Andrew the Apostle and Saint Peter * Pope John (dis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kromdraai Fossil Site
Kromdraai (Afrikaans for "crooked turn") is a fossil-bearing breccia-filled cave located about east of the well-known South African hominid-bearing site of Sterkfontein and about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is situated within the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is itself a National heritage sites (South Africa), South African National Heritage Site. History of investigations In 1938, the site was brought to the attention of Robert Broom by a local schoolboy named Gert Terrblanche who had discovered several hominin teeth. The teeth formed part of a skull that would become the holotype of ''Paranthropus robustus''. Broom began excavations at the site that would continue until approximately 1947 and would result in the discovery of numerous hominin remains. Two deposits were noted and named at the site — Kromdraai A (KA) and Kromdraai B (KB)— the latter being the site where the hominin remains were recovered. In 1955 Charles Kimberlin Brain, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Prize-winners being featured since its inception. In print since 1845, it is the oldest continuously published magazine in the United States. ''Scientific American'' is owned by Springer Nature, which is a subsidiary of Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. History ''Scientific American'' was founded by inventor and publisher Rufus Porter (painter), Rufus Porter in 1845 as a four-page weekly newspaper. The first issue of the large-format New York City newspaper was released on August 28, 1845. Throughout its early years, much emphasis was placed on reports of what was going on at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Patent Office. It also reported on a broad range of inventions including perpetual motion machines, an 1860 devi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homo Naledi
'' Homo naledi'' is an Extinction, extinct species of archaic human discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, part of the Cradle of Humankind, dating back to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 years ago. The initial discovery comprises 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this exceptionally high number of specimens, their classification with other ''Homo'' species remains unclear. Along with similarities to contemporary ''Homo'', they share several characteristics with the ancestral ''Australopithecus'' as well as early ''Homo'' (Mosaic evolution#Mosaic evolution (in hominin), mosaic evolution), most notably a small cranial capacity of 465–610 cm3 (28.4–37.2 cu in), compared with 1,270–1,330 cm3 (78–81 cu in) in modern humans. They are estimated to have averaged in height and in weight, yielding a small relative brain size, encephal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hominin
The Hominini (hominins) form a taxonomic tribe of the subfamily Homininae (hominines). They comprise two extant genera: ''Homo'' (humans) and '' Pan'' (chimpanzees and bonobos), and in standard usage exclude the genus '' Gorilla'' ( gorillas), which is grouped separately within the subfamily Homininae. The term Hominini was originally introduced by Camille Arambourg (1948), who combined the categories of ''Hominina'' and ''Simiina'' pursuant to Gray's classifications (1825). Traditionally, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans were grouped together, excluding humans, as pongids. Since Gray's classifications, evidence accumulating from genetic phylogeny confirmed that humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas are more closely related to each other than to the orangutan. The orangutans were reassigned to the family Hominidae ( great apes), which already included humans; and the gorillas were grouped as a separate tribe (Gorillini) of the subfamily Homininae. Still, details of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct Species
This page features lists of species and organisms that have become extinct. The reasons for extinction range from natural occurrences, such as shifts in the Earth's ecosystem or natural disasters, to human influences on nature by the overuse of natural resources, hunting and destruction of natural habitats. In actual theoretical practice, a species not definitely located in the wild in the last 50 years of current time is textually called "extinct". Plants * List of recently extinct plants Animals By region * List of African animals extinct in the Holocene ** List of Madagascar and Indian Ocean Island animals extinct in the Holocene ** List of Macaronesian animals extinct in the Holocene ** List of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha animals extinct in the Holocene * List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene * List of European species extinct in the Holocene ** List of extinct animals of the British Isles ** List of Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily animals e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Skeletons
A skeleton is the structural frame that supports the body of most animals. There are several types of skeletons, including the exoskeleton, which is a rigid outer shell that holds up an organism's shape; the endoskeleton, a rigid internal frame to which the organs and soft tissues attach; and the hydroskeleton, a flexible internal structure supported by the hydrostatic pressure of body fluids. Vertebrates are animals with an endoskeleton centered around an axial vertebral column, and their skeletons are typically composed of bones and cartilages. Invertebrates are other animals that lack a vertebral column, and their skeletons vary, including hard-shelled exoskeleton (arthropods and most molluscs), plated internal shells (e.g. cuttlebones in some cephalopods) or rods (e.g. ossicles in echinoderms), hydrostatically supported body cavities (most), and spicules (sponges). Cartilage is a rigid connective tissue that is found in the skeletal systems of vertebrates and invertebrat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinaledi Chamber
The Rising Star cave system (also known as Westminster or Empire cave) is located in the Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreational caving has occurred there since the 1960s. In 2015, fossils found there two years prior were determined to be a previously unknown extinct species of hominin named ''Homo naledi''. Names In the 1980s, the names "Empire", "Westminster", and "Rising Star" were used interchangeably. The species's name, ''naledi'' (Sesotho for "star"), and the "Dinaledi Chamber" (incorporating the Sotho word for "stars")Sesotho ''dinaledi'' is a class 10 plural noun built on the class 9 noun ''naledi'' "star" Bukantswe v.3 dictionary). were so named by members of the Rising Star Expedition in reference to the species and chamber's location in Rising Star Cave. A portion of the cave, used by the excavation team en route to the Dinaledi Chamber, is cal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rising Star Cave
The Rising Star cave system (also known as Westminster or Empire cave) is located in the Malmani Subgroup, Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreational caving has occurred there since the 1960s. In 2015, fossils found there two years prior were determined to be a previously unknown extinct species of Hominini, hominin named ''Homo naledi''. Names In the 1980s, the names "Empire", "Westminster", and "Rising Star" were used interchangeably. The species's name, ''naledi'' (Sotho language, Sesotho for "star"), and the "Dinaledi Chamber" (incorporating the Sotho word for "stars")Sesotho ''dinaledi'' is a Sotho nouns#nc 10, class 10 plural noun built on the class 9 noun ''naledi'' "star" Bukantswe v.3 dictionary). were so named by members of the Rising Star Expedition in reference to the species and chamber's location in Rising Star Cave. A portion of the cave, used by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North West (South African Province)
North West ( ; ) is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Mahikeng. The province is located to the west of the major population centre and province of Gauteng and south of Botswana. History North West was incorporated after the end of apartheid in 1994, and includes parts of the former Transvaal Province and Cape Province, as well as most of the former bantustan of Bophuthatswana. It was the scene of political violence in Khutsong, Merafong City Local Municipality in 2006 and 2007, after cross-province municipalities were abolished and Merafong Municipality was transferred entirely to North West. Merafong has since been transferred to Gauteng province in 2009. This province is the birthplace of prominent political figures: Lucas Mangope, Moses Kotane, Ahmed Kathrada, Abram Onkgopotse Tiro, Ruth Mompati, J. B. Marks, Aziz Pahad, and Essop Pahad, among others. Law and government The Provincial Government consists of a premier, an executive council of ten min ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
