Our human family tree has grown over the past few years.
For generations, we have studied our lineage in an attempt to paint a much clearer picture of how we came to be what we are today. And through one daydreaming student who turned out to be a major influence on our history, we have made a remarkable discovery of a new type of human being.
How has the widening of our DNA history affected how you see yourself?
How our human family tree has grown over the years
The concept of our human family tree has shifted from a simple, single-branched line into a more bushy human history.
The rapid expansion of the branches of this tree that explains our ancestry has nearly doubled since the discovery of the Lucy fossil in 1974. Human science has taught us that we have between 15 and 30 different species of early humans.
We, as homosapiens are the only human species that survived the test of time. We now know that for most of history, we shared the planet with other species like us.
A mere drop in the sea of time, that is, 70,000 years ago, at least four different types of early humans lived among each other in relative harmony.
Our passage through history has been explained thanks to remarkable discoveries
Recent evidence has shown that we not only lived alongside our ancient cousins, but we mated with them to create a new line of our history to follow. Most modern humans carry DNA from both Neanderthals and Denisovans, a strange group of humans that was discovered through a single bone in 2010.
We have recently found out that some of our ancient cousins populated Eurasia long before we initially thought.
The surprising additions to our ancestry have found that “hobbits” existed a long time ago. Humans as small as Frodo populated an Indonesian island as recently as 50,000 years ago.
But one South African discovery has lifted the veil on one of our most significant lines of DNA that may explain how we came to be what we are today.
We have worked out that our early human cousins lived on a far more complex diet than just meat and vegetables. We now know that our ancestors ate quite a lot of starchy foods, changing how we evolved our diet over time.
A study published in eLife has revealed a new family friend that explains a lot about human history and our lineage.
A mysterious cave revealed a complex ancestor that buried its dead
Only a few short years ago, a remarkable discovery was made in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa.
A team of researchers led by Lee Berger and Keneiloe Molopyane found evidence of a long-lost ancestor that actually took the time to bury their dead. A revelation in human science, as this was the first recorded evidence of intentional burials.
The good doctors found evidence of what has come to be known as Homo Naledi, a small-brained hominin that lived on the African continent.
We have developed an understanding of how our Neanderthal DNA has evolved over time and what effect it has on humans today. But the Homo Naledi discovery proves that our early ancestors intentionally buried their dead in specifically designated caves in South Africa.
The evidence found proves that one cave had a significant concentration of fossils that were found in fetal positions.
That suggests that the Homo Naledi were rapidly covered by sediment after dying, proving that they buried their dead in ancient “funerals”.
Through the efforts of people like Dr. Keneiloe Molopyane, we have unearthed a remarkable finding that proves our ancestors were capable of so much more complex thought than we ever thought.
The discovery catapulted Molopyane into stardom, and she was named National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2021.