Australopithecus sediba: No such thing as a missing link

Autralopithecus sediba is not the missing link that connects modern man to its more primitive ancestors.

Skull of Australopithecus Sediba [Credit: WikiCommons]

The fossils that were found 10 years ago by Palaeoathropologist, Professor Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand, and his son Matthew, at Malapa in the Cradle of Human Kind in South Africa, has recently been described as the so-called "missing link" in human evolution, after the publication of new research by a team of international researchers that confirmed the unique species status of Sediba. This research has been misinterpreted by some sectors, creating the idea that Australopithecus sediba might be the "missing link".

This perception is incorrect, as there is no such thing as a "missing link" in human evolution, says Professor Berger in an informative video, released by Wits University.

"The image of human evolution on T-shirts is incorrect. I would prefer that we forget the term 'missing link'," says Berger, who is currently on expedition at the Rising Star cave, also in the Cradle of Human kind, where the other famous human ancestor, Homo naledi, was found.

Berger explains that human evolution is not a linear process, where one species evolve into another, but rather follows a process similar to a braided stream, or river delta, where a stream might branch off into its own direction, or later flow back and join a different stream, which might "evolve" into a new species.

Source: Wits University [January 25, 2019]