Figures and data in Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa

Figures
Tables

2 figures and 1 table

Figures

Figure 1

Download asset Open asset

African fossil sites from the Middle and earliest Late Pleistocene.

Sites discussed in the text are highlighted in pink here. Geological age estimations for each fossil hominin assemblage are given in Table 1, along with references.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24234.003

Figure 2

Download asset Open asset

Phylogenetic scenarios for *H. naledi*.

A simplified cladogram of *Homo*, with the possible placements of *H. naledi* indicated. The cladogram places *A. africanus* as an outgroup to the *Homo* + *Au. sediba* clade, as consistent with nearly all phylogenetic analyses of these species (Berger et al., 2010; Dembo et al., 2015, 2016). To simplify the tree, we have omitted *H. antecessor, H. heidelbergensis* and Neanderthals, which all phylogenetic analyses place as sisters to *H. sapiens* relative to *H. erectus*. There is no present consensus about the branching order among *H. habilis*, *H. rudolfensis*, *H. floresiensis* and *Au. sediba* (Dembo et al., 2015, 2016), and so these are depicted as a polytomy.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24234.005

Tables

Table 1

Significant hominin fossil remains from the Middle and Early Late Pleistocene of Africa. Included are those sites that have geological age estimates between 780,000 and 120,000 years ago, and some sites for which claims of Middle Pleistocene age have been made but without chronometric support. Sites denoted here with ‘no date’ are those for which no chronometric determinations based on samples of hominin material or securely associated faunal remains have been reported in the literature. Some chronometric determinations that were based only on morphology or associated fauna have given rise to broad age estimations; we omit the details of such determinations here. Some additional sites with fragmentary remains, especially isolated dental remains, are not listed. The first four entries (KNM-OL 45500, OH 12, Daka and Buia) are older than the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene but are included because they are discussed in text.

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.24234.004

Site	Specimens	Location	Geological age (ka)	Source(s)
Olorgesailie (KNM-OL 45500)	Frontal	Kenya	900–970	Potts et al. (2004)
Olduvai Gorge (OH 12)^*	Partial calvaria	Tanzania	780–1,200	Tamrat et al. (1995); Mcbrearty and Brooks (2000)
Daka	Calvaria, femur	Ethiopia	~1,000	Asfaw et al. (2002)
Buia	Calvaria, postcranial fragments	Eritrea	~1,000	Abbate et al. (1998)
Tighénif (Ternifine)	Three mandibles, skull fragment	Morocco	~700	Geraads et al. (1986)
Elandsfontein (Saldanha)	Partial calvaria and mandible frag	South Africa	600–1,000	Klein et al. (2007a)
Bodo	Partial calvaria, left parietal (found roughly 400 m from Bodo 1), distal humerus	Ethiopia	550–640	Conroy et al. (1978); Clark et al. (1994)
Baringo (Kaphturin Formation)	Mandible, ulna	Kenya	510–512	Leakey et al. (1970); Deino and McBrearty (2002)
Salé	Partial calvaria and upper dentition	Morocco	~300	Jaeger, 1975); Geraads (2012)
Ndutu^*	Partial calvaria	Tanzania	370–990	Tamrat et al. (1995); Mcbrearty and Brooks (2000)
Berg Aukas	Partial femur	Namibia	No date	Grine et al. (1995)
Kabwe	Calvaria, material from at least three individuals	Zambia	No date	Klein (1973)
Florisbad	Partial cranium	South Africa	224–294	Grün et al. (1996)
Cave of Hearths	Partial mandible	South Africa	No date	Cooke, 1962)
Hoedjiespunt	Teeth, tibia	South Africa	No date	Berger and Parkington (1995); Stynder et al. (2001)
Eliye Springs	Calvaria	Kenya	No date	Bräuer and Leakey (1986)
Dinaledi Chamber (Rising Star)	Remains of at least 15 individuals	South Africa	236–335	Berger et al., 2015; Dirks et al. (2017)
Lesedi Chamber (Rising Star)	Partial skeleton, remains of at least three individuals	South Africa	No date	Hawks et al., 2017)
Omo Kibish	Two partial crania, partial skeleton	Ethiopia	155–200	McDougall et al. (2005); Aubert et al. (2012)
Herto	Three partial crania	Ethiopia	154–160	White et al. (2003); Clark et al. (2003)
Ileret (KNM-ER 3884)	Partial calvaria	Kenya	162–∞	Bräuer et al. (1997)
Jebel Irhoud	Three calvaria, mandible, fragments of seven individuals	Morocco	144–176	Hublin (2001); Smith et al. (2007)
Laetoli (Ngaloba Beds)	Cranium	Tanzania	130	Day et al. (1980); Hay (1987)
Singa	Calvaria	Sudan	131–135	McDermott et al. (1996)
Lake Eyasi	Calvaria	Tanzania	88–132	Mehlman (1984, 1987); Domínguez-Rodrigo et al., 2008

*Many authors have studied the stratigraphy of Olduvai Gorge and nearby sites, resulting in varied dates being reported for these fossils. We report here the widest range as reviewed by Mcbrearty and Brooks (2000), based on the paleomagnetic sequence.