Evolution of humans: the bush of human origins (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, April 17, 2013, 18:49 (4239 days ago) @ David Turell

Au. sediba is a hodgepodge of parts and confusing everyone. Huanoid types developed in several directions and the tiny fragments found add to the confusion. All we really know is it started in Africa although primates were developing elsewhere.-"Ultimately, Australopithecus sediba displays a mosaic of features and researchers will need to reconcile this complexity in order to make the case that they have discovered the ancestor of Homo. One of the most important factors to consider is known among evolutionary scholars as homoplasy, or convergent evolution amongst unrelated lineages. If our australopith forebears had each independently adapted to similar evolutionary pressures, the common features in their anatomy would not have been related by descent but by the environmental constraints imposed that resulted in a commonality of form. For this South African clade to be the origin of Homo there would need to be a range of features in common extending from Au. africanus through Au. sediba and ultimately appearing in our Homo ancestors. However, while this mosaic of features may not answer the question of lineage, they do address a more profound mystery."-http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2013/04/17/the-mosaic-of-human-origins/?WT_mc_id=SA_DD_20130417