Homo naledi
Americannoun
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an extinct species of hominin classified within the genus Homo but on a branch other than that of modern humans: the first fossil specimens, originally assessed at about two million years of age, were discovered northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in 2013, but a more recent dating of 235,000–335,000 years places them in a time when more modern, larger-brained hominins were already living.
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a fossil belonging to this species.
Etymology
Origin of Homo naledi
First recorded in 2010–15; from New Latin; Homo ( def. ) + Sotho naledi “star,” from the name Dinaledi (Chamber), “(chamber) of stars” in the Rising Star cave system where the fossils were found
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Neanderthals painted cave walls, Homo heidelbergensis hunted large animals like rhinos and hippos, and some scientists think even the small-brained Homo naledi was burying its dead in South African cave systems.
From Seattle Times
Homo heidelbergensis and Homo naledi were living in Africa.
From Seattle Times
"But it could be a different species - Homo erectus or Homo naledi - there were a number of hominid species around at that time in southern Africa."
From BBC
They belong to Australopithecus sediba, which lived around 2 million years ago, and the roughly 250,000-year-old Homo naledi.
From Scientific American
Directed by Mark Mannucci, “Unknown: Cave of Bones,” focuses on a recent expedition into a South African cave that contains skeletal remains of the ancient human relative homo naledi.
From New York Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
