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The most controversial fossil site in human evolution just got even more puzzling
- On Wednesday, June 24, 2026, researchers published a study in the scientific journal Cell revealing that Homo naledi individuals from the Rising Star cave system appear biologically female, with tests finding no male protein markers.
- First discovered in the Rising Star system between 2013 and 2015, Homo naledi lived in South Africa between 225,000 and 241,000 years ago, a small-brained species whose puzzling uniformity among adult skeletons has long confounded scientists.
- Palesa Madupe, a molecular scientist at the Globe Institute, examined enamel from 23 teeth representing 20 individuals using minimally destructive proteomic analysis. The team found no AMELY genes, which are exclusively coded by the male Y chromosome, in any sample.
- Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger argues the findings support sex-segregated burial rituals, though critic Michael Petraglia, a professor at Griffith University, contends the evidence remains insufficient to conclude intentional burial practices occurred.
- Enrico Cappellini, a paleoproteomics professor at the University of Copenhagen, noted that genetic mutation remains a potential but unlikely explanation for the missing male markers, suggesting the site composition warrants future evolutionary research.
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Genetic Material Recovered from 300,000-Year-Old Homo naledi Teeth - Archaeology Magazine
Homo naledi fossil mandible in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa LEIPZIG, GERMANY—Live Science reports that proteomic analysis of 20 Homo naledi teeth determined that all of the individuals to whom they belonged were female, since they each lacked a gene variant found only in biological males. The 300,000-year-old hominin fossils were discovered in 2013 in a remote chamber in South Africa’s Rising Star cave system by Lee Berger of the Univer…
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In the last decade, human-like fossils have emerged from the deep, sinuous galleries of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa; what they revealed has shaken the field of study of human origins. Now, new findings...
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C 82%
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