Malapa Fossil Site, Cradle of Humankind

In March 2008, Lee Berger of the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, undertook an exploration project in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage site outside of Johannesburg, in order to map the known caves identified by him and his colleagues over the past several decades, and to place known fossil sites onto Google Earth so that information could be shared with colleagues. The area is important as nearly a third of the entire evidence for human origins in Africa comes from just a few sites in this region, and the region is arguably one of the most explored areas in Africa for evidence of human origins, having been investigated continuously since the first discoveries were made there in 1935. At the beginning of this project, there were approximately 130 known cave sites in the region and around twenty fossil deposits. On 4 September 2008, Berger returned to the site with more than a dozen colleagues, where Berger discovered a second partial skeleton of an adult female. ==Recovered fossils==

The site has produced arguably one of the most complete assemblages of early human ancestors ever found, including the most complete skeletons of early hominids yet discovered, and by far the most complete remains of any hominid dating to around 2 million years ago. The species is suggested by the authors to be a good candidate for being the transitional species between the southern African ape-man Australopithecus africanus (the Taung Child, Mrs. Ples) and either Homo habilis or even a direct ancestor of Homo erectus (Turkana Boy, Java Man, Peking Man). The species has long arms, like an ape, short powerful hands, a very advanced pelvis, and long legs capable of striding and possibly running like a human. The skeletons were found among the articulated skeletons of a sabre-toothed cat, antelopes and even mice and hares. ==See also==