1. Pan naledi ?
Marc Verhaegen
1 June 2017

2. Pan naledi Pan paniscus
+ mandible a bit backwards + dentition worn flat
The age of Homo naledi and associated sediments in the Rising Star Cave  
  P.Dirks cs 2017 eLife doi org/ /eLife.24231
New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa  
J.Hawks cs 2017 eLife doi org/ /eLife.24232

3. Human-like traits in naledi are not human-derived, but primitive-hominid
Feet rather human-like, but also seen in prenatal chimps (Pan).
Hands +-humanlike, but hand-bones longer & curved (climbing).
Thicker enamel than Pan: aquatic herbaceous vegetation AHV?
Small canine teeth: adapted to and/or worn down by AHV?
Small hominid, generally bonobo-like (Pan paniscus).
Too recent (~250,000 yrs) & too ape-like to be Homo.
Ape-sized brain. Possibly slightly larger cf aquatic foods (DHA)?
Last molars largests (M3) cf apes & australopiths, unlike Homo.
Thorax & scapula very ape- & australopith-like, unlike Homo.
Pelvis wide, femoral neck long, australopith-like (leg abduction).

4. Full Plantigrady
Fetal chimp feet at one stage resemble ours (1st toe long & pointing forward):
“Only as it approaches its birth does its foot acquire the appearance of a hand. At no stage of its development does the human foot resemble that of an adult ape.” Carleton Coon The Story of Man p.12
IOW, the human foot is generally more primitive-hominid than the chimp’s.
This foot was originally not for running, e.g.
In ostrich & kangaroo, outer toes are atrophied,
middle toes are very long & strong (digiti-grady).
Humans, prenatal chimps, australopiths & naledi have
flattened feet, with longer outer digital rays (full planti-grady),
more like wading or swimming species.
Human feet evolved from climbing + swimming/wading to walking.

5. Australopiths lived in Wetlands
Bonobos & lowland gorillas often wade for Aquatic Herbaceous Vegetation (AHV)
google illustrations bonobo waterlilies gorilla bai
Australopithecines lived in wetlands (Reed 1997)
- gracile australopiths “existed in fairly wooded, well-watered regions”
- robust australopiths “in similar environs and also in more open regions,
but always in habitats that include wetlands.”
AL-288 Lucy fossilized in a small slow-moving stream.
Johanson & Taieb 1976
“Fossil preservation at this locality is excellent, remains of delicate items such as crocodile & turtle eggs & crab claws being found.”
AL-333 A.afarensis, large bone-collection cf. naledi ?
Radosevich cs 1992
“The bones were found in swale-like features … very likely they died and partially rotted at or very near this site … this group of hominids was buried in streamside gallery woodland.”

6. Deliberate Burial = anthropocentric fantasy
Naledi Fossil “collapsed from the breccia above”
“I am a member of the club who made the discovery of the Naledi Fossil … The cave itself has been known to us and visited frequently for as long as I have been a member. It has indeed been well surveyed and what initially started as 3 different cave systems were all eventually interconnected to create 1 large system. The fossils were discovered in a section known as the Dragon's Back. This section was visited and surveyed and has never seen visitors since the survey was first created (I stand to be corrected but I believe 1980s).
A new adventurous member of the club - Steven - set out to re-explore the cave. His visit to the chamber was met with the discovery of the first mandible which had collapsed from the breccia above. It was more a matter of good luck and 20 years of nature's impact that led to the discovery ...”

7. photo World Ape Fund
wild bonobo wading bipedally for waterlilies = naledi livestyle ?

8. Conclusions Australopithecines are fossil relatives/ancestors
of Pan, Homo, Gorilla.
They often waded bipedally
in forest swamps & wetlands,
collecting aquatic herbs (AHV).
It’s Pan naledi, possibly
Australopithecus naledi,
but not Homo naledi.
Google
unproven assumptions so-called aquatic ape hypothesis