Johannesburg: Speaker evening – Rick Hunter

Rick Hunter is both a Mensa Pretoria member and co-discoverer of Homo naledi from deep within the Rising Star cave system. He and his caver friend Steven Tucker also discovered the fossils of more examples of Homo naledi within a second chamber in the cave system, the Lesedi Chamber, on the last day of the 2013 Rising Star Expedition. These remains were recently announced at a press conference at Maropeng along with the dates of the original fossils.

This presentation will briefly review the 2013 Rising Star Expedition that recovered the first remains of the newly discovered human ancestor Homo naledi from Rising Star Cave and will bring the audience up to date with the most current science on the project. Findings include the surprisingly young age of the Dinaledi hominins and what is known about the newly announced Lesedi Chamber (70 m from the Dinaledi Chamber) and its Homo naledi remains. The Lesedi hominins comprise three individuals, including the relatively complete male nicknamed “Neo” or “Gift”. Implications of all findings and future directions will be discussed.