The modern human is descended from ape-like creatures that evolved in complexity and structure over the course of time. One of the first known human ancestors, Australopithecus africanus lived between the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs between 3.3 and 2.1 million years ago. To the disapproval of the scientific community, Raymond Dart identified and provided details on his discovery of Australopithecus africanus in the year 1924. There was a desire to find an adult Au on the later dates. Africanus species making Robert Broom come across STS 5, nicknamed “Mrs. Ples,” after formulating a hypothesis that the STS 5 was Plesianthropus transvaalensis -middle aged female- in 1947, Sterkfonte cave, South Africa (Dart & Salmons 15).
According to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: “what does it mean to be human?,” STS 5 species of the Australopithecus provided more links to the current humanity in appearance and character. The similarities affirm the Taung (a baby chimpanzee) discovery that was projected to gain more of ape like presentations on growing up. The species had long arms that suggested a more advanced prehension abilities. The face was sloping projecting out from braincase and an organized jaw. The femur, pelvis and the bones of the foot suggest that the species had an upright posture and climbing trees. Besides, STS 5 had a strongly prognathic face- a feature in ape species that is most visible as the Australopithecus comes of age.
Is the fossil significant to evolution study?
Australopithecus africanus remains were often found alongside animal bones justifying the allegations that this species was a “killer ape.” Such understanding furthers our knowledge that there was a coexistence of species in the ecosystem. Since they were “killer apes” there was also a possibility that other predators drew their livelihoods from killing them. Living together provided security as well as companionship that is witnessed to date as human establish settlements for such obvious reasons (Erin para 6).
The fossil also provides a critical link in the evolution study as through it, a new evidence of improving cranial capacity, the advent of tools among other survival techniques. Australopithecus garhi, the final Australopithecus after STS 5, for instance, could smash nuts using stones to access the juicy parts as well as dry the nuts before crushing to soften covering pointing to an improved brain capacity to invent new survival tactics (Erin para 8).
Who knows the sex of “Mrs. Ples?”
Whether “Mrs. Ples” was male or female elucidated more debates in the 1980s. The most recent being; Mrs. Ples passed for a young man based on the erosion of the hole that hosted the canine tooth after the boy died making the whole structure appear smaller and more feminine. The conclusion, nonetheless was that Mrs. Ples was a fully grown up at the time of death as demonstrated by the presence of a fully developed wisdom teeth. The small appearance of the canines suggests Mrs. Ples was feminine (Erin para 4).
Phylogenic positioning of the fossil
In 1994, Ron Clarke, discovered four left human foot bones when he was undertaking a search on fossil boxes at Sterkfontein, a prominent site in South Africa that play host to the Australopithecus africanus fossil remains discovery. He later nicknamed the fossil “Little foot” attaching it to a spatial skeleton that lived in 3.3 million years ago. Australopithecus garhi preceded Mrs. Ples as it was discovered to have developed more cranial capacity and maintained bipedalism. Australopithecus, in general, is the precursor of the genus Homo to which humanity finds their descendants. Au. garhi was the last of the Australopithecus before the development of the Homo species (Dart & Salmons 18).
Conclusion
The teachings on human evolution describe that humans and apes had common ancestry between 16-20 years ago. And that evolution was a sequence of events with new species developing from earlier ones. Now we have a visible idea through borrowing from molecular biology and findings from new fossils that apes and human beings separated only seven years ago, but since then they were the same thing. Another knowledge gain is the fact that human lineage was 'bushy' with a lot of species existing at the same time (Dart .& Salmons 18).
Works cited
Dart, Raymond A., and A. Salmons. "Australopithecus africanus: the man-ape of South Africa." A Century of Nature: Twenty-One Discoveries That Changed Science and the World, edited by Laura Garwin and Tim Lincoln (1925): 10-20.
Erin Wayman (2012). Mrs. Ples: A Hominid with an Identity Crisis. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/mrs-ples-a-hominid-with-an-identity-crisis-59680909/
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: “what does it mean to be human?” (2016). Retrieved from http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/fossils/sts-5
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