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Implications of the New Age Estimates of the Early South African Hominids

Nature volume 246, pages 79–83 (1973)Cite this article

Abstract

Divergences exist between recent faunal and geomorphological estimates of the age of several South African australopithecine sites. New stratigraphic evidence from Sterkfonteinand Makapansgat suggests a lengthy lapse of time between cave opening and deposition of dated fossil bones, and thus provides a basis for explaining the apparent discrepancies. The young date inferred for the Taung skull makes it up to 2 m.y. more recent than Australopithecus africanus from the Transvaal caves. As Taung is clearly not a member of Homo erectus, it is reasonable to hypothesise that it may be a later survivor of A. robustus.

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  1. Department of Anatomy, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Hospital Street, Johannesburg

    PHILIP V. TOBIAS

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TOBIAS, P. Implications of the New Age Estimates of the Early South African Hominids. Nature 246, 79–83 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/246079a0

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