Karabo and adult: Australopithecus Sediba Fossil – 23 Apr 2010

A new species of hominid, discovered, appropriately, at the Cradle of Mankind in Gauteng by a team led by Professor Lee Berger, a renowned palaeoanthropologist from the University of the Witwatersrand, has been named Australopithecus sediba. It is almost two million years old.

Prof. Berger, whose son found the Australopithecus sediba child, was delighted at the response from children around the country who entered a competition designed to name the fossil child.

“It was a thrilling experience to see the way that South African children embraced the challenge of coming up with a name for the Australopithecus sediba child. With more than 15 000 entries and literally thousands of stories, poems and motivations for a popular name, it gave me a real sense of how the people of South Africa, and particularly its children, have embraced this wonderful find.”

Berger added, “The name is a real African name, chosen by the children of Africa and it is an exciting moment in history when the children of Africa have picked a name for an ancient child of Africa, who himself was found by a child.”

The winning name came from 17-year-old St Mary’s School learner, Omphemetse Keepile, who submitted the name “Karabo”, which means “answer” in Tswana. She said: “This fossil has acted as a solution in understanding the origins of humankind. It has helped researchers to see much deeper into the information that they have and the information that they will acquire through discovery.”