title: Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and implications for the origins of the genus Homo.
abstract: Newly exposed cave sediments at the Malapa site include a flowstone layer capping the sedimentary unit containing the Australopithecus sediba fossils. Uranium-lead dating of the flowstone, combined with paleomagnetic and stratigraphic analysis of the flowstone and underlying sediments, provides a tightly constrained date of 1.977 ± 0.002 million years ago (Ma) for these fossils. This refined dating suggests that Au. sediba from Malapa predates the earliest uncontested evidence for Homo in Africa.
authors: School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia. r.pickering@unimelb.edu.au
authors: Robyn
authors: R
authors: Pickering
authors: Paul H G M
authors: PH
authors: Dirks
authors: Zubair
authors: Z
authors: Jinnah
authors: Darryl J
authors: DJ
authors: de Ruiter
authors: Steven E
authors: SE
authors: Churchil
authors: Andy I R
authors: AI
authors: Herries
authors: Jon D
authors: JD
authors: Woodhead
authors: John C
authors: JC
authors: Hellstrom
authors: Lee R
authors: LR
authors: Berger
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005580:Fossils; D019015:Geologic Sediments; D005844:Geology / Q000379:methods; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification; D008280:Magnetics; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D013019:South Africa; D013995:Time; D014501:Uranium
chemical_list: D014501:Uranium