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skulls from
Sterkfontein. These scans allowed Grine to reconstruct the roots of the teeth, in order to see how the molar and canine teeth developed. This study concluded that Mrs./Mr. Ples was indeed a middle-aged female. However, the question is not entirely settled, since other studies have come to
245:
had preceded, or at least evolved in tandem with, our upright gait. Mrs. Ples, whose cranial capacity is only about 485 cubic centimetres (29.6 cubic inches), was one of the first fossils to reveal that upright walking had evolved well before any significant growth in brain size.
179:
on April 18, 1947. Because of Broom's use of dynamite and pickaxe while excavating, Mrs. Ples's skull was blown into pieces and some fragments are missing. Nonetheless, Mrs./Mr. Ples is one of the most "perfect" pre-human skulls ever found. The skull is currently held at the
317:
and uranium-lead techniques to 2.1-2.6 million years ago. A 2022 study dating surrounding rocks with a new methodology, stated their age as 3.4-3.7 million years old. But a more recent study, using the size of the teeth of
298:, which was discovered in the same year, in the same geological deposit and in proximity to Mrs. Ples, may belong to this skull. If correct, this would make Mrs. Ples the South African counterpart to the famous
516:
Herries, Andy I.R.; Shaw, John (2011). "Palaeomagnetic analysis of the
Sterkfontein palaeocave deposits: Implications for the age of the hominin fossils and stone tool industries".
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walked upright, as humans do. This was a surprise to anthropologists at the time, because it had been assumed that the big brain of
1020:
822:
559:
450:; Weber, Gerhard W.; Plavcan, J. Michael; Benazzi, Stefano (2012). "Sex at Sterkfontein: 'Mrs. Ples' is still an adult female".
191:
348:
1015:
373:
710:
282:, has studied the dental morphology of Mrs./Mr. Ples with a view to finally establishing Mrs./Ms. Ples's sex. Using the
322:, concluded that there is no evidence that any of the South African cave sites are older than about 2.8 million years.
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of STS 5 from the experiments of Weber et al., (2012) they compared them to CT scans of more recently discovered
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offered compelling evidence in favour of
Charles Darwin's hypothesis that humanity's origin lay in Africa.
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The nickname "Mrs. Ples" was coined by Broom's young co-workers. It derives from the scientific name
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585:"Biochronology of South African hominin-bearing sites: A reassessment using cercopithecid primates"
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Frost, Stephen R.; White, Frances J.; Reda, Hailay G.; Gilbert, Christopher C. (2022-11-08).
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Some experts have suggested that a partial skeleton, known only by its catalogue number of
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In scientific publications, the specimen is referred to by its catalogue number, STS 5.
747:
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206:(near-man from the Transvaal), that Broom initially gave the skull, later subsumed (
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UNESCO - Fossil
Hominid Sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai, and Environs
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261:) has suggested it was an adolescent. Hence a designation of
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560:"Early human ancestors one million years older than thought"
30:"STS 5" redirects here. For the Space Shuttle mission, see
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is the popular nickname for the most complete skull of an
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The sex of the specimen is not completely certain and so
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The fossil was originally dated by a combination of
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fossil. This skull, along with others discovered at
257:. Moreover, X-ray analysis of the specimen's teeth (
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152:, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northwest of
589:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
656:Tattersall, Ian; Schwartz, Jeffrey H. (2000).
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374:"Ditsong: National Museum of Natural History"
8:
229:, to which all humanity belongs. Though its
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182:Ditsong National Museum of Natural History
43:
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325:In 2004, Mrs. Ples was voted 95th in the
400:"Endocranial Capacity of Early Hominids"
365:
36:
7:
495:"Mrs Ples and our Distant Relatives"
687:Maropeng - The Cradle of Humankind
25:
831:
349:List of human evolution fossils
278:The paleoanthropologist, Prof.
284:Computed Tomography (CT) scans
171:. Mrs. Ples was discovered by
53:
1:
204:Plesianthropus transvaalensis
148:fossils have been found near
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530:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.09.001
464:10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.01.010
1026:Archaeology of South Africa
698:Metadata of STS 5 on NESPOS
493:Thackeray, Francis (2001).
425:10.1126/science.283.5398.9b
212:Australopithecus africanus.
1042:
849:Australopithecus africanus
518:Journal of Human Evolution
452:Journal of Human Evolution
198:at Ugandan National Museum
196:Australopithecus africanus
137:Australopithecus africanus
76:Australopithecus africanus
29:
829:
291:the opposite conclusion.
42:
1011:Quaternary fossil record
1006:Australopithecus fossils
398:Lockwood, C. A. (1999).
164:) now designated as the
1021:Fossils of South Africa
873:Australopithecus sediba
609:10.1073/pnas.2210627119
979:Underground Astronauts
974:Rising Star Expedition
199:
880:Paranthropus robustus
564:www.timesofisrael.com
320:Theropithecus oswaldi
194:
1016:1947 in paleontology
336:Great South Africans
306:, Sterkfontein, and
734:Cradle of Humankind
601:2022PNAS..11910627F
595:(45): e2210627119.
448:Grine, Frederick E.
416:1999Sci...283....9L
233:is comparable to a
210:) into the species
169:World Heritage Site
166:Cradle of Humankind
39:
664:. Westview Press.
280:Frederick E. Grine
275:is also possible.
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89:2.35 million years
993:
992:
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958:Phillip V. Tobias
894:Homo gautengensis
499:Science in Africa
156:, in a region of
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16:(Redirected from
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953:John T. Robinson
938:Ronald J. Clarke
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689:official website
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376:. Archived from
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239:Australopithecus
220:Australopithecus
177:John T. Robinson
146:Australopithecus
124:John T. Robinson
94:Place discovered
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649:Further reading
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660:Extinct humans
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524:(5): 523–539.
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505:on 2015-02-28.
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410:(5398): 9b–9.
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339:Top 100 list.
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380:on 2013-09-30
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162:old Transvaal
160:(part of the
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116:Discovered by
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948:Andre Keyser
943:Raymond Dart
928:Robert Broom
904:Anthropology
892:
885:
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859:
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813:Sterkfontein
803:Plovers Lake
659:
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567:. Retrieved
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521:
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511:
503:the original
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382:. Retrieved
378:the original
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288:A. africanus
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173:Robert Broom
154:Johannesburg
150:Sterkfontein
145:
142:South Africa
135:
131:
130:
120:Robert Broom
102:South Africa
98:Sterkfontein
74:
967:Expeditions
923:C. K. Brain
887:Homo naledi
865:Little Foot
855:Taung Child
823:Wonder Cave
748:Bolt's Farm
354:Taung Child
308:Makapansgat
208:synonymized
63:Common name
1000:Categories
918:Lee Berger
911:Scientists
818:Swartkrans
763:Gladysvale
569:2022-06-29
384:2013-09-30
360:References
235:chimpanzee
217:The genus
860:Mrs. Ples
778:Kromdraai
617:0027-8424
538:0047-2484
472:0047-2484
434:0036-8075
259:see below
251:Mrs. Ples
132:Mrs. Ples
66:Mrs. Ples
38:Mrs. Ples
798:Motsetsi
768:Gondolin
758:Drimolen
635:36279427
546:21392817
480:22459766
343:See also
255:Mr. Ples
186:Pretoria
52:Catalog
841:Fossils
773:Haasgat
626:9659350
597:Bibcode
412:Bibcode
404:Science
329:'s and
231:cranium
158:Gauteng
144:. Many
71:Species
788:Malapa
668:
633:
623:
615:
544:
536:
478:
470:
432:
327:SABC 3
296:STS 14
271:Master
741:Sites
304:Taung
58:STS 5
32:STS-5
18:STS 5
666:ISBN
631:PMID
613:ISSN
542:PMID
534:ISSN
476:PMID
468:ISSN
430:ISSN
331:e.tv
300:Lucy
273:Ples
266:Ples
264:Miss
243:Homo
237:'s,
226:Homo
175:and
122:and
621:PMC
605:doi
593:119
526:doi
460:doi
420:doi
408:283
333:'s
268:or
184:in
83:Age
54:no.
1002::
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