经济学人下载:人类进化史-似曾相识

The hands, feet and pelvis of sediba indicate that it both climbed trees and walked upright, though with a different gait from that of humans or chimpanzees. The species may have been a toolmaker, as its hand allowed for a human-like grip. Sediba’s pelvis, an upright butterfly shape, is likewise reminiscent of the human one. It therefore sheds light on a longstanding debate: whether it was bipedalism or giving birth to babies with large heads that drove changes in the shape of the human pelvis. Adult sediba (and therefore, presumably, their babies) had small heads, which indicates that walking upright was the advantage brought by the modern pelvis.

南方古猿sediba的手、脚和盆骨表明尽管其步法与人类或黑猩猩有所不同，但它能够爬树和直立行走。这种物种可能还会制造工具，因为它们的手能象人类那样紧握。南方古猿sediba呈直立蝴蝶状的盆骨同样与人类相似。因此它为长期争论的问题提供了很好的阐释：人类的盆骨形状是源自于双足行走还是为了生育大头婴儿。由于成年南方古猿sediba（据此可推知他们的子女）头部很小，这表明现代人的盆骨可带来直立行走的好处。

All of which makes sediba more similar to modern humans than are other australopithecines—and more similar, even, than Homo habilis, until now seen as one of the earliest humans. The consensus had been that habilis was a transitional form between Australopithecus and Homo erectus. Dr Berger posits that sediba may have evolved directly into Homo erectus, leaving habilis as an evolutionary sideline, and not even part of the genus Homo. Slowly, then, the origin of the strange assemblage of characters that makes a human being human is emerging. As the oracle said, the beginning of wisdom is: know thyself.

所有这些都让南方古猿sediba比其它灵长类更象现代人——甚至比至今被认为是最早人类之一的“能人”还象现代人。人们一致认为“能人”是南方古猿和直立人之间的过渡物种。李·伯格尔博士推断南方古猿sediba可能直接进化成了直立人，这使“能人”成为进化的旁支，甚至不是人属的一部分。逐渐地，人类自身奇怪性格组合的起源开始出现。正如智者所说，智慧的开端是认识自身。