Photograph courtesy Lee R. Berger
Inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888
Photograph courtesy Lee R. Berger
In 2008, Professor Lee Berger—with the help of his curious 9-year-old son—discovered two remarkably well preserved, two-million-year-old fossils of an adult female and young male, known as Australopithecus sediba; a previously unknown species of ape-like creatures that may have been a direct ancestor of modern humans. This discovery has been hailed as one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history. The fossils reveal what may be one of humankind’s oldest ancestors.
Berger believes the skeletons they found on the Malapa site in South Africa could be the “Rosetta stone that unlocks our understanding of the genus Homo” and may just redesign the human family tree.
Berger, an Eagle Scout and National Geographic Grantee, is the Reader in Human Evolution and the Public Understanding of Science in the Institute for Human Evolution at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Learn More About Lee
A new ancestor emerges from the richest collection of fossil skeletons ever found.
The University of the Witwatersrand spotlights Lee Berger and his discovery of Australopithecus sediba.
Lee Berger explains human evolution and his hominid discovery at the 2010 Global Forum.
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