The newly discovered hominin species known as Australopithecus sediba was discovered as part of the sediments in Malapa Cave. Malapa Cave (or "homestead" cave) is a Plio-Pleistocene cave in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, in Guateng province, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The Cradle of Humankind site includes several other famous Lower Paleolithic archaeological sites important to scholarly understanding of the evolution of humans, including the sites of Swartkrans, Sterkfontein, Kromdrai and Coopers.
Malapa lies in the the Grootvleispruit valley of northeastern South Africa, at an elevation of 1442 meters above sea level. It is part of a 500-meter long cave system, a series of interconnected subterranean caves that reach depths of up to 30 meters. The cave deposits include five sedimentary facies, two of which (Facies D and E) contained ancient hominin fossils.
Malapa Cave was discovered in the early 20th century when limestone mining revealed the hominid bones.
The photo illustrates what the current landscape looks like: two million years ago, the vegetation cover would have been more wooded and the valleys would have been shallower.
Sources
Berger LR, De Ruiter DJ, Churchill SE, Schmid P, Carlson KJ, Dirks PHGM, and Kibii JM. 2010. Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa. Science 238:195-204.
Carlson KJ, Stout D, Jashashvili T, De Ruiter DJ, Tafforeau P, Carlson K, and Berger LR. 2011. The endocast of MH1, Australopithecus sediba. Science 333:1402-1406.
Dirks PHGM, Kibii JM, Kuhn BF, Steininger C, Churchill SE, Kramers JD, Pickering R, Farber DL, Meriaux A-S, Herries AIR et al. 2010. Geological Setting and Age of Australopithecus sediba from Southern Africa. Science 238 205-208.
Pickering R, Dirks PHGM, Jinnah Z, De Ruiter DJ, Churchil SE, Herries AIR, Woodhead JD, Hellstrom JC, and Berger LR. 2011. Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo. Science 333:1421-1423.
