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"Little Foot" (Stw 573) is the nickname given to a nearly complete Australopithecus fossil skeleton found in 1994–1998 in the cave system of Sterkfontein, South Africa. () The fossils were found in a limestone formation in Sterkfontein. The nickname "little foot" was given to the fossil in 1995. From the structure of the four ankle bones they were able to ascertain that the owner was able to walk upright. The recovery of the bones proved extremely difficult and tedious, because they are completely embedded in concrete-like rock. It is due to this that the recovery and excavation of the site took around 15 years to complete.〔Reiner Protsch von Zieten, Ronald J. Clarke: ''The oldest complete skeleton of an Australopithecus in Africa (StW 573).'' In: ''Anthropologischer Anzeiger.'' Band 61, 2003, S. 7–17〕 == Discovery == The four bones of the ankle had been collected already 1980 but were undetected between numerous other mammal bones. Only after 1992, on initiative by Phillip Tobias, a large rock was blown up in the cave that contained an unusual accumulation of fossils. The fossils recovered were taken from the cave and scrutinized thoroughly by paleoanthropologist Ronald J. Clarke.〔Die Darstellung der Fundgeschichte folgt einer Beschreibung von Donald Johanson im Editorial zum ''Newsletter'' des ''Institute of Human Origins'' der Arizona State University vom Mai 2005 sowie in der Fundbeschreibung von Clarke aus dem Jahr 1998 im ''South African Journal of Science'', Band 94, S. 460 f.〕 In 1994 while searching through museum boxes labelled 'Cercopithecoids' containing fossil fragments, Ronald J. Clarke identified several that were unmistakably hominin. He spotted four left foot bones (the talus, navicular, medial cuneiform and first metatarsal) that were most likely from the same individual.〔 These fragments came from the Silberberg Grotto, a large cavern within the Sterkfontein cave system. They were described as belonging to the genus ''Australopithecus,'' and catalogued as Stw 573.〔Clarke, R.J. and P.V. Tobias (1995). Sterkfontein Member 2 foot bones of the oldest South African hominid. Science 269, 521–524.〕 Due to the diminutive nature of the bones, they were dubbed "Little Foot". Dr. Clarke found further foot bones from the same individual in separate bags in 1997, including a right fragment of the distal tibia that had been clearly sheared off from the rest of the bone.〔Ronald J. Clarke, Phillip Tobias: ''Sterkfontein member 2 foot bones of the oldest South African hominid.'' In: ''Science.'' Band 269, 1995, S. 521–524; doi:10.1126/science.7624772〕 Early in 1997 two fossil preparators and assistants of Dr. Clarke, Stephen Motsumi and Nkwane Molefe, were sent to the Silberberg Grotto to try to find the matching piece of tibia that attached to this fragment. Amazingly, within two days they found the remaining part of the bone protruding from the rock in the lower part of the grotto.〔talkorigins.org: ''Fossil Hominids: Stw 573 (Little Foot)''〕 Because the bones of both legs were in anatomically correct arrangement, the team speculated that it could be a complete skeleton, which was embedded with the face downward in the limestone. In the following months, Clarke and his two assistants with the help of a hammer and small chisel uncovered further foot bones. Stephen Motsumi discovered the first remains of the upper body, an upper arm bone on 11 September 1998, and eventually the head of the individual was seen as well. It was a skull connected with the lower jaw, which was facing up.These were announced to the press in 1998, resulting in considerable media attention around the world.〔Clarke, R.J. (1998). (First ever discovery of a well-preserved skull and associated skeleton of an ''Australopithecus'' ). South African Journal of Science, 94; 460–463.〕 A year later, in July and August 1999, a left forearm as well as the corresponding left hand was discovered and partly uncovered. These were again in anatomically correct arrangement. Subsequent work has uncovered a relatively complete skeleton, including parts of the pelvis, ribs and vertebrae, a complete humerus and most of the lower limb bones. This discovery is likely to be far more complete than the famous ''Australopithecus afarensis'' skeleton, "Lucy", from the site of Hadar, Ethiopia. Clarke reported this discovery six months later and explained that all previous analyses indicated that the fossil's body was apparently complete and was possibly slightly moved by ground movements and also not damaged by predators.〔Ronald J. Clarke: ''Discovery of the complete arm and hand of the 3.3 million-year-old Australopithecus skeleton from Sterkfontein.'' In: ''South African Journal of Science.'' Band 95, 1999, S. 477–480〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Little Foot」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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