South African fossil named Karabo

Posted by Bridget in Life, Palaeontology

The juvenile hominid skeleton (Australopithecus sediba) unveiled to the world by Wits Professor Lee Berger just over a month ago, has been given a new name: Karabo. Karabo means ‘answer’ in Setswana. The name was submitted by 17-year-old Omphemetse Keepile, a student at St. Mary’s School in Waverly, Johannesburg.

Keepile says that she came up with the name ‘Karabo’ because ‘it suggests that answers are present [and] that more answers will follow’. In her submission, the Johannesburg student explained that the fossil represents a ‘solution’ to understanding the origins of humankind. “It has helped researchers to seek much deeper into the information that they have and the information that they will acquire through this discovery. It has enabled them to broaden their former understanding of the concept of humankind.”

Keepile was announced as the competition winner at just after 20:00 on Monday, 31 May 2010 at the 7^th annual Standard Bank PAST Palaeontology public lecture, delivered by Prof. Berger in the Wits Great Hall.

Keepile’s winning entry was selected from over 15 000 submissions in a naming competition sponsored by Standard Bank and PAST in association with Wits University and the Department of Science and Technology. Keepile will receive R75 000 from Standard Bank towards her education, and her school will receive R25 000 as well as a replica model of the Karabo fossil.

The judges who reviewed the submissions and decided on the winning entry included renowned Wits palaeoanthropologist Professor Lee Berger, his son Matthew (who discovered the first fossil), radio DJ and TV personality Gareth Cliff, and representatives from Standard Bank, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Palaeontological Scientific Trust (PAST).

Karabo is a 1, 95 million-year-old partial hominid skeleton, who would have been between nine and 13 years old when he died. The fossil was discovered by Matthew Berger in the Cradle of Humankind. A second partial skeleton of an adult female was also found. The Sediba fossils are arguably the most complete remains of any hominids found dating to around two million years ago, and are possibly one of the most significant palaeoanthropological discoveries in recent time.

“It was a thrilling experience to see the way that South African children embraced the challenge of coming up with a name for the Australopithecus sediba child.  With more than 15,000 entries and literally thousands of stories, poems and motivations for a popular name for the child, it gave me a real sense of how the people of South Africa, and particularly its children, had embraced this wonderful find. The name is a real African name, chosen by the children of Africa and it is an exciting moment in history when the children of Africa have picked a name for an ancient child of Africa, who himself was found by a child,” says Prof. Berger.

Berger’s son Matthew concurs: “I think that Karabo is a wonderful name because it means ‘the answer’. I think that the little Sediba child will hold so many clues to the muddle in the middle about where we come from as a genus and a species.”

According to PAST CEO Andrea Leenen, the judging process was great fun. “The response we received was incredible and the quality of the submissions was amazing. Students really thought about what the fossil meant to them and expressed their ideas with great passion and eloquence.”

Tina Eboka, Standard Bank Director of Group Corporate Affairs, also a competition judge, adds: “We are proud to play a role in making Karabo relevant to young children – we really want to be part of building a culture where African children are as passionate about their heritage as we are.”

For more information on the five shortlisted submissions, visit www.wits.ac.za

Picture caption: Matthew Berger and Omphemetse Keepile