A group of scientists announced Thursday what they say is the discovery of remains from an early ancestor of human beings.
一个科学家小组星期四宣布发现了来自人类早期祖先的骨化石。
Bones from the species were found two years ago inside a cave at a United Nations World Heritage Site, near Johannesburg, South Africa. The South African government has named the area the “Cradle of Humankind” because of its rich collection of ancient human-like remains.
这种物种的骨化石是两年前在南非约翰内斯堡附近一个联合国世界遗址的洞穴中被发现的。南非政府已经将该地区命名为“人类摇篮”，因为它拥有丰富的古人类骨化石。
The scientists are calling the new species, ‘Homo naledi’. The word naledi means “star” in South Africa’s Sesotho language.
科学家们称这种新物种为“智人之星”。Naledi这个单词在南非的塞索托语中意思是明星。
The scientists reported that about 1,500 bones have been recovered from the cave. They said the bones come from at least 15 individuals. The team reported its findings in the journal eLIFE.
科学家报告称，该洞穴发现了1500个骨化石。他们表示，这些骨化石至少来自于15个人。该小组在“电子生活”杂志上发表了这一研究发现。
Lead scientist Lee Berger works at the University of Witwatersrand. He said the discovery “was right under our nose in the most explored valley of the continent of Africa.” Mr. Berger spoke to reporters Thursday in Johannesburg.
首席科学家李·贝格（Lee Berger）在威特沃特斯兰德大学工作。他说，这一发现就是在非洲大陆考察最多的山谷中，在我们的眼皮底下发现的。
“This is a great moment for us. It is a moment that was perhaps two years in the making. For some of you who may follow our adventures since November of 2013. But in fact, it is 90 years in the making: 90 years of exploration here in South Africa for human origins.”
“这对我们来说是一个伟大时刻，它可能经过了两年的酝酿。有些人可能不知道我们自2013年11月以来的奇遇。但实际上它经历了90年的酝酿，我们在南非的这个地方对人类起源进行了90年的探索。”
The scientists said the newly discovered species ‘Homo naledi’ probably stood up straight when walking. They said a normal adult stood about 1.5 meters tall and weighed about 45 kilograms.
科学家表示，这种新发现的物种“智人之星”很可能直立行走，成年人身高大约1.5米，体重大约45公斤。
The researchers described the hands and feet of the new species as human-like. But they said the ribs, shoulders and pelvis were closer to other early ancestors than to those of modern humans.
研究人员还称，这种新物种的手脚和人类相似。但他们表示，这种新物种的肋骨、肩膀和骨盆更接近于其它早期祖先，而不是现代人类。
The Associated Press reported that Mr. Berger said his team is not claiming that Homo naledi was a direct ancestor of modern-day people.
美联社报告说，贝格先生说，他的团队并未声称“智人之星”是现代人类的直接祖先。
The researchers believe neledi developed between 2.5 million and 2.8 million years ago, but the bones might be younger than that. The team said dating the bones is one of their projects.
研究人员认为，智人之星出现于250万到280万年前，但是这些骨化石可能比那要晚。该小组表示，确定骨化石的年代是他们的项目之一。
Also unclear is why the bones were in a hard-to-reach part of the cave in the first place. Scientists wondered whether others could have placed dead bodies there in a kind of behavior rarely found in early humans.
尚不清楚这些骨化石为什么最初是在该洞穴一个难以触及的位置。科学家们想知道是不是其他人将遗体放置于此，在早期人类中很少发现这种行为。
I’m Jim Tedder.
我是吉姆·特德。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)