WITSIES WITH THE EDGE
Nature scientists Two Witsies were featured in the prestigious scientific journal Nature, marking 100 years since the discovery of the Taung skull. Kimberleigh Tommy (BSc 2015, BSc Hons 2016, MSc 2018, PhD 2024), who served as CEO of the Palaeontological Scientific Trust and the Curator at the Maropeng and Sterkfontein Official Visitor Centres in the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site, commented on how the field has changed: “Palaeontology requires a huge team of people; from the explorers who look for fossils, to the excavators who take it out of the rock, to the technicians who chip away at those fossils to reveal them further, and then eventually scientists like me who get to study and analyse them.” When asked about the influence of the Taung skull on her career, she said: “I don't think anything prepares you just for how tiny it is and the realisation that this was a child. Not to be biased but it is the most beautiful fossil I have ever seen.” READ MORE
“I T I S T H E M O ST B E AU T I F U L F O S SI L I HAV E E V E R SE E N .”
Palesa Madupe (BSc 2013), a fellow at the Globe Institute of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, shared how her study of ancient proteins from the enamel of teeth from extinct hominin finds can shed more light on the biology of species such as Australopithecus africanus. She is the first author of a paper, which appeared in the South African Journal of Science on 7 February 2025, that confirms that a particular Australopithecus africanus sample collected in the Sterkfontein Caves near Johannesburg, living between three and two million years ago, was a male. As an associate of the Human Evolution Research Institute, at the University of Cape Town, she’s helping to establish infrastructure that will reduce the need for precious heritage to leave the country for analysis. READ MORE
*Read historical feature on the Unsung Heroes of the Taung skull, on Page 64
22 Wits Review April 2025
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