A new species name for Little Foot (StW 573) from Sterkfontein: Australopithecus lenyanlenus15/2/2026 Francis Thackery, ESI ([email protected]) Martin et al (2025) have examined certain fossils (Fig. 1) which have historically been attributed to either Australopithecus africanus (notably Sts 5, “Mrs Ples”, discovered at Sterkfontein in 1947 and described by Robert Broom and John Robinson) or A. prometheus (notably the holotype, MLD 1, discovered at Makapansgat and described by Raymond Dart in 1948). StW 573 (“Little Foot”, discovered at Sterkfontein by Ron Clarke with Nkwane Molefe and Stephen Motsumi) has been attributed by Clarke and Kuman (2019) to A. prometheus.  Figure 1: Occipital views (Martin et al, 2025) of three hominin crania (StW 573, MLD 1 and Sts 5), annotated by Thackeray (this study). Little Foot (StW 573) is attributed to A. lenyanlenus. Phonetically the latter is prounounced “len-yan-len-us”.
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Chandelé Montgomery, Communications Officer  Trek Back Tuesday is a new series revisiting the rich history of work shared by members of the Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa through its long-running bi-annual newsletter (PalNews). These pieces reflect decades of research, fieldwork, mentorship, and discovery - many of which continue to shape palaeontology in southern Africa and beyond.
 Southern African Palaeontology is well represented at the 84th Society for Vertebrate Paleontology Conference! This Fossil Friday we bring you the latest news from the largest meeting in the field of palaeontology, currently underway in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There are a total of 22 presentation authors based at institutions across the region with 9 of those presenting as first authors at the event. Of the 20 presentations concerning southern Africa at the conference 15 involve researchers based in southern Africa as authors. The two countries represented are South Africa and Mozambique
Bruce Rubidge, Conference Chair
Bruce Rubidge, Conference Chair  Dear attendees of the 22nd PSSA Conference field trip,
We have had an overwhelming response for people wishing to participate on the one-day post conference field trip on 13 September and have gone out of our way to accommodate the more than 100 delegates who indicated they wish to attend. The field trip visits sites in the Cistecephalus, Daptocephalus and Lystrosaurus declivis Assemblage Zones, and includes the Permo-Triassic boundary. It will run from 8h00 to 17h30. |
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