The first involved Dr Skinner\u2019s contributions to the analysis of teeth of fossil humans discovered in Morocco<\/a> and Indonesia. The results of analyses by Dr Skinner and his international collaborators pushed back the origins of humans by 100,000 years in Africa<\/strong> and documented the presence of humans in Indonesia<\/strong> much earlier than previously thought.<\/p>\n These findings, along with new genetic studies and other fossil finds by other researchers, were ranked as the #2 most important scientific discovery of 2017<\/strong> for the way in which they altered our understanding of the human evolutionary story<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Secondly, work by both Professor Kivell and Dr Skinner on the Homo naledi<\/em> finds in South Africa\u2019s Rising Star Cave system<\/a> was also included (#57) in the magazine\u2019s run-down for the discovery<\/a> of a second deposit of Homo naledi<\/em> fossils in the cave systems and new dates for the fossils that indicate this fossil species was alive at same time as early humans in Africa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Dr Skinner focused on the dental remains<\/strong> that were recovered while Dr Kivell\u2019s analysis of the hand bones<\/strong> provided inferences about locomotor and manipulative behaviours that\u00a0Homo naledi<\/em>\u00a0practiced.<\/p>\n![\"Discover](\"https:\/\/static.kent.ac.uk\/media\/news\/2018\/01\/IMG_0124-225x300.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.kent.ac.uk\/media\/news\/2018\/01\/IMG_0128-225x300.png\")
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