New species of lovebirds discovered in the “cradle of mankind”

An international team of paleontologists has discovered the fossilized bones of a new species of inseparable in three caves at a UNESCO World Heritage Site in South Africa known as the "cradle of mankind," UNN reports citing Forbes.

Details

The newly identified species, now known by the scientific name Agapornis longipes, lived in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago. Its fossils were discovered in Cromdraai, Cooper's Cave and Swartkrans, three limestone caves.

Bird fossils are very fragile, so they are often broken into fragments that must be carefully reassembled for study, or they consist of only one specimen, but it is noteworthy that this new species of lovebird is represented by 96 whole and nearly whole bones from Cromdraai, Cooper's Cave, and Swartkrans.

Addendum

"The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site located about 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. This World Heritage Site is so named because it contains the largest known concentration of human ancestral remains in the world. It covers 47,000 hectares and contains a complex system of limestone caves.