Mrs. Ples

[ mis-iz pleez ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a skull of Australopithecus africanus discovered in the Transvaal of South Africa in 1947: now believed to be a male cranium, it is remarkable for its completeness and is considered one of the most perfect skulls of an extinct hominin ever found.

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Word History and Origins

Nickname coined by Robert Bloom, South African physician and paleontologist born in Scotland (1866–1951), and John Robinson, South African paleontologist (1923–2001), in 1947 , after their initial hypothesis that she was a middle-aged female Plesianthropus transvaalensis (the original name of this species)

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

“This important new dating work pushes the age of some of the most interesting fossils in human evolution research, and one of South Africa’s most iconic fossils, Mrs. Ples, back a million years to a time when, in East Africa, we find other iconic early hominins like Lucy,” he said.

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The study of fossils from the Sterkfontein Caves, which yielded the near-complete skull of a cave woman nicknamed Mrs. Ples, found they date back 3.4 million to 3.6 million years.

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The fossils, including one belonging to ancient cave woman Mrs Ples, were buried for millennia in South African caves known as the Cradle of Humankind.

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The underground complex has yielded more of the early human remains than anywhere else in the world - including the near complete skull discovered in 1947 belonging to an early cave woman nicknamed Mrs Ples.

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But new radioactive dating techniques suggest Mrs Ples, and the others discovered around her, are actually one million years older than thought.

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Mrs Mop Mr. Tambo

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