Figure 2. Phylogenetic scenarios for H. naledi.
A simplified cladogram of Homo, with the possible placements of H. naledi indicated. The cladogram places A. africanus as an outgroup to the Homo + Au. sediba clade, as consistent with nearly all phylogenetic analyses of these species (Berger et al., 2010; Dembo et al., 2015, 2016). To simplify the tree, we have omitted H. antecessor, H. heidelbergensis and Neanderthals, which all phylogenetic analyses place as sisters to H. sapiens relative to H. erectus. There is no present consensus about the branching order among H. habilis, H. rudolfensis, H. floresiensis and Au. sediba (Dembo et al., 2015, 2016), and so these are depicted as a polytomy.