The discovery of a new species of human relative was announced today (Sept. 10) by the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society and the South African Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation (DST/NRF). In addition to shedding new light on the origins and diversity of our genus, the new species, Homo naledi, appears to have intentionally deposited bodies of its dead in a remote cave chamber, a behavior previously thought limited to humans. Researchers of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, took part in the research.