SA fossil murder mystery solved

Scientists claim to have solved the murder mystery of the baby that holds the key to all of humanity's ancestry.
For decades, scientists have argued over what killed the 2m-year-old Taung Child, found in 1924: the first ape-man fossil to be discovered in Africa.

Some scientists had believed the child was killed by leopards.

Prof Lee Berger challenged this, suggesting that the Taung child was attacked from above by a bird.

But until now, Prof Berger - an American palaeontologist working at South Africa's University of the Witwatersrand - was unable to find definitive proof for his hypothesis.

Scientists had missed the evidence right in front of their eyes, even though the Taung child (thought to belong to the humanlike species Australopithecus africanus) is believed to be the most photographed and observed fossil in history.

The injuries on the Taung child's skull mimic those of on the skull of a baboon killed by an eagle.

Prof Berger explained how birds such as eagles kill their prey and eat the brain, which is the most nutritious part of the animal.