Homo naledi is not human, but at times comes close.

纳莱迪人并非人类, 但有时非常相近。

South Africa's foreign minister Naledi Pandor acknowledged it was a tricky issue.

南非外交部长Naledi Pandor承认这是一个棘手的问题。

Either way, Naledi's physique, and its behavior are providing scientists with crucial new insights.

不管是哪种情况，纳莱迪人的体质和行为方式，都为科学家们提供了重要的新见解。

But the most striking discovery is what Homo Naledi might have been doing in the cave.

但最引人注目的发现是纳莱迪人在洞中的活动。

LEE BERGER: So the easiest way to sort of describing Homo Naledi is, it's not a human, first.

所以，描述纳莱迪人最简单的方法就是，首先，它不是人类。

Homo Naledi may have lived a hundred thousand years ago or as much as three million years ago.

纳莱迪人可能生活在十万年前，也有可能是三百万年前。

If anything, Homo Naledi and Berger's previous discovery, Sediba, seem to indicate that there is no one family tree.

如果说，纳莱迪人和伯格之前的发现——南方古猿源泉种，似乎表明没有族谱。

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Homo naledi is not human, but at times comes close.

MCKENZIE（画外音）：Homo naledi 不是人类，但有时很接近。

LEE BERGER: Homo Naledi has done something that I thought would never happen to me as a paleoanthropologist.

作为古人类学家，纳莱迪人做了一件我认为永远不会发生在我身上的事情。

Blinken and his South African counterpart Naledi Pandor both said they had substantive and honest talks, focusing on common goals and interests.

布林肯和南非外长纳莱迪·潘多尔都表示，他们进行了实质性和诚实的会谈，重点是共同的目标和利益。

LEE BERGER: And so, we can say that Homo Naledi was a climber, but we don't know what it was climbing.

所以，我们可以说纳莱迪人是攀爬动物，但我们不知道它爬的什么。

The Associated Press reported that Mr. Berger said his team is not claiming that Homo naledi was a direct ancestor of modern-day people.

据美联社报导，伯杰先生表示，他的研究小组并未称“智人之星”是现代人类的直接祖先。

Homo Naledi was discovered in 2013, by teams here in the Rising Star system and the chamber that we've named the Dinaledi Chamber of stars.

纳莱迪人于2013年被发现，我们在新星洞穴体系这里的团队把这里的墓穴命名为星星墓穴。

Nevertheless, many people-including Naledi Pandor, South Africa's science minister (pictured) , who said as much in an official statement-reckon that the decision had more to do with politics than science.

然而包括南非科学技术部部长莱迪·潘多尔在内的许多人从官方的角度说，这个项目要在政治上下的功夫远比在科学上的多。

The very next year, lightning struck again when Lee Berger discovered another new species, Homo Naledi, and a way bigger collection of skeletons deep inside a cave, intentionally buried, it seems.

第二年，李·伯格又有惊人发现，另一个新的物种——纳莱迪人，还有一个更大的骨骼群，似乎是被故意埋藏在洞穴深处。

Despite that, Homo naledi's brain as a whole was remarkably small, even controlling for its stature.

Dr. Berger reckons that adds up to compelling evidence that Homo naledi went to some trouble to bury its dead.