Australopithecus sediba isn't the ancestor of humans

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A new study by researchers from the University of Chicago has determined that Australopithecus sediba is unlikely to be the direct ancestor of the genus Homo, with A. afarensis still remaining the most likely ancestor of the genus. Despite the fact that the oldest known Homo specimen is 800,000 years older than that of A. sediba, the researchers who discovered the species suggested that A. sediba was the ancestor of Homo and survived past the evolution of its descendent. The new study finds that this explanation is extremely unlikely, suggesting that 800,000 years is too long a period of time for the ancestor to have survived with its more advanced descendants living around it. Here is a link to the paper describing this study.

Paper (open access!): https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/5/eaav9038