Screen Shot 2012 01 10 At 15223 Pm 1
A screenshot of the Evotourism™ map of destinations around the world from Smithsonianmag.com

What a brilliant start to 2012! The Cradle of Humankind has made the Top 12 list of Evotourism™ destinations in the world.

Evotourism™ is a newly launched travel information service curated by Smithsonianmag.com, which concentrates on 12 world-class destinations that span six continents and 500-million years.

Promising dynamic and expert scientific content, Evotourism™ is aimed at helping science travellers “find and fully enjoy the wonders of evolution”.

The Cradle of Humankind, known as one of the most fossil-rich sites - most notably for hominid fossils, is the only site in Africa to have made the list.

The first article on the Cradle of Humankind by Erin Wayman reveals a timeline of major hominid discoveries, from Professor Raymond Dart’sTaung Child in 1924 to the more recent discovery of a new hominid species Australopithecus sediba by Professor Lee Berger.

Also featured on the Cradle of Humankind’s profile is the Maropeng Hotel, as well as a link to the Maropeng website and the Cradle of Humankind Flickr account.

Visit Maropeng before the end of February to see the Kingdom of the Big Cats fossil display that features a diverse range of original animal fossils discovered at Bolt’s Farm, the oldest fossil site in the Cradle of Humankind.