1
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Frynta D, Elmi HSA, Janovcová M, Rudolfová V, Štolhoferová I, Rexová K, Král D, Sommer D, Berti DA, Landová E, Frýdlová P. Are vipers prototypic fear-evoking snakes? A cross-cultural comparison of Somalis and Czechs. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1233667. [PMID: 37928591 PMCID: PMC10620321 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1233667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 11/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Snakes are known as highly fear-evoking animals, eliciting preferential attention and fast detection in humans. We examined the human fear response to snakes in the context of both current and evolutionary experiences, conducting our research in the cradle of humankind, the Horn of Africa. This region is characterized by the frequent occurrence of various snake species, including deadly venomous viperids (adders) and elapids (cobras and mambas). We conducted experiments in Somaliland and compared the results with data from Czech respondents to address the still unresolved questions: To which extent is human fear of snakes affected by evolutionary or current experience and local culture? Can people of both nationalities recognize venomous snakes as a category, or are they only afraid of certain species that are most dangerous in a given area? Are respondents of both nationalities equally afraid of deadly snakes from both families (Viperidae, Elapidae)? We employed a well-established picture-sorting approach, consisting of 48 snake species belonging to four distinct groups. Our results revealed significant agreement among Somali as well as Czech respondents. We found a highly significant effect of the stimulus on perceived fear in both populations. Vipers appeared to be the most salient stimuli in both populations, as they occupied the highest positions according to the reported level of subjectively perceived fear. The position of vipers strongly contrasts with the fear ranking of deadly venomous elapids, which were in lower positions. Fear scores of vipers were significantly higher in both populations, and their best predictor was the body width of the snake. The evolutionary, cultural, and cognitive aspects of this phenomenon are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Frynta
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Hassan Sh Abdirahman Elmi
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Amoud University, Borama, Somalia
| | - Markéta Janovcová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Veronika Rudolfová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Iveta Štolhoferová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Kateřina Rexová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - David Král
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - David Sommer
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Daniel Alex Berti
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Eva Landová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Petra Frýdlová
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
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2
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Antón SC, Middleton ER. Making meaning from fragmentary fossils: Early Homo in the Early to early Middle Pleistocene. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103307. [PMID: 37030994 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 04/10/2023]
Abstract
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Human Evolution, we re-evaluate the fossil record for early Homo (principally Homo erectus, Homo habilis, and Homo rudolfensis) from early diversification and dispersal in the Early Pleistocene to the ultimate demise of H. erectus in the early Middle Pleistocene. The mid-1990s marked an important historical turning point in our understanding of early Homo with the redating of key H. erectus localities, the discovery of small H. erectus in Asia, and the recovery of an even earlier presence of early Homo in Africa. As such, we compare our understanding of early Homo before and after this time and discuss how the order of fossil discovery and a focus on anchor specimens has shaped, and in many ways biased, our interpretations of early Homo species and the fossils allocated to them. Fragmentary specimens may counter conventional wisdom but are often overlooked in broad narratives. We recognize at least three different cranial and two or three pelvic morphotypes of early Homo. Just one postcranial morph aligns with any certainty to a cranial species, highlighting the importance of explicitly identifying how we link specimens together and to species; we offer two ways of visualizing these connections. Chronologically and morphologically H. erectus is a member of early Homo, not a temporally more recent species necessarily evolved from either H. habilis or H. rudolfensis. Nonetheless, an ancestral-descendant notion of their evolution influences expectations around the anatomy of missing elements, especially the foot. Weak support for long-held notions of postcranial modernity in H. erectus raises the possibility of alternative drivers of dispersal. New observations suggest that the dearth of faces in later H. erectus may mask taxonomic diversity in Asia and suggest various later mid-Pleistocene populations could derive from either Asia or Africa. Future advances will rest on the development of nuanced ways to affiliate fossils, greater transparency of implicit assumptions, and attention to detailed life history information for comparative collections; all critical pursuits for future research given the great potential they have to enrich our evolutionary reconstructions for the next fifty years and beyond.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C Antón
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, NY, NY 10003, USA.
| | - Emily R Middleton
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, WI 53211, USA
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3
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Grine FE, Mongle CS, Fleagle JG, Hammond AS. The taxonomic attribution of African hominin postcrania from the Miocene through the Pleistocene: Associations and assumptions. J Hum Evol 2022; 173:103255. [PMID: 36375243 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Postcranial bones may provide valuable information about fossil taxa relating to their locomotor habits, manipulative abilities and body sizes. Distinctive features of the postcranial skeleton are sometimes noted in species diagnoses. Although numerous isolated postcranial fossils have become accepted by many workers as belonging to a particular species, it is worthwhile revisiting the evidence for each attribution before including them in comparative samples in relation to the descriptions of new fossils, functional analyses in relation to particular taxa, or in evolutionary contexts. Although some workers eschew the taxonomic attribution of postcranial fossils as being less important (or interesting) than interpreting their functional morphology, it is impossible to consider the evolution of functional anatomy in a taxonomic and phylogenetic vacuum. There are 21 widely recognized hominin taxa that have been described from sites in Africa dated from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene; postcranial elements have been attributed to 17 of these. The bones that have been thus assigned range from many parts of a skeleton to isolated elements. However, the extent to which postcranial material can be reliably attributed to a specific taxon varies considerably from site to site and species to species, and is often the subject of considerable debate. Here, we review the postcranial remains attributed to African hominin taxa from the Late Miocene to the Middle and Late Pleistocene and place these assignations into categories of reliability. The catalog of attributions presented here may serve as a guide for making taxonomic decisions in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA.
| | - Carrie S Mongle
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA; Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - John G Fleagle
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - Ashley S Hammond
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA; New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY 10024, USA
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4
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Hydrogeology of Volcanic Highlands Affects Prioritization of Land Management Practices. WATER 2020. [DOI: 10.3390/w12102702] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Volcanic highlands supply water to 40% of the world’s population. Soil degradation threatens this water supply. Studies on geohydrology that affect the effectiveness of land and water management (LWM) practices in reducing soil degradations are limited. To aid in the effectiveness of LWM practices, we conducted a field experiment in the Gomit watershed in the semihumid Ethiopian Highlands on the interaction of hydrogeology and LWM practices. We found that in a watershed with strongly faulted tertiary basalt, 30% of the rainfall was drained through faults to another basin. Consequently, the discharge at the outlet was less than half of that of other watersheds with quaternary basalts. Despite the high sediment concentration, i.e., around 15 g L−1, in the Gomit watershed, the sediment yield of less than 4 Mg ha−1 a−1 was below average for the agricultural watershed in Ethiopia because of the low runoff response. While some faults facilitated drainage, others acted as a barrier. Groundwater stored behind the barriers was used as a municipal potable water source. Since the effectiveness of LWM practices depends on the amount of erosion that can be prevented, considerations of country-wide prioritizing of investments in land and water management practices should include the geology of the watersheds.
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5
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A 1.4-million-year-old bone handaxe from Konso, Ethiopia, shows advanced tool technology in the early Acheulean. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:18393-18400. [PMID: 32661154 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2006370117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, the early Acheulean before 1 Mya has been a focus of active research. Acheulean lithic assemblages have been shown to extend back to ∼1.75 Mya, and considerable advances in core reduction technologies are seen by 1.5 to 1.4 Mya. Here we report a bifacially flaked bone fragment (maximum dimension ∼13 cm) of a hippopotamus femur from the ∼1.4 Mya sediments of the Konso Formation in southern Ethiopia. The large number of flake scars and their distribution pattern, together with the high frequency of cone fractures, indicate anthropogenic flaking into handaxe-like form. Use-wear analyses show quasi-continuous alternate microflake scars, wear polish, edge rounding, and striae patches along an ∼5-cm-long edge toward the handaxe tip. The striae run predominantly oblique to the edge, with some perpendicular, on both the cortical and inner faces. The combined evidence is consistent with the use of this bone artifact in longitudinal motions, such as in cutting and/or sawing. This bone handaxe is the oldest known extensively flaked example from the Early Pleistocene. Despite scarcity of well-shaped bone tools, its presence at Konso shows that sophisticated flaking was practiced by ∼1.4 Mya, not only on a range of lithic materials, but also occasionally on bone, thus expanding the documented technological repertoire of African Early Pleistocene Homo.
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6
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Semaw S, Rogers MJ, Simpson SW, Levin NE, Quade J, Dunbar N, McIntosh WC, Cáceres I, Stinchcomb GE, Holloway RL, Brown FH, Butler RF, Stout D, Everett M. Co-occurrence of Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts with Homo erectus cranial fossils from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaaw4694. [PMID: 32181331 PMCID: PMC7056306 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw4694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Although stone tools generally co-occur with early members of the genus Homo, they are rarely found in direct association with hominins. We report that both Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts and Homo erectus crania were found in close association at 1.26 million years (Ma) ago at Busidima North (BSN12), and ca. 1.6 to 1.5 Ma ago at Dana Aoule North (DAN5) archaeological sites at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. The BSN12 partial cranium is robust and large, while the DAN5 cranium is smaller and more gracile, suggesting that H. erectus was probably a sexually dimorphic species. The evidence from Gona shows behavioral diversity and flexibility with a lengthy and concurrent use of both stone technologies by H. erectus, confounding a simple "single species/single technology" view of early Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sileshi Semaw
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain
- Stone Age Institute and CRAFT Research Center, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd., Gosport, IN 47408, USA
| | - Michael J. Rogers
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
| | - Scott W. Simpson
- Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Naomi E. Levin
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 1100 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences/Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Nelia Dunbar
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Earth and Environmental Science Department, New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801-4796, USA
| | - William C. McIntosh
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Earth and Environmental Science Department, New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801-4796, USA
| | - Isabel Cáceres
- Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
- IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Zona Educacional 4–Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Gary E. Stinchcomb
- Watershed Studies Institute and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071, USA
| | - Ralph L. Holloway
- Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Francis H. Brown
- The University of Utah, 201 South Presidents Circle Room 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Robert F. Butler
- Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR 97203, USA
| | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Melanie Everett
- Chevron Energy Technology Company, 1500 Louisiana St., Houston, TX 77002, USA
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7
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Hominin diversity and high environmental variability in the Okote Member, Koobi Fora Formation, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2019; 126:91-105. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2017] [Revised: 09/05/2018] [Accepted: 10/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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8
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Hammond AS, Almécija S, Libsekal Y, Rook L, Macchiarelli R. A partial Homo pelvis from the Early Pleistocene of Eritrea. J Hum Evol 2018; 123:109-128. [PMID: 30017175 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Here we analyze 1.07-0.99 million-year-old pelvic remains UA 173/405 from Buia, Eritrea. Based on size metrics, UA 173/405 is likely associated with an already described pubic symphysis (UA 466) found nearby. The morphology of UA 173/405 was quantitatively characterized using three-dimensional landmark-based morphometrics and linear data. The Buia specimen falls within the range of variation of modern humans for all metrics investigated, making it unlikely that the shared last common ancestor of Late Pleistocene Homo species would have had an australopith-like pelvis. The discovery of UA 173/405 adds to the increasing number of fossils suggesting that the postcranial morphology of Homo erectus s.l. was variable and, in some cases, nearly indistinguishable from modern human morphology. This Eritrean fossil demonstrates that modern human-like pelvic morphology may have had origins in the Early Pleistocene, potentially within later African H. erectus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley S Hammond
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
| | - Sergio Almécija
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Edifici ICTA-ICP, c/Columnes s/n, Campus de la UAB, 08193 Cerdanyola Del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze Della Terra, Università di Firenze, Via G. La Pira, 4, 50121 Firenze, Italy
| | - Roberto Macchiarelli
- UMR 7194 CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Palais de Chaillot, 17 Place du Trocadero, 75116 Paris, France; Unité de Formation Géosciences, Université de Poitiers, Bât. B35 Sciences Naturelles, 86073 Poitiers, France.
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9
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Caley T, Extier T, Collins JA, Schefuß E, Dupont L, Malaizé B, Rossignol L, Souron A, McClymont EL, Jimenez-Espejo FJ, García-Comas C, Eynaud F, Martinez P, Roche DM, Jorry SJ, Charlier K, Wary M, Gourves PY, Billy I, Giraudeau J. A two-million-year-long hydroclimatic context for hominin evolution in southeastern Africa. Nature 2018; 560:76-79. [PMID: 29988081 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0309-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2017] [Accepted: 04/25/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The past two million years of eastern African climate variability is currently poorly constrained, despite interest in understanding its assumed role in early human evolution1-4. Rare palaeoclimate records from northeastern Africa suggest progressively drier conditions2,5 or a stable hydroclimate6. By contrast, records from Lake Malawi in tropical southeastern Africa reveal a trend of a progressively wetter climate over the past 1.3 million years7,8. The climatic forcings that controlled these past hydrological changes are also a matter of debate. Some studies suggest a dominant local insolation forcing on hydrological changes9-11, whereas others infer a potential influence of sea surface temperature changes in the Indian Ocean8,12,13. Here we show that the hydroclimate in southeastern Africa (20-25° S) is controlled by interplay between low-latitude insolation forcing (precession and eccentricity) and changes in ice volume at high latitudes. Our results are based on a multiple-proxy reconstruction of hydrological changes in the Limpopo River catchment, combined with a reconstruction of sea surface temperature in the southwestern Indian Ocean for the past 2.14 million years. We find a long-term aridification in the Limpopo catchment between around 1 and 0.6 million years ago, opposite to the hydroclimatic evolution suggested by records from Lake Malawi. Our results, together with evidence of wetting at Lake Malawi, imply that the rainbelt contracted toward the Equator in response to increased ice volume at high latitudes. By reducing the extent of woodland or wetlands in terrestrial ecosystems, the observed changes in the hydroclimate of southeastern Africa-both in terms of its long-term state and marked precessional variability-could have had a role in the evolution of early hominins, particularly in the extinction of Paranthropus robustus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thibaut Caley
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France.
| | - Thomas Extier
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France.,Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - James A Collins
- GFZ - German Research Center for Geosciences, Section 5.1 Geomorphology, Organic Surface Geochemistry Laboratory, Potsdam, Germany.,Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany
| | - Enno Schefuß
- MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Lydie Dupont
- MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
| | - Bruno Malaizé
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Linda Rossignol
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Antoine Souron
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | | | | | - Carmen García-Comas
- Research and Development Center for Global Change, (JAMSTEC), Yokohama, Japan.,Ecology Group, University of Vic - Central University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | | | - Didier M Roche
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.,Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science, Cluster Earth and Climate, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stephan J Jorry
- Unité Géosciences Marines, Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER), Plouzané, France
| | - Karine Charlier
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Mélanie Wary
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | | | - Isabelle Billy
- EPOC, UMR 5805, CNRS, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, France
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10
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Beyin A, Chauhan PR, Nassr A. New discovery of Acheulean occupation in the Red Sea coastal region of the Sudan. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:255-257. [PMID: 29265652 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Amanuel Beyin
- Department of Anthropology, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40292, USA
| | - Parth R Chauhan
- Department of Social Sciences and Humanities, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali, Punjab, India Stone Age Institute & Department of Anthropology Indiana University, Indiana, USA
| | - Ahmed Nassr
- Department of Archaeology, Al Neelain University, Khartoum, Sudan
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11
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Chiozzi G, Stiassny MLJ, Alter SE, De Marchi G, Mebrahtu Y, Tessema M, Asmamaw B, Fasola M, Bellati A. Fishes in the desert: mitochondrial variation and phylogeography of Danakilia (Actinopterygii: Cichlidae) and Aphanius (Actinopterygii: Cyprinodontidae) in the Danakil Depression of northeastern Africa. Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal 2017; 29:1025-1040. [PMID: 29166850 DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2017.1404043] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
The Danakil Depression in northeastern Africa represents one of the harshest arid environments on Earth, yet two genera of fishes, Danakilia (Cichlidae) and Aphanius (Cyprinodontidae), share its sparse aquatic habitats. The evolutionary history of these fishes is investigated here in the context of genetic, geological and paleoenvironmental information. We collected samples from seven sites and assessed phylogeographic relationships using concatenated COI and cytb mtDNA genes. Danakilia morphospecies show low differentiation at mitochondrial markers, but variation is partitioned between a northern cluster containing D. dinicolai plus three undescribed riverine populations, and a southern cluster including two creek populations of D. franchettii separated by the hypersaline waters of Lake Afrera. Aphanius displayed four genetically distinct clades (A. stiassnyae in Lake Afrera; one distributed across the entire area; one in Lake Abaeded; and one in the Shukoray River), but without clear large-scale geographic structure. However, Danakil Aphanius are clearly differentiated from A. dispar sensu stricto from the Sinai Peninsula. Geological evidence suggests that after the Late Pleistocene closure of the Danakil-Red Sea connection, increased post-glacial groundwater availability caused the formation of a brackish paleo-lake flooding the entire region below the -50 m contour. Fish populations previously isolated in coastal oases during glaciation were able to mix in the paleo-lake. Subsequently, in a more arid phase starting ∼7300 BP, paleo-lake regression isolated fishes in separate drainages, triggering their still ongoing diversification.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giorgio Chiozzi
- a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente , Università degli Studi di Pavia , Pavia , Italy.,b Museo di Storia Naturale di Milano , Milano , Italy
| | - Melanie L J Stiassny
- c Department of Ichthyology , American Museum of Natural History , New York , NY , USA
| | - S Elizabeth Alter
- c Department of Ichthyology , American Museum of Natural History , New York , NY , USA.,d Department of Biology , York College and the Graduate Center/The City University of New York , Jamaica , NY , USA
| | - Giuseppe De Marchi
- a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente , Università degli Studi di Pavia , Pavia , Italy
| | - Yohannes Mebrahtu
- e Research Division , Ministry of Marine Resources , Massawa , Eritrea
| | | | - Berhan Asmamaw
- f Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute , Addis Ababa , Ethiopia
| | - Mauro Fasola
- a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente , Università degli Studi di Pavia , Pavia , Italy
| | - Adriana Bellati
- a Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e dell'Ambiente , Università degli Studi di Pavia , Pavia , Italy
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12
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Hawks J, Elliott M, Schmid P, Churchill SE, Ruiter DJD, Roberts EM, Hilbert-Wolf H, Garvin HM, Williams SA, Delezene LK, Feuerriegel EM, Randolph-Quinney P, Kivell TL, Laird MF, Tawane G, DeSilva JM, Bailey SE, Brophy JK, Meyer MR, Skinner MM, Tocheri MW, VanSickle C, Walker CS, Campbell TL, Kuhn B, Kruger A, Tucker S, Gurtov A, Hlophe N, Hunter R, Morris H, Peixotto B, Ramalepa M, Rooyen DV, Tsikoane M, Boshoff P, Dirks PH, Berger LR. New fossil remains of Homo naledi from the Lesedi Chamber, South Africa. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 28483039 PMCID: PMC5423776 DOI: 10.7554/elife.24232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/18/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The Rising Star cave system has produced abundant fossil hominin remains within the Dinaledi Chamber, representing a minimum of 15 individuals attributed to Homo naledi. Further exploration led to the discovery of hominin material, now comprising 131 hominin specimens, within a second chamber, the Lesedi Chamber. The Lesedi Chamber is far separated from the Dinaledi Chamber within the Rising Star cave system, and represents a second depositional context for hominin remains. In each of three collection areas within the Lesedi Chamber, diagnostic skeletal material allows a clear attribution to H. naledi. Both adult and immature material is present. The hominin remains represent at least three individuals based upon duplication of elements, but more individuals are likely present based upon the spatial context. The most significant specimen is the near-complete cranium of a large individual, designated LES1, with an endocranial volume of approximately 610 ml and associated postcranial remains. The Lesedi Chamber skeletal sample extends our knowledge of the morphology and variation of H. naledi, and evidence of H. naledi from both recovery localities shows a consistent pattern of differentiation from other hominin species.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Marina Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Peter Schmid
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstr, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Steven E Churchill
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States
| | - Darryl J de Ruiter
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Eric M Roberts
- Geosciences, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Hannah Hilbert-Wolf
- Geosciences, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Heather M Garvin
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology/Archaeology, Mercyhurst University, Erie, United States.,Department of Applied Forensic Sciences, Mercyhurst University, Erie, United States
| | - Scott A Williams
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, United States.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, United States
| | - Lucas K Delezene
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, United States
| | - Elen M Feuerriegel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, United States
| | - Patrick Randolph-Quinney
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, Johannesburg, South Africa.,School of Forensic and Applied Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, United Kingdom
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Myra F Laird
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Organismal Biology and Anatomy, University of Chicago, Chicago, United States
| | - Gaokgatlhe Tawane
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Jeremy M DeSilva
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States
| | - Shara E Bailey
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, United States.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, United States
| | - Juliet K Brophy
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, United States
| | - Marc R Meyer
- Department of Anthropology, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, United States
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthew W Tocheri
- Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada.,Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States
| | - Caroline VanSickle
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States.,Department of Anthropology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, United States
| | - Christopher S Walker
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States.,Department of Molecular Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, United States
| | - Timothy L Campbell
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Brian Kuhn
- Department of Geology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Ashley Kruger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Steven Tucker
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Alia Gurtov
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Nompumelelo Hlophe
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Rick Hunter
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Hannah Morris
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, University of Georgia, Athens, United States
| | - Becca Peixotto
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa.,Department of Anthropology, American University, Washington, United States
| | - Maropeng Ramalepa
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Dirk van Rooyen
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Mathabela Tsikoane
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Pedro Boshoff
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
| | - Paul Hgm Dirks
- Geosciences, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Wits, South Africa
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13
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Berger LR, Hawks J, Dirks PHGM, Elliott M, Roberts EM. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa. eLife 2017; 6:e24234. [PMID: 28483041 PMCID: PMC5423770 DOI: 10.7554/elife.24234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Paul HGM Dirks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Marina Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Eric M Roberts
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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Bruner E, Bondioli L, Coppa A, Frayer DW, Holloway RL, Libsekal Y, Medin T, Rook L, Macchiarelli R. The endocast of the one-million-year-old human cranium from Buia (UA 31), Danakil Eritrea. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 160:458-68. [PMID: 27040007 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2015] [Revised: 02/23/2016] [Accepted: 02/26/2016] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The Homo erectus-like cranium from Buia (UA 31) was found in the Eritrean Danakil depression and dated to 1 million years. Its outer morphology displays archaic traits, as well as distinctive and derived characters. The present study provides the description and metric comparison of its endocranial anatomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS UA 31 was originally filled by a diffuse concretion. Following its removal and cleaning, the endocast (995 cc) was reconstructed after physical molding and digital scan. Its morphology is here compared with specimens belonging to different human taxa, taking into account endocranial metrics, cortical traits, and craniovascular features. RESULTS The endocast is long and narrow when compared to the H. erectus/ergaster hypodigm, although its proportions are compatible with the morphology displayed by all archaic and medium-brained human species. The occipital areas display a pronounced bulging, the cerebellum is located in a posterior position, and the middle meningeal vessels are more developed in the posterior regions. These features are common among specimens attributed to H. erectus s.l., particularly the Middle Pleistocene endocasts from Zhoukoudian. The parietal lobes are markedly bossed. This lateral bulging is associated with the lower parietal circumvolutions, as in other archaic specimens. This pronounced parietal curvature is apparently due to a narrow cranial base, more than to wider parietal areas. CONCLUSIONS The endocast of UA 31 shows a general plesiomorphic phenotype, with some individual features (e.g., dolichocephaly and rounded lower parietal areas) which confirm a remarkable degree of morphological variability within the H. erectus/ergaster hypodigm. Am J Phys Anthropol 160:458-468, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Bruner
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, 09002, Spain
| | - Luca Bondioli
- Sezione di Bioarcheologia, Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico "Luigi Pigorini", 00144, Rome, Italy
| | - Alfredo Coppa
- Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma "La Sapienza", 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - David W Frayer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, KS 66045-2110, Lawrence, USA
| | - Ralph L Holloway
- Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, 5532, New York, USA
| | | | - Tsegai Medin
- National Museum of Eritrea, 5284, Asmara, Eritrea.,Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43007, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, 50121, Italy
| | - Roberto Macchiarelli
- UMR 7194 CNRS-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, 75000, Paris, France.,Département Géosciences, Université de Poitiers, 86000, France
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15
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Baab KL. The role of neurocranial shape in defining the boundaries of an expanded Homo erectus hypodigm. J Hum Evol 2016; 92:1-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2014] [Revised: 11/05/2015] [Accepted: 11/06/2015] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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16
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Zanolli C, Bondioli L, Coppa A, Dean CM, Bayle P, Candilio F, Capuani S, Dreossi D, Fiore I, Frayer DW, Libsekal Y, Mancini L, Rook L, Medin Tekle T, Tuniz C, Macchiarelli R. The late Early Pleistocene human dental remains from Uadi Aalad and Mulhuli-Amo (Buia), Eritrean Danakil: macromorphology and microstructure. J Hum Evol 2014; 74:96-113. [PMID: 24852385 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2013] [Revised: 04/19/2014] [Accepted: 04/22/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Fieldwork performed during the last 15 years in various Early Pleistocene East African sites has significantly enlarged the fossil record of Homo erectus sensu lato (s.l.). Additional evidence comes from the Danakil Depression of Eritrea, where over 200 late Early to early Middle Pleistocene sites have been identified within a ∼1000 m-thick sedimentary succession outcropping in the Dandiero Rift Basin, near Buia. Along with an adult cranium (UA 31), which displays a blend of H. erectus-like and derived morpho-architectural features and three pelvic remains, two isolated permanent incisors (UA 222 and UA 369) have also been recovered from the 1 Ma (millions of years ago) Homo-bearing outcrop of Uadi Aalad. Since 2010, our surveys have expanded to the nearby (4.7 km) site of Mulhuli-Amo (MA). This is a fossiliferous area that has been preliminarily surveyed because of its exceptional concentration of Acheulean stone tools. So far, the site has yielded 10 human remains, including the unworn crown of a lower permanent molar (MA 93). Using diverse analytical tools (including high resolution μCT and μMRI), we analysed the external and internal macromorphology and microstructure of the three specimens, and whenever possible compared the results with similar evidence from early Homo, H. erectus s.l., H. antecessor, H. heidelbergensis (from North Africa), Neanderthals and modern humans. We also assessed the UA 369 lower incisor from Uadi Aalad for root completion timing and showed that it compares well with data for root apex closure in modern human populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clément Zanolli
- Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.
| | - Luca Bondioli
- Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico 'Luigi Pigorini', Rome, Italy
| | - Alfredo Coppa
- Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
| | - Christopher M Dean
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK
| | | | - Francesca Candilio
- Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
| | - Silvia Capuani
- CNR-IPCF, Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
| | - Diego Dreossi
- Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., SYRMEP Group, Basovizza, Italy
| | - Ivana Fiore
- Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy
| | - David W Frayer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, USA
| | | | - Lucia Mancini
- Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.p.A., SYRMEP Group, Basovizza, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Rook
- Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università di Firenze, Italy
| | - Tsegai Medin Tekle
- National Museum of Eritrea, Asmara, Eritrea; Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Claudio Tuniz
- Multidisciplinary Laboratory, The 'Abdus Salam' International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy; Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Università di Roma 'La Sapienza', Rome, Italy; Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Australia
| | - Roberto Macchiarelli
- Département de Préhistoire, UMR 7194, MNHN, Paris, France; Département Géosciences, Université de Poitiers, France
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17
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Mojokerto revisited: Evidence for an intermediate pattern of brain growth in Homo erectus. J Hum Evol 2013; 65:156-61. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2012] [Revised: 04/26/2013] [Accepted: 04/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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18
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Rook L, Ghinassi M, Carnevale G, Delfino M, Pavia M, Bondioli L, Candilio F, Coppa A, Martínez-Navarro B, Medin T, Papini M, Zanolli C, Libsekal Y. Stratigraphic context and paleoenvironmental significance of minor taxa (Pisces, Reptilia, Aves, Rodentia) from the late Early Pleistocene paleoanthropological site of Buia (Eritrea). J Hum Evol 2013; 64:83-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/21/2012] [Revised: 10/12/2012] [Accepted: 10/15/2012] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
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19
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The Denisova hominin need not be an out of Africa story. J Hum Evol 2011; 60:251-5. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2010] [Revised: 09/26/2010] [Accepted: 10/05/2010] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
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20
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Stratigraphic context and taxonomic assessment of the large cercopithecoid (Primates, Mammalia) from the late Early Pleistocene palaeoanthropological site of Buia (Eritrea). J Hum Evol 2010; 59:692-7. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.07.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2010] [Revised: 06/29/2010] [Accepted: 07/03/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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21
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Indriati E, Antón SC. The calvaria of Sangiran 38, Sendangbusik, Sangiran Dome, Java. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2010; 61:225-43. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2010.05.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2010] [Accepted: 05/26/2010] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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22
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Early Homo Occupation Near the Gate of Tears: Examining the Paleoanthropological Records of Djibouti and Yemen. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2009. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9060-8_5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register]
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23
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Terhune CE, Deane AS. Temporal squama shape in fossil hominins: relationships to cranial shape and a determination of character polarity. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2008; 137:397-411. [PMID: 18615502 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20882] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In 1943, Weidenreich described the squamosal suture of Homo erectus as long, low, and simian in character and suggested that this morphology was dependent upon the correlation between the size of the calvarium and the face. Many researchers now consider this character to be diagnostic of H. erectus. The relationship between cranial size and shape and temporal squama morphology, however, is unclear, and several authors have called for detailed measurements of squamosal variation to be collected before any conclusions are drawn regarding the nature of the morphology observed in H. erectus. Thirteen fossil and extant taxa were examined to address two questions: 1) Are size and shape of the temporal squama correlated with cranial vault morphology? and 2) Is the H. erectus condition plesiomorphic? To answer these questions, measurements were collected and indices were calculated for squamosal suture height, length, and area in relation to metric variables describing cranial size and shape. A two-dimensional morphometric study was also completed using High Resolution-Polynomial Curve Fitting (HR-PCF) to investigate correlations between curvature of the squamosal suture and curvature of the cranial vault. Results of both analyses indicate that squamosal suture form is related to cranial size and shape. Furthermore, the plesiomorphic condition of the squamosal suture for hominins was identified as high and moderately arched; this condition is retained in H. erectus and is distinct from the great ape condition. It is suggested that this similarity is the result of increased cranial length without a corresponding increase in cranial height.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire E Terhune
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA.
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24
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Brain size at birth throughout human evolution: a new method for estimating neonatal brain size in hominins. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:1064-74. [PMID: 18789811 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2007] [Revised: 07/10/2008] [Accepted: 07/30/2008] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
An increase in brain size is a hallmark of human evolution. Questions regarding the evolution of brain development and obstetric constraints in the human lineage can be addressed with accurate estimates of the size of the brain at birth in hominins. Previous estimates of brain size at birth in fossil hominins have been calculated from regressions of neonatal body or brain mass to adult body mass, but this approach is problematic for two reasons: modern humans are outliers for these regressions, and hominin adult body masses are difficult to estimate. To accurately estimate the brain size at birth in extinct human ancestors, an equation is needed for which modern humans fit the anthropoid regression and one in which the hominin variable entered into the regression equation has limited error. Using phylogenetically sensitive statistics, a resampling approach, and brain-mass data from the literature and from National Primate Research Centers on 362 neonates and 2802 adults from eight different anthropoid species, we found that the size of the adult brain can strongly predict the size of the neonatal brain (r2=0.97). This regression predicts human brain size, indicating that humans have precisely the brain size expected as an adult given the size of the brain at birth. We estimated the size of the neonatal brain in fossil hominins from a reduced major axis regression equation using published cranial capacities of 89 adult fossil crania. We suggest that australopiths gave birth to infants with cranial capacities that were on average 180cc (95% CI: 158-205cc), slightly larger than the average neonatal brain size of chimpanzees. Neonatal brain size increased in early Homo to 225cc (95% CI: 198-257cc) and in Homo erectus to approximately 270cc (95% CI: 237-310cc). These results have implications for interpreting the evolution of the birth process and brain development in all hominins from the australopiths and early Homo, through H. erectus, to Homo sapiens.
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25
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Smith HF, Grine FE. Cladistic analysis of early Homo crania from Swartkrans and Sterkfontein, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2008; 54:684-704. [PMID: 18289640 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.10.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2007] [Accepted: 10/02/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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26
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Antón SC. Natural history of Homo erectus. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2008; Suppl 37:126-70. [PMID: 14666536 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 351] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Our view of H. erectus is vastly different today than when Pithecanthropus erectus was described in 1894. Since its synonimization into Homo, views of the species and its distribution have varied from a single, widely dispersed, polytypic species ultimately ancestral to all later Homo, to a derived, regional isolate ultimately marginal to later hominin evolution. A revised chronostratigraphic framework and recent work bearing either directly or indirectly on reconstructions of life-history patterns are reviewed here and, together with a review of the cranial and postcranial anatomy of H. erectus, are used to generate a natural history of the species. Here I argue that H. erectus is a hominin, notable for its increased body size, that originates in the latest Pliocene/earliest Pleistocene of Africa and quickly disperses into Western and Eastern Asia. It is also an increasingly derived hominin with several regional morphs sustained by intermittent isolation, particularly in Southeast Asia. This view differs from several current views, most especially that which recognizes only a single hominin species in the Pleistocene, H. sapiens, and those which would atomize H. erectus into a multiplicity of taxa. Following Jolly ([2001] Yrbk Phys Anthropol 44:177-204), the regional morphs of H. erectus may be productively viewed as geographically replacing allotaxa, rather than as the focus of unresolvable species debates. Such a view allows us to focus on the adaptations and biology of local groups, including questions of biogeographic isolation and local adaptation. A number of issues remain unresolved, including the significance of diversity in size and shape in the early African and Georgian records.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C Antón
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York 10003, USA.
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Bruner E, Manzi G. Landmark-based shape analysis of the archaicHomo calvarium from Ceprano (Italy). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2007; 132:355-66. [PMID: 17177181 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
The Ceprano calvarium represents one of the most important sources of information about both the dynamics of the earliest hominid dispersal toward Europe and the evolution of the genus Homo in the early-to-middle Pleistocene. In this paper, the midsagittal vault profile and the 3D frontal bone morphology of Ceprano are investigated comparatively, using landmark coordinates and Procrustes superimposition. In fact, despite the fact that the skull appears partially distorted by diagenetic pressures (thus precluding a comprehensive landmark-based analysis), some aspects of the overall morphology are suitable for consideration in terms of geometric morphometrics. The midsagittal profile shows an archaic shape, comparable with the H. ergaster/erectus range of variation because of the fronto-parietal flattening, the development of the supraorbital and nuchal structures, and the occurrence of a slightly larger occipital bone. By contrast, the frontal bone displays a derived 3D shape that, mostly because of the widening of the frontal squama, appears comparable with the Afro-European variation of the Middle Pleistocene (i.e., H. heidelbergensis/rhodesiensis). Taking into account the unique morphological pattern displayed by Ceprano, its role as a link between early Homo and the Middle Pleistocene populations of Europe and Africa is not falsified. Thus, when aspects of the Ceprano's morphology are described within the analytical framework provided by geometric morphometrics, the relationships between Ceprano and the subsequent Afro-European fossil record are emphasized, suggesting the occurrence of an ancestral stock of H. heidelbergensis/rhodesiensis that is properly represented by the Italian specimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Bruner
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
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Klein RG, Avery G, Cruz-Uribe K, Steele TE. The mammalian fauna associated with an archaic hominin skullcap and later Acheulean artifacts at Elandsfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2007; 52:164-86. [PMID: 17030056 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2006] [Revised: 03/01/2006] [Accepted: 08/21/2006] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
The Elandsfontein site, Western Cape Province, South Africa, is well known for an archaic hominin skullcap associated with later Acheulean artifacts. The site has also provided nearly 13,000 mammalian bones that can be identified to skeletal part and taxon. The assemblage derives from 49 species, 15 of which have no historic descendants. Comparisons to radiometrically dated faunas in eastern Africa indicate an age between 1 million and 600 thousand years ago. Unique features of the fauna, including the late occurrence of a dirk-toothed cat and a sivathere, may reflect its geographic origin in a region that was notable historically for its distinctive climate and high degree of biotic endemism. Together, taxonomic composition, geomorphic setting, and pollen extracted from coprolites indicate the proximity of a large marsh or pond, maintained by a higher water table. The small average size of the black-backed jackals implies relatively mild temperatures. The sum of the evidence places bone accumulation during one of the mid-Pleistocene interglacials that were longer and cooler than later ones, including the Holocene. The geomorphic context of the fauna presents no evidence for catastrophe, and most deaths probably resulted from attritional factors that disproportionately killed the young and old. However, only the dental-age profile of long-horned buffalo supports this directly. Field collection methods biased skeletal-part representation, but originally, it probably resembled the pattern in the younger, marsh-edge Acheulean occurrence at Duinefontein 2, 45 km to the south. Excavation there exposed multiple vertebral spreads, which probably mark carcasses from which hominins or large carnivores removed the meatier elements. Bone damage at both sites suggests that, despite abundant artifacts, hominins were much less important than carnivores in the bone accumulation. Together with limited observations from other sites, Elandsfontein and Duinefontein provisionally suggest that Acheulean-age hominins obtained few large mammals, whether by hunting or scavenging.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard G Klein
- Program in Human Biology, Stanford University, Building 80, Inner Quad, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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29
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SUWA GEN, ASFAW BERHANE, HAILE-SELASSIE YOHANNES, WHITE TIM, KATOH SHIGEHIRO, WOLDEGABRIEL GIDAY, HART WILLIAMK, NAKAYA HIDEO, BEYENE YONAS. Early Pleistocene Homo erectus fossils from Konso, southern Ethiopia. ANTHROPOL SCI 2007. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.061203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- GEN SUWA
- The University Museum, The University of Tokyo
| | | | | | - TIM WHITE
- Human Evolution Research Center, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California at Berkeley
| | - SHIGEHIRO KATOH
- Division of Earth Sciences, Hyogo Museum of Nature and Human Activities
| | - GIDAY WOLDEGABRIEL
- Hydrology, Geochemistry and Geology Group, Los Alamos National Laboratory
| | | | - HIDEO NAKAYA
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Kagoshima University
| | - YONAS BEYENE
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, Authority for Research and Conservation of the Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Addis Ababa
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30
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Bondioli L, Coppa A, Frayer DW, Libsekal Y, Rook L, Macchiarelli R. A one-million-year-old human pubic symphysis. J Hum Evol 2006; 50:479-83. [PMID: 16499949 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2005] [Accepted: 01/04/2006] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Luca Bondioli
- Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico "L. Pigorini", Sezione di Antropologia, p.le G. Marconi 14, 00144 Roma, Italy.
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31
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Bruner E, Manzi G. CT-based description and phyletic evaluation of the archaic human calvarium from Ceprano, Italy. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005; 285:643-58. [PMID: 15957189 DOI: 10.1002/ar.a.20205] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The discovery in 1994, of a fossilized human calvarium near Ceprano, Italy, dated about 800-900 thousand years before present, opened a new page for the study of human evolution in Europe. It extended the continental fossil record over the boundary between Early and Middle Pleistocene for the first time and revealed the cranial morphology of humans that where probably ancestral to both Neanderthals and modern Homo sapiens. A tomographic analysis of the Italian specimen is reported here in order to describe size and shape, vascular traces, and other features of the endocranium, as well as some relevant ectocranial traits (particularly of the frontal region). Our results show that the Ceprano calvarium displays plesiomorphies shared by early Homo taxa, involving a general archaic phenotype. At the same time, the presence of some derived features suggests a phylogenetic relationship with the populations referred to the subsequent polymorphic species H. heidelbergensis. The morphology of the supraorbital structures is different from the double-arched browridge of the African H. ergaster, while its superior shape shows similarities with African Middle Pleistocene specimens (Bodo, Kabwe). In contrast, the relationship between supraorbital torus and frontal squama points to an archaic pattern of the relationship between face and vault, associated to moderately narrow frontal lobes and limited development of the upper parietal areas. Despite a nonderived endocranial shape, the increase of cranial capacity (related to a general endocranial widening) and the probable absence of a clear occipital projection also suggest an evolutionary independence from the Asian H. erectus lineage. This analysis therefore supports the conclusion that the Ceprano calvarium represents the best available candidate for the ancestral phenotype of the cranial variation observed among Middle Pleistocene fossil samples in Africa and Europe. Nevertheless, a proper taxonomic interpretation of this crucial specimen remains puzzling.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Bruner
- Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Università La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
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32
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O’Regan HJ, Bishop LC, Lamb A, Elton S, Turner A. Large mammal turnover in Africa and the Levant between 1.0 and 0.5 Ma. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1144/gsl.sp.2005.247.01.13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractFaunal change at the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary in Europe has long been a topic for discussion. However, analyses of large mammal turnover at this time in Africa have been lacking, largely because of the low number of sites dated to this interval. Recent work, particularly in the last 10 years, has resulted in a much larger published sample of sites and we synthesize these data in this paper. In our multivariate (TWINSPAN) analyses of African and Levantine large mammal faunas we found that localities were subdivided by geographic regions, not by age. There were some small-scale changes with the appearance or extinction of particular taxa, but there was no large-scale turnover such as that seen in Europe. The Levant was included as a possible route for faunal interchange with east Africa, but no similarities were found between these areas. It therefore appears that the modern zoogeographic separation of the Levant and north Africa into the Palaearctic region and sub-Saharan Africa into the African region can be traced back to at least the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary.
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Affiliation(s)
- H. J. O’Regan
- School of Biological & Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
h.j.o’
| | - L. C. Bishop
- School of Biological & Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
h.j.o’
| | - A. Lamb
- School of Biological & Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
h.j.o’
| | - S. Elton
- Department of Anatomy, Hull York Medical School, University of Hull
Hull, HU6 7RX, UK
| | - A. Turner
- School of Biological & Earth Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University
Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
h.j.o’
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33
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Petraglia MD. Hominin responses to Pleistocene environmental change in Arabia and South Asia. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2005. [DOI: 10.1144/gsl.sp.2005.247.01.18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
AbstractPalaeoanthropologists typically outline human evolution within a framework of Pleistocene environmental change. Environmental change occurring across the Early-Middle Pleistocene transition is examined relative to patterns of hominin dispersal, ecological adaptations, cognitive advances and behavioural flexibility. Although climatic information has been used as the backdrop to human evolution, major lacunae exist in our understanding of the ecological settings where hominins evolved. Data from investigations conducted in the Arabian peninsula and the Indian subcontinent are reviewed, indicating the nature of Palaeolithic localities and their physical settings. Although much information remains to be obtained from these terrestrial records, significant changes are recognized in the environmental and archaeological record. The Early-Middle Pleistocene transition shows some conservative trends in hominin adaptations and technology, yet it is also an interval that evidences an increasing ability to transcend environmental controls through a greater level of behavioural flexibility and innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael D. Petraglia
- Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, University of Cambridge
Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK
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34
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Potts R, Behrensmeyer AK, Deino A, Ditchfield P, Clark J. Small Mid-Pleistocene Hominin Associated with East African Acheulean Technology. Science 2004; 305:75-8. [PMID: 15232102 DOI: 10.1126/science.1097661] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Hominin fossils from the African mid-Pleistocene are rare despite abundant Acheulean tools in Africa and apparently African-derived hominins in Eurasia between 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago (Ma). Here we describe an African fossil cranium constrained by 40Ar/39Ar analyses, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary features to 0.97 to 0.90 Ma, and stratigraphically associated with Acheulean handaxes. Although the cranium represents possibly the smallest adult or near-adult known between 1.7 and 0.5 Ma, it retains features observed in larger Homo erectus individuals, yet shows a distinct suite of traits indicative of wide population variation in the hominins of this period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0112, USA.
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35
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Abstract
Facial remains of Homo erectus are rare and their scarcity hinders our understanding of the variability and relationships in this taxon. Previously undescribed fragments of the peri-orbital region and unidentified matches between fragments of Olduvai Hominid 12 (OH 12) enhance comparison of the African H. erectus hypodigm. The newly reconstructed upper face and maxilla of OH 12 is most similar in size and shape to that of KNM-ER 3733, despite being as much as one million years younger than the Koobi Fora hominin. However, the posterior vault and mastoid region of OH 12 are most similar to OH 9. This combination of morphology suggests that the relationship between the Olduvai and Koobi Fora portions of the H. erectus hypodigm requires reconsideration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan C Antón
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
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36
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37
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Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martinón-Torres M, Carbonell E, Sarmiento S, Rosas A, van der Made J, Lozano M. The Atapuerca sites and their contribution to the knowledge of human evolution in Europe. Evol Anthropol 2004. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.10130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
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38
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Rightmire GP. Brain size and encephalization in early to Mid-PleistoceneHomo. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2004; 124:109-23. [PMID: 15160365 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Important changes in the brain have occurred during the course of human evolution. Both absolute and relative size increases can be documented for species of Homo, culminating in the appearance of modern humans. One species that is particularly well-represented by fossil crania is Homo erectus. The mean capacity for 30 individuals is 973 cm(3). Within this group there is substantial variation, but brain size increases slightly in specimens from later time periods. Other Middle Pleistocene crania differ from those of Homo erectus. Characters of the facial skeleton, vault, and cranial base suggest that fossils from sites such as Arago Cave in France, the Sima de los Huesos in Spain, Bodo in Ethiopia, Broken Hill in Zambia, and perhaps Dali in China belong to the taxon Homo heidelbergensis. Ten of these mid-Quaternary hominins have brains averaging 1,206 cm(3) in volume, and many fall beyond the limits of size predicted for Homo erectus of equivalent age. When orbit height is used to construct an index of relative brain size, it is apparent that the (significant) increase in volume documented for the Middle Pleistocene individuals is not simply a consequence of larger body mass. Encephalization quotient values confirm this finding. These changes in absolute and relative brain size can be taken as further corroborative evidence for a speciation event, in which Homo erectus produced a daughter lineage. It is probable that Homo heidelbergensis originated in Africa or western Eurasia and then ranged widely across the Old World. Archaeological traces indicate that these populations differed in their technology and behavior from earlier hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Philip Rightmire
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (State University of New York), Binghamton, New York 13902-6000, USA.
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39
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Manzi G, Bruner E, Passarello P. The one-million-year-old Homo cranium from Bouri (Ethiopia): a reconsideration of its H. erectus affinities. J Hum Evol 2003; 44:731-6. [PMID: 12799161 DOI: 10.1016/s0047-2484(03)00061-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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40
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Foley R, Lahr MM. On stony ground: Lithic technology, human evolution, and the emergence of culture. Evol Anthropol 2003. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.10108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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41
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Dalton R. Hints of bone bounties rile fossil hunters. Nature 2002; 416:356. [PMID: 11919590 DOI: 10.1038/416356a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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42
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Asfaw B, Gilbert WH, Beyene Y, Hart WK, Renne PR, WoldeGabriel G, Vrba ES, White TD. Remains of Homo erectus from Bouri, Middle Awash, Ethiopia. Nature 2002; 416:317-20. [PMID: 11907576 DOI: 10.1038/416317a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The genesis, evolution and fate of Homo erectus have been explored palaeontologically since the taxon's recognition in the late nineteenth century. Current debate is focused on whether early representatives from Kenya and Georgia should be classified as a separate ancestral species ('H. ergaster'), and whether H. erectus was an exclusively Asian species lineage that went extinct. Lack of resolution of these issues has obscured the place of H. erectus in human evolution. A hominid calvaria and postcranial remains recently recovered from the Dakanihylo Member of the Bouri Formation, Middle Awash, Ethiopia, bear directly on these issues. These approximately 1.0-million-year (Myr)-old Pleistocene sediments contain abundant early Acheulean stone tools and a diverse vertebrate fauna that indicates a predominantly savannah environment. Here we report that the 'Daka' calvaria's metric and morphological attributes centre it firmly within H. erectus. Daka's resemblance to Asian counterparts indicates that the early African and Eurasian fossil hominids represent demes of a widespread palaeospecies. Daka's anatomical intermediacy between earlier and later African fossils provides evidence of evolutionary change. Its temporal and geographic position indicates that African H. erectus was the ancestor of Homo sapiens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Berhane Asfaw
- Rift Valley Research Service, P.O. Box 5717, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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43
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Manzi G, Mallegni F, Ascenzi A. A cranium for the earliest Europeans: phylogenetic position of the hominid from Ceprano, Italy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001; 98:10011-6. [PMID: 11504953 PMCID: PMC55569 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.151259998] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The human fossil evidence unequivocally pertaining to the first inhabitants of Europe at present includes the sample from Atapuerca-TD6 (Spain) and the incomplete adult calvaria discovered near Ceprano, in Southern Latium (Italy). On the basis of regional correlations and a series of absolute dates, the age of the Ceprano hominid is estimated to range between 800 and 900 kilo-annum (ka). In addition, the association with archaic (Mode 1) Paleolithic findings from the same area is suggested. After the completed reconstruction of the calvaria, we present here a new study dealing with the general and more detailed aspects of the morphology displayed by Ceprano, in comparison to fossil samples ranging between Early and Middle Pleistocene. According to our results, cranial features indicate that Ceprano represents a unique morphological bridge between the clade Homo ergaster/erectus and later Middle Pleistocene specimens commonly referred to Homo heidelbergensis (and/or to Homo rhodesiensis), particularly those belonging to the African fossil record that ultimately relates to the origin of modern humans. In conclusion, given its geographical, chronological, and phylogenetic position, an attribution to the species Homo antecessor is considered, although the sample from Atapuerca-TD6 is not directly comparable to Ceprano. Alternatively, a new species-ancestral to later European and African hominines-should be named to accommodate such a unique fossil specimen.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Manzi
- Istituto Italiano di Paleontologia Umana, Rome, Italy.
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44
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An old species and a new frontier: Some thoughts on the taxonomy of Homo erectus. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2001. [DOI: 10.18778/1898-6773.64.01] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The taxonomic impact on Homo erectus induced by a .preerectus- out-of-Africa. paradigm is preliminarily discussed in this article. Some of the early Homo species in Asia should be allocated to another taxon rather than to H. erectus, although their real identities are not yet readily apparent. Asian H. erectus may be taxonomically distinct from African H. ergaster. Differences between two samples of H. erectus from Java and China, suggesting taxonomic diversity or only geographical variances between these subsets, need further study. Reasons are advanced against the proposal to lump H. erectus into H. sapiens.
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45
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46
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Mcbrearty S, Brooks AS. The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior. J Hum Evol 2000; 39:453-563. [PMID: 11102266 DOI: 10.1006/jhev.2000.0435] [Citation(s) in RCA: 644] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Proponents of the model known as the "human revolution" claim that modern human behaviors arose suddenly, and nearly simultaneously, throughout the Old World ca. 40-50 ka. This fundamental behavioral shift is purported to signal a cognitive advance, a possible reorganization of the brain, and the origin of language. Because the earliest modern human fossils, Homo sapiens sensu stricto, are found in Africa and the adjacent region of the Levant at >100 ka, the "human revolution" model creates a time lag between the appearance of anatomical modernity and perceived behavioral modernity, and creates the impression that the earliest modern Africans were behaviorally primitive. This view of events stems from a profound Eurocentric bias and a failure to appreciate the depth and breadth of the African archaeological record. In fact, many of the components of the "human revolution" claimed to appear at 40-50 ka are found in the African Middle Stone Age tens of thousands of years earlier. These features include blade and microlithic technology, bone tools, increased geographic range, specialized hunting, the use of aquatic resources, long distance trade, systematic processing and use of pigment, and art and decoration. These items do not occur suddenly together as predicted by the "human revolution" model, but at sites that are widely separated in space and time. This suggests a gradual assembling of the package of modern human behaviors in Africa, and its later export to other regions of the Old World. The African Middle and early Late Pleistocene hominid fossil record is fairly continuous and in it can be recognized a number of probably distinct species that provide plausible ancestors for H. sapiens. The appearance of Middle Stone Age technology and the first signs of modern behavior coincide with the appearance of fossils that have been attributed to H. helmei, suggesting the behavior of H. helmei is distinct from that of earlier hominid species and quite similar to that of modern people. If on anatomical and behavioral grounds H. helmei is sunk into H. sapiens, the origin of our species is linked with the appearance of Middle Stone Age technology at 250-300 ka.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Mcbrearty
- Department of Anthropology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269, USA.
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47
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Conroy GC, Weber GW, Seidler H, Recheis W, Zur Nedden D, Mariam JH. Endocranial capacity of the bodo cranium determined from three-dimensional computed tomography. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2000; 113:111-8. [PMID: 10954624 DOI: 10.1002/1096-8644(200009)113:1<111::aid-ajpa10>3.0.co;2-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
The 600,000-year-old cranium from Bodo, Ethiopia, is the oldest and most complete early Middle Pleistocene hominid skull from Africa. "Virtual endocast" models created by three-dimensional computed tomography (CT) techniques indicate an endocranial capacity of about 1,250 cc for this cranium (with a reasonable range between approximately 1,200-1,325 cc, depending on how missing portions of the basicranial region are reconstructed). From these determinations, several important implications emerge concerning current interpretations of "tempo and mode" in early hominid brain evolution: 1) already by the early Middle Pleistocene, at least one African hominid species, Homo heidelbergensis, had reached an endocranial capacity within the normal range of modern humans; 2) in spite of its large endocranial capacity, estimates of Bodo's encephalization quotient fall below those found in a large sample of Homo sapiens (both fossil and recent) and Neandertals; and 3) the greatest burst of brain expansion in the Homo lineage may not have been in the last several hundred thousand years, but rather much earlier in the Lower to early Middle Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- G C Conroy
- Departments of Anatomy and Neurobiology/Anthropology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA.
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48
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Abstract
This review begins by setting out the context and the scope of human evolution. Several classes of evidence, morphological, molecular, and genetic, support a particularly close relationship between modern humans and the species within the genus Pan, the chimpanzee. Thus human evolution is the study of the lineage, or clade, comprising species more closely related to modern humans than to chimpanzees. Its stem species is the so-called 'common hominin ancestor', and its only extant member is Homo sapiens. This clade contains all the species more closely-related to modern humans than to any other living primate. Until recently, these species were all subsumed into a family, Hominidae, but this group is now more usually recognised as a tribe, the Hominini. The rest of the review sets out the formal nomenclature, history of discovery, and information about the characteristic morphology, and its behavioural implications, of the species presently included in the human clade. The taxa are considered within their assigned genera, beginning with the most primitive and finishing with Homo. Within genera, species are presented in order of geological age. The entries conclude with a list of the more important items of fossil evidence, and a summary of relevant taxonomic issues.
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Affiliation(s)
- B Wood
- Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, and Human Origins Program, National Museum for Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
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49
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Scholz M, Bachmann L, Nicholson GJ, Bachmann J, Giddings I, Rüschoff-Thale B, Czarnetzki A, Pusch CM. Genomic differentiation of Neanderthals and anatomically modern man allows a fossil-DNA-based classification of morphologically indistinguishable hominid bones. Am J Hum Genet 2000; 66:1927-32. [PMID: 10788336 PMCID: PMC1378053 DOI: 10.1086/302949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/1999] [Accepted: 04/07/2000] [Indexed: 11/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Southern blot hybridizations of genomic DNA were introduced as a relatively simple fossil-DNA-based approach to classify remains of Neanderthals. When hybridized with genomic DNA of either human or Neanderthal origin, DNA extracted from two Neanderthal finds-the Os parietale, from Warendorf-Neuwarendorf, Germany, and a clavicula, from Krapina, Croatia-was shown to yield hybridization signals that differ by at least a factor of two compared to the signals obtained with the use of fossil DNA of an early Homo sapiens from the Vogelherd cave (Stetten I), Germany. When labeled chimpanzee DNA was used as a probe, Neanderthal and human DNA, however, revealed hybridization signals of similar intensity. Thus, the genome of Neanderthals is expected to differ significantly from the genome of anatomically modern man, because of the contrasting composition of repetitive DNA. These data support the hypothesis that Neanderthals were not ancestors of anatomically modern man.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Scholz
- Osteological Collection, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Abstract
A general theory is proposed that attributes the origins of human intelligence to an expansion of dopaminergic systems in human cognition. Dopamine is postulated to be the key neurotransmitter regulating six predominantly left-hemispheric cognitive skills critical to human language and thought: motor planning, working memory, cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning, temporal analysis/sequencing, and generativity. A dopaminergic expansion during early hominid evolution could have enabled successful chase-hunting in the savannas of sub-Saharan Africa, given the critical role of dopamine in counteracting hyperthermia during endurance activity. In turn, changes in physical activity and diet may have further increased cortical dopamine levels by augmenting tyrosine and its conversion to dopamine in the central nervous system (CNS). By means of the regulatory action of dopamine and other substances, the physiological and dietary changes may have contributed to the vertical elongation of the body, increased brain size, and increased cortical convolutedness that occurred during human evolution. Finally, emphasizing the role of dopamine in human intelligence may offer a new perspective on the advanced cognitive reasoning skills in nonprimate lineages such as cetaceans and avians, whose cortical anatomy differs radically from that of primates.
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Affiliation(s)
- F H Previc
- Flight Stress Protection Division, Brooks Air Force Base, Texas. fred.
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