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Yezzi-Woodley K, Terwilliger A, Li J, Chen E, Tappen M, Calder J, Olver P. Using machine learning on new feature sets extracted from three-dimensional models of broken animal bones to classify fragments according to break agent. J Hum Evol 2024; 187:103495. [PMID: 38309243 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2022] [Revised: 01/02/2024] [Accepted: 01/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
Distinguishing agents of bone modification at paleoanthropological sites is an important means of understanding early hominin evolution. Fracture pattern analysis is used to help determine site formation processes, including whether hominins were hunting or scavenging for animal food resources. Determination of how these behaviors manifested in ancient human sites has major implications for our biological and behavioral evolution, including social and cognitive abilities, dietary impacts of having access to in-bone nutrients like marrow, and cultural variation in butchering and food processing practices. Nevertheless, previous analyses remain inconclusive, often suffering from lack of replicability, misuse of mathematical methods, and/or failure to overcome equifinality. In this paper, we present a new approach aimed at distinguishing bone fragments resulting from hominin and carnivore breakage. Our analysis is founded on a large collection of scanned three-dimensional models of fragmentary bone broken by known agents, to which we apply state of the art machine learning algorithms. Our classification of fragments achieves an average mean accuracy of 77% across tests, thus demonstrating notable, but not overwhelming, success for distinguishing the agent of breakage. We note that, while previous research applying such algorithms has claimed higher success rates, fundamental errors in the application of machine learning protocols suggest that the reported accuracies are unjustified and unreliable. The systematic, fully documented, and proper application of machine learning algorithms leads to an inherent reproducibility of our study, and therefore our methods hold great potential for deciphering when and where hominins first began exploiting marrow and meat, and clarifying their importance and influence on human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katrina Yezzi-Woodley
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA.
| | - Alexander Terwilliger
- School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, 206 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Jiafeng Li
- School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, 206 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Eric Chen
- Mathematics, Wayzata High School, 4955 Peony Ln N, Plymouth, MN, 55446, USA
| | - Martha Tappen
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, 301 19th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN, 55454, USA
| | - Jeff Calder
- School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, 206 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
| | - Peter Olver
- School of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, 206 Church St SE, Minneapolis, MN, 55455, USA
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2
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Buck LT, Menéndez LP, De Groote I, Hassett BR, Matsumura H, Stock JT. Factors influencing cranial variation between prehistoric Japanese forager populations. ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCIENCES 2023; 16:3. [PMID: 38098511 PMCID: PMC10716076 DOI: 10.1007/s12520-023-01901-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the factors shaping human crania has long been a goal of biological anthropology, and climate, diet, and population history are three of the most well-established influences. The effects of these factors are, however, rarely compared within a single, variable population, limiting interpretations of their relative contribution to craniofacial form. Jomon prehistoric foragers inhabited Japan throughout its climatic and ecological range and developed correspondingly varied modes of subsistence. We have previously demonstrated that a large sample of Jomon crania showed no clear climatic pattern; here, we examine variation in Jomon crania in more detail to determine if dietary factors and/or population history influence human intrapopulation variation at this scale. Based on well-established archaeological differences, we divide the Jomon into dietary groups and use geometric morphometric methods to analyse relationships between cranial shape, diet, and population history. We find evidence for diet-related influences on the shape of the neurocranium, particularly in the temporalis region. These shape differences may be interpreted in the context of regional variation in the biomechanical requirements of different diets. More experimental biomechanical and nutritional evidence is needed, however, to move suggested links between dietary content and cranial shape from plausible to well-supported. In contrast with the global scale of human variation, where neutral processes are the strongest influence on cranial shape, we find no pattern of population history amongst individuals from these Jomon sites. The determinants of cranial morphology are complex and the effect of diet is likely mediated by factors including sex, social factors, and chronology. Our results underline the subtlety of the effects of dietary variation beyond the forager/farmer dichotomy on cranial morphology and contribute to our understanding of the complexity of selective pressures shaping human phenotypes on different geographic scales. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12520-023-01901-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- L. T. Buck
- Research Centre for Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF UK
| | - L. P. Menéndez
- Department of Anthropology of the Americas, University of Bonn, Oxfordstrasse 15, 53111 Bonn, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| | - I. De Groote
- Department of Archaeology, Ghent University, Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat 35, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
| | - B. R. Hassett
- University of Central Lancashire, Fylde Rd, Preston, PR1 2HE Lancashire UK
- Natural History Museum London, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD UK
| | - H. Matsumura
- School of Health Sciences, Sapporo Medical University, S1W17, Sapporo, 0608556 Japan
| | - J. T. Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON N6A 3K7 Canada
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3
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Bolter DR, Cameron N, Hawks J, Churchill SE, Berger L, Bernstein R, Boughner JC, Elton S, Leece AB, Mahoney P, Molopyane K, Monson TA, Pruetz J, Schell L, Stull KE, Wolfe CA. Addressing the growing fossil record of subadult hominins by reaching across disciplines. Evol Anthropol 2023; 32:180-184. [PMID: 37555538 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Debra R Bolter
- Department of Anthropology, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, California, USA
- Faculty of Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Stanislaus, Turlock, California, USA
| | - Noel Cameron
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
| | - John Hawks
- Faculty of Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Anthropology Department, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Steven E Churchill
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Lee Berger
- Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Robin Bernstein
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA
| | - Julia C Boughner
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Pharmacology, University of the Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
| | - Sarah Elton
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Health, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - A B Leece
- Palaeoscience, Department of Archaeology and History, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Patrick Mahoney
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Keneiloe Molopyane
- Faculty of Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Tesla A Monson
- Department of Anthropology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington, USA
| | - Jill Pruetz
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | - Lawrence Schell
- Department of Anthropology, State University of New York, Albany, New York, USA
| | - Kyra E Stull
- Department of Anthropology, University of Reno, Reno, Nevada, USA
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4
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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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5
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Pestana C, de Sousa AA, Todorov OS, Beaudet A, Benoit J. Evolutionary history of hominin brain size and phylogenetic comparative methods. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023; 275:217-232. [PMID: 36841569 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
An absolutely and relatively large brain has traditionally been viewed as a distinctive characteristic of the Homo genus, with anatomically modern humans presented at the apex of a long line of progressive increases in encephalization. Many studies continue to focus attention on increasing brain size in the Homo genus, while excluding measures of absolute and relative brain size of more geologically recent, smaller brained, hominins such as Homo floresiensis, and Homo naledi and smaller brained Homo erectus specimens. This review discusses the benefits of using phylogenetic comparative methods to trace the diverse changes in hominin brain evolution and the drawbacks of not doing so.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Pestana
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | | | - Orlin S Todorov
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Amélie Beaudet
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julien Benoit
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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6
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Neuroplasticity enables bio-cultural feedback in Paleolithic stone-tool making. Sci Rep 2023; 13:2877. [PMID: 36807588 PMCID: PMC9938911 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-29994-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2022] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Stone-tool making is an ancient human skill thought to have played a key role in the bio-cultural co-evolutionary feedback that produced modern brains, culture, and cognition. To test the proposed evolutionary mechanisms underpinning this hypothesis we studied stone-tool making skill learning in modern participants and examined interactions between individual neurostructural differences, plastic accommodation, and culturally transmitted behavior. We found that prior experience with other culturally transmitted craft skills increased both initial stone tool-making performance and subsequent neuroplastic training effects in a frontoparietal white matter pathway associated with action control. These effects were mediated by the effect of experience on pre-training variation in a frontotemporal pathway supporting action semantic representation. Our results show that the acquisition of one technical skill can produce structural brain changes conducive to the discovery and acquisition of additional skills, providing empirical evidence for bio-cultural feedback loops long hypothesized to link learning and adaptive change.
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7
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Fuentes A. Evolving Belief, Evolving Minds: Evolutionary Insights Into the Development and Functioning of Human Society. Front Behav Neurosci 2022; 16:928297. [PMID: 35813595 PMCID: PMC9258604 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2022.928297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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8
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Kissel M, Fuentes A. The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:84-98. [PMID: 33547734 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Revised: 09/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, "modern human" is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genus Homo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of "modern" human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kissel
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA
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9
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Fuentes A. Biological anthropology's critical engagement with genomics, evolution, race/racism, and ourselves: Opportunities and challenges to making a difference in the academy and the world. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2020; 175:326-338. [PMID: 33098091 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 07/25/2020] [Accepted: 10/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Biological anthropology can, and should, matter in the Anthropocene. Biological anthropologists are interested in human biology and the human experience in a broader ecological, evolutionary, and phylogenetic context. We are interested in the material of the body, the history of the body, and interactions of diverse bodies, communities, ecologies, and evolutionary processes. However, the cultural realities of bodies, histories, communities, livelihoods, perceptions, and experiences are as central to the endeavor and inquiry of biological anthropology as are their material aspects. Biological anthropology is a constant dialectic between the cultural and the biological. In this essay, I argue that Biological Anthropology has much to offer, a history to contend with, and a future that matters. To illustrate this, I highlight theoretical and methodological issues in genomics, evolutionary theory and connect them to the study of Race and Racism to emphasize specific arenas where Biological Anthropology has a great capacity, and a strong obligation, to play a central role. However, Biological Anthropology also has substantive internal issues that hinder our ability to do the best possible science. If we are to live up to our potential and make a difference in the 21st century we need to ameliorate our structural shortcomings and expand our voice, and impact, in academic and public discourse. The goal of this perspective is to offer suggestions for moving us toward this goal.
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Fuentes
- Department of Anthropology, 123 Aaron Burr Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA
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10
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Murray JK, Benitez RA, O'Brien MJ. The extended evolutionary synthesis and human origins: Archaeological perspectives. Evol Anthropol 2020; 30:4-7. [PMID: 32574411 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2019] [Revised: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Recent developments in evolutionary biology have led to a call for an extension of standard evolutionary theory, with its emphasis on processes such as selection and drift, into a much larger theoretical framework that includes processes such as niche construction, developmental plasticity, inclusive inheritance, and developmental bias. Skeptics argue that these processes are already subsumed within the standard theory and thus an extension is not required. Here, we outline what this evolutionary "rethink" might mean for the study of human origins. Specifically, can paleoanthropologists benefit from an extended theoretical toolkit? The papers in this special issue suggest it can be useful but may not be necessary, depending on the kinds of questions that are being asked.
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Affiliation(s)
- John K Murray
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | | | - Michael J O'Brien
- Department of Communication, History, and Philosophy, Texas A&M-San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA.,Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
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11
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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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12
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Zeder MA. Why evolutionary biology needs anthropology: Evaluating core assumptions of the extended evolutionary synthesis. Evol Anthropol 2018; 27:267-284. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2018] [Revised: 06/12/2018] [Accepted: 08/17/2018] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Melinda A. Zeder
- Department of AnthropologyNational Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution Washington District of Columbia
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13
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Will M, Pablos A, Stock JT. Long-term patterns of body mass and stature evolution within the hominin lineage. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:171339. [PMID: 29291118 PMCID: PMC5717693 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.171339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/04/2017] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Body size is a central determinant of a species' biology and adaptive strategy, but the number of reliable estimates of hominin body mass and stature have been insufficient to determine long-term patterns and subtle interactions in these size components within our lineage. Here, we analyse 254 body mass and 204 stature estimates from a total of 311 hominin specimens dating from 4.4 Ma to the Holocene using multi-level chronological and taxonomic analytical categories. The results demonstrate complex temporal patterns of body size variation with phases of relative stasis intermitted by periods of rapid increases. The observed trajectories could result from punctuated increases at speciation events, but also differential proliferation of large-bodied taxa or the extinction of small-bodied populations. Combined taxonomic and temporal analyses show that in relation to australopithecines, early Homo is characterized by significantly larger average body mass and stature but retains considerable diversity, including small body sizes. Within later Homo, stature and body mass evolution follow different trajectories: average modern stature is maintained from ca 1.6 Ma, while consistently higher body masses are not established until the Middle Pleistocene at ca 0.5-0.4 Ma, likely caused by directional selection related to colonizing higher latitudes. Selection against small-bodied individuals (less than 40 kg; less than 140 cm) after 1.4 Ma is associated with a decrease in relative size variability in later Homo species compared with earlier Homo and australopithecines. The isolated small-bodied individuals of Homo naledi (ca 0.3 Ma) and Homo floresiensis (ca 100-60 ka) constitute important exceptions to these general patterns, adding further layers of complexity to the evolution of body size within the genus Homo. At the end of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, body size in Homo sapiens declines on average, but also extends to lower limits not seen in comparable frequency since early Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Will
- Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Adrián Pablos
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain
- Grupo de Bioacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropolgía (BEP), Área de Antropología Física, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28871 Madrid, Spain
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, c/Monforte de Lemos, 5, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Jay T. Stock
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3QG, UK
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Ontario, CanadaN6A 3K7
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14
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Bateson P, Cartwright N, Dupré J, Laland K, Noble D. New trends in evolutionary biology: biological, philosophical and social science perspectives. Interface Focus 2017; 7:20170051. [PMCID: PMC5566820 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2017.0051] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Bateson
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Nancy Cartwright
- Department of Philosophy, Durham University, 50 Old Elvet, Durham DH13HN, UK
| | - John Dupré
- Egenis, The Centre for the Study of Life Sciences, Byrne House, St German's Road, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4PJ, UK
| | - Kevin Laland
- Centre for Biological Diversity, School of Biology, University of St Andrews, Harold Mitchell Building, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TH, UK
| | - Denis Noble
- Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PT, UK
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