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Arsuaga JL, Martínez I, Gracia-Téllez A, Carretero JM, Esquivel A, García N, Lorenzo C, Quam R, Aramburu A, Sala N, Trueba J. How the Sima de los Huesos was won. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38813936 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2024] [Revised: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024]
Abstract
Although the first discovery of a human fossil in the Sima de los Huesos took place in 1976, systematic excavations did not begin there until 1984. Since then, this site has been continuously excavated in month-long camps. The site is dated by different radiometric techniques to between 430,000 and 300,000 years ago. Until the 2023 campaign, just over 7000 human fossils have been recovered, constituting the largest collection of fossils prior to Homo sapiens ever discovered. The fossils correspond to a minimum of 29 individuals of both sexes and different ages at death, from preadolescents to a specimen of advanced age. Comparative anatomy and ancient DNA studies both suggest that this is a population closely related to Homo neanderthalensis. The great variety and extraordinary quality of the fossils recovered have allowed us to carry out a series of investigations that have greatly increased our knowledge about the evolution of Homo in the Middle Pleistocene. Among the most important discoveries, it has been possible to establish body size and proportions, the confirmation that the origin of the accumulation of human fossils was of an anthropic nature, that those past humans took care of disabled individuals and who were capable of having an oral language almost as complex and efficient as that of our own species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Ana Gracia-Téllez
- Departamento de Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, Área de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain
| | - José-Miguel Carretero
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- Unidad Asociada de I+D+i al CSIC Vidrio y Materiales del Patrimonio Cultural (VIMPAC), Burgos, Spain
| | - Alfonso Esquivel
- Fundación Ciudad de la Energía - CIUDEN, F.S.P. Cl. de la Energía, Ponferrada, Spain
| | - Nuria García
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- Grupo UCM Ecosistemas Cuaternarios Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Àrea de Prehistòria, Tarragona, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Rolf Quam
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), New York, New York, USA
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
| | - Arantza Aramburu
- Departamento de Geología, Área de Mineralogía y Petrología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Leioa, Spain
| | - Nohemi Sala
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre Evolución Humana-CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
| | - Javier Trueba
- Madrid Scientific Films, Villanueva de la Cañada, Spain
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Gómez-Olivencia A, Arsuaga JL. The Sima de los Huesos thorax and lumbar spine: Selected traits and state-of-the-art. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024. [PMID: 38450997 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/08/2024]
Abstract
Information on the evolution of the thorax and lumbar spine in the genus Homo is hampered by a limited fossil record due to the inherent fragility of vertebrae and ribs. Neandertals show significant metric and morphological differences in these two anatomical regions, when compared to Homo sapiens. Thus, the important fossil record from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (SH) not only offers important information on the evolution of these anatomical regions within the Neandertal lineage but also provides important clues to understand the evolution of these regions at the genus level. We present the current knowledge of the costal skeleton, and the thoracic and lumbar spine anatomy of the hominins found in Sima de los Huesos compared to that of Neandertals and modern humans. The current SH fossil record comprises 738 vertebral specimens representing a minimum of 70 cervical, 95 thoracic and 47 lumbar vertebrae, 652 rib fragments representing a minimum of 118 ribs, and 26 sternal fragments representing 4 sterna. The SH hominins exhibit a morphological pattern in their thorax and lumbar spine more similar to that of Neandertals than to that of H. sapiens, which is consistent with the phylogenetic position of these hominins. However, there are some differences between the SH hominins and Neandertals in these anatomical regions, primarily in the orientation of the lumbar transverse processes and in the robusticity of the second ribs. The presence of some but not all of the suite of Neandertal-derived features is consistent with the pattern found in the cranium and other postcranial regions of this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Dept. Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain
- Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Hautavoine H, Arnaud J, Balzeau A, Mounier A. Quantifying hominin morphological diversity at the end of the middle Pleistocene: Implications for the origin of Homo sapiens. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2024:e24915. [PMID: 38444398 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 12/25/2023] [Accepted: 01/28/2024] [Indexed: 03/07/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The Middle Pleistocene (MP) saw the emergence of new species of hominins: Homo sapiens in Africa, H. neanderthalensis, and possibly Denisovans in Eurasia, whose most recent common ancestor is thought to have lived in Africa around 600 ka ago. However, hominin remains from this period present a wide range of morphological variation making it difficult to securely determine their taxonomic attribution and their phylogenetic position within the Homo genus. This study proposes to reconsider the phenetic relationships between MP hominin fossils in order to clarify evolutionary trends and contacts between the populations they represent. MATERIALS AND METHODS We used a Geometric Morphometrics approach to quantify the morphological variation of the calvarium of controversial MP specimens from Africa and Eurasia by using a comparative sample that can be divided into 5 groups: H. ergaster, H. erectus, H. neanderthalensis, and H. sapiens, as well as individuals from current modern human populations. We performed a Generalized Procrustes Analysis, a Principal Component Analysis, and Multinomial Principal Component Logistic Regressions to determine the phenetic affinities of the controversial Middle Pleistocene specimens with the other groups. RESULTS MP African and Eurasian specimens represent several populations, some of which show strong affinities with H. neanderthalensis in Europe or H. sapiens in Africa, others presenting multiple affinities. DISCUSSION These MP populations might have contributed to the emergence of these two species in different proportions. This study proposes a new framework for the human evolutionary history during the MP.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hugo Hautavoine
- PaléoFED, Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Paris, France
| | - Julie Arnaud
- PaléoFED, Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Paris, France
- Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università degli Studi di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
| | - Antoine Balzeau
- PaléoFED, Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Paris, France
- Département de Zoologie Africaine, Musée Royal de l'Afrique Centrale, Tervuren, Belgium
| | - Aurélien Mounier
- PaléoFED, Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP, UMR 7194), MNHN/CNRS/UPVD, Paris, France
- Turkana Basin Institute, Nairobi, Kenya
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Martínez I, Conde-Valverde M, Quam R, Arsuaga JL. Fusion of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis as a developmental marker in the Sima de los Huesos Crania (Atapuerca, Spain). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023. [PMID: 37909253 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
The basicranium contains multiple synchondroses potentially informative for estimating the developmental stage of individuals. The basilar synchondrosis has been routinely used for this purpose in bioarchaeological, forensic and paleoanthropological research, and studies carried out in modern human populations have shown a close relationship between the fusion of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis and developmental processes. This synchondrosis articulates the jugular process of the occipital bone with the jugular surface of the temporal bone. As the process of fusion of the synchondrosis progresses, the jugular surface undergoes a series of alterations whose study allows to establish the state of fusion of the synchondrosis when the individual died. The extraordinary preservation of the jugular surface in a large number of individuals represented in the fossil hominin sample from the middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) has made it possible to carry out the first systematic study to assess the usefulness of occipitomastoidal synchondrosis in the establishment of the state of development in fossil hominins. Our results show that the complete closure of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis occurred toward the end of the growth period in the SH fossils. This result opens up the possibility of using it to determine the developmental stage of fossil hominins for which no other information is available, such as the state of the dentition or the degree of closure of the basilar synchondrosis. This has allowed us to infer a state of development for three SH crania where it could not previously be established with certainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Martínez
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Mercedes Conde-Valverde
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, New York, USA
| | - Rolf Quam
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, New York, USA
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Carretero JM, Rodríguez L, García-González R, Arsuaga JL. Main morphological characteristics and sexual dimorphism of hominin adult femora from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023. [PMID: 37794824 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Revised: 08/28/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/06/2023]
Abstract
The excellent fossil record from Sima de los Huesos (SH) includes three well-known complete adult femora and several partial specimens that have not yet been published in detail. This fossil record provides an opportunity to analyze the morphology of European pre-Neandertal adult femur and its variation with different evolution patterns. Currently, there are a minimum of five adult individuals (males or females). In this study, we compiled previously published basic anatomical and biometric characteristics of SH adult femora, emphasizing the most relevant features compared to other recent and fossil hominins. The SH femora exhibited a primitive morphological pattern common to all non-Homo sapiens femora, as well as most of the Neandertal traits. Therefore, the complete Upper Pleistocene Neandertal pattern was well-established in Middle Pleistocene ancestors long before the proper Neandertals appeared. Additionally, we highlight that the SH and Neandertal femora share some morphological traits and proportions with modern humans that hold sexual significance in our species, regardless of size. Keeping this in mind, we discussed the sex determination of the complete SH specimens and re-evaluated sex allocation in two of them.
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Affiliation(s)
- José-Miguel Carretero
- Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- Unidad Asociada de I+D+i al CSIC, Vidrio y Materiales del Patrimonio Cultural (VIMPAC), Burgos, Spain
| | - Laura Rodríguez
- Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- Area de Antropología Física, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Gestión Ambiental, Universidad de León, León, Spain
| | - Rebeca García-González
- Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
| | - Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Departamento de Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Petersen BC. An economic model and evidence of the evolution of human intelligence in the Middle Pleistocene: Climate change and assortative mating. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287964. [PMID: 37531351 PMCID: PMC10395973 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287964] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2022] [Accepted: 06/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A main objective of this paper is to provide the first model of how climate change, working through sexual selection, could have led to dramatic increases in hominin brain size, and presumably intelligence, in the Middle Pleistocene. The model is built using core elements from the field of family economics, including assortative mating and specialization and complementarities between mates. The main assumptions are that family public goods (e.g., conversation, shelter, fire) were particularly cognitively intensive to produce and became increasingly important for child survival during glacial phases. Intermediate climates (e.g., not the depths of severe glacial phases) create the largest gains from specialization, encouraging negative assortative mating. In contrast, severe glacial phases encourage positive assortative mating because of the rising importance of family public goods. One testable hypothesis is that absence of severe glacial phases should have led to stasis in brain size. Two other testable hypotheses are that severe glacial phases should have led to speciation events, as well as increases in brain size. The evidence shows that there was a million-year stasis in cranial size prior to the start of the severe glacial phases. This stasis is broken by a speciation event (Homo heidelbergensis), with the oldest fossil evidence dated near the close of the first severe glacial phase. In the next 300 kyr, there are two additional severe glacial phases, accompanied by considerable increases in cranial capacity. The last speciation event is Homo sapiens, with the earliest fossils dated near the end of the last of these two glacial phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruce C Petersen
- Department of Economics, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of America
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Carretero JM, García-González R, Rodríguez L, Arsuaga JL. Main anatomical characteristics of the hominin fossil humeri from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain: An update. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2023. [PMID: 36916962 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2022] [Revised: 11/24/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/15/2023]
Abstract
Some of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) humeri have been previously studied and described elsewhere. Here we present an updated inventory and a review of the specimens recovered to the present day. The morphological key traits of the adult and subadult specimens are described, discussed, and illustrated. The SH humeri share with Neandertals many traits usually considered to be Neandertal specializations, thus, most of this morphological pattern is not exclusive to them. The variation found within fossil samples stresses the frequential nature of all these traits and in the specific case of the SH humeri, most of the traits considered as phylogenetically relevant are retained by their descendants, the Neandertals. Some traits are plesiomorphic for the entire genus Homo or are present in European hominins since the early Pleistocene. Finally, some other traits display high variability within the SH sample or different hominin samples and are of uncertain phylogenetic value. Altogether, this evidence is consistent with the hypothesis based on the overall cranial and postcranial morphology that the SH hominins are a sister group to the later Neandertals.
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Affiliation(s)
- José-Miguel Carretero
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain.,Unidad Asociada de I+D+i al CSIC Vidrio y Materiales del Patrimonio Cultural (VIMPAC), Burgos, Spain.,Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos 5 (Pabellón 14), Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Laura Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain.,Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas y Ambientales, Departamento de Biodiversidad y Gestión Ambiental, Universidad de León, León, Spain
| | - Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos 5 (Pabellón 14), Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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8
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Arlegi M, García‐Sagastibelza A, Veschambre‐Couture C, Gómez‐Olivencia A. Sexual dimorphism in the first rib of Homo sapiens. J Anat 2022; 240:959-971. [PMID: 34796481 PMCID: PMC9005670 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2021] [Revised: 11/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
This work aimed to study sexual dimorphism in the first rib of modern humans, with a special focus on whether differences in shape are due to divergent allometric growth in males and females. Also, we compare the accuracy of sex classification using different approaches based on two methodologies, traditional morphometry based on linear measurements and geometric morphometric analysis based on 2D landmark coordinates. The sample studied here comprised 121 right and left first ribs from 65 female and male adult recent Euro-American Homo sapiens individuals. For traditional morphometrics, 12 metric variables were collected from each rib using a digital caliper, and for geometric morphometrics, six landmarks and 31 semilandmarks were captured from photographs using digital software. Both geometric morphometric and metric data were analyzed to calculate the index of sexual dimorphism, variation related to lateral asymmetry, variation in size and shape, and allometric trends between males and females. Finally, a linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was performed comparing both methodologies to test the best approach for sex classification. Results indicated that there are significant sex differences in the size and shape of the first ribs of recent Euro-American Homo sapiens. Regression analysis revealed different allometric patterns for males and females, and this could partially explain shape differences between sexes. Additionally, traditional morphometrics showed that all characteristics analyzed are significantly dimorphic, with the midshaft minimum craniocaudal diameter, the sternal end minimum diameter, and the neck minimum craniocaudal diameter displaying the most dimorphic scores. Similarly, geometric morphometrics results indicated that males have more curved and interno-exteriorly wider first ribs. Finally, analysis of sex classification using LDA yielded slightly better accuracy for traditional morphometry (83.8%) than the geometric morphometrics approach (81.3%) based on form Procrustes coordinates. This study demonstrates the usefulness of applying two different morphometric approaches to obtain more comprehensive results.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikel Arlegi
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES‐CERCA)TarragonaSpain
- Departament d’Història i Història de l’ArtUniversitat Rovira i VirgiliTarragonaSpain
| | - Andrea García‐Sagastibelza
- Facultad de Ciencia y TecnologíaDepartamento de GeologíaUniversidad del País Vasco‐Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)LeioaSpain
- UMR 5199 PACEAUniversité de Bordeaux. Allée Geoffroy Saint HilairePessacFrance
| | | | - Asier Gómez‐Olivencia
- Facultad de Ciencia y TecnologíaDepartamento de GeologíaUniversidad del País Vasco‐Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU)LeioaSpain
- Centro UCM‐ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento HumanosMadridSpain
- Sociedad de Ciencias AranzadiDonostia‐San SebastiánSpain
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9
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Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martínez de Pinillos M, Martín-Francés L, Modesto-Mata M, García-Campos C, Arsuaga JL, Martinón-Torres M. Dental remains of the Middle Pleistocene hominins from the Sima de los Huesos site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): Maxillary dentition. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2021. [PMID: 34866354 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2021] [Revised: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain) has yielded a considerable number of human fossils during the period 1984-2020. Among them, up to 253 maxillary teeth have been recovered. In this article, we present the description of the eight dental classes of the maxilla following the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System classification. In addition, we present the mean mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters of these teeth compared to those of Neanderthals and a modern human sample. The morphology of both the anterior and posterior teeth suggests a close relationship of the Sima de los Huesos hominins with the populations of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and the Near East, as well as with the so-called classic Neanderthals of Europe. Features with a recognizable taxonomic signal allow grouping the Sima de los Huesos hominins with different paleodemes into a Neanderthal clade. The dental evidence of the Sima de los Huesos hominins is key to suggest a complex model for the settlement of Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. During this period, different migrations of human groups probably coming from Southwest Asia, replacements, prolonged isolations, as well as hybridization and introgression processes would have contributed to the diversity of hominins in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Department of Paleobiology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marina Martínez de Pinillos
- Department of Paleobiology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
| | - Laura Martín-Francés
- Department of Paleobiology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
- Fundación Atapuerca, Carretera de Logroño 44, Ibeas de Juarros, Burgos, 09198, Spain
| | - Mario Modesto-Mata
- Equipo Primeros Pobladores de Extremadura, Casa de la Cultura Rodríguez Moñino, Cáceres, Spain
| | - Cecilia García-Campos
- Department of Paleobiology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
- Fundación Atapuerca, Carretera de Logroño 44, Ibeas de Juarros, Burgos, 09198, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- Department of Paleobiology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
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10
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Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martínez de Pinillos M, Martín-Francés L, Modesto-Mata M, García-Campos C, Arsuaga JL, Martinón-Torres M. Dental remains of the Middle Pleistocene hominins from the Sima de los Huesos site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): Mandibular dentition. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2021. [PMID: 34851548 DOI: 10.1002/ar.24840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2021] [Revised: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
The Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain) has yielded a considerable number of human fossils during the period 1984-2020. Among them, up to 314 mandibular teeth have been identified. In this second paper dedicated to the dentition we present the description of the eight dental classes of the mandible following the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS) classification. In addition, we show the mean mesiodistal and buccolingual diameters obtained in these teeth compared to those of Neanderthals and a modern human sample. The morphology of both the anterior and posterior teeth suggests a close relationship of the Sima de los Huesos hominins with the populations of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and the Near East, as well as with the so-called classic Neanderthals of Europe. The combination of dental traits in these populations is characteristic and diagnostic and suggests grouping the Sima de los Huesos hominins with the other paleodemes in a Neanderthal clade. The dental evidence of the Sima de los Huesos hominins is key to propose a complex model for the settlement of Europe during the Middle Pleistocene. In this period, different migrations of human groups probably coming from Southwest Asia, replacements, prolonged isolations, as well as hybridization and introgression processes would have contributed to the diversity of hominins in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- José María Bermúdez de Castro
- CENIEH (Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana), Burgos, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
| | | | - Laura Martín-Francés
- CENIEH (Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana), Burgos, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
- Fundación Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain
| | - Mario Modesto-Mata
- Equipo Primeros Pobladores de Extremadura, Casa de la Cultura Rodríguez Moñino, Cáceres, Spain
| | - Cecilia García-Campos
- CENIEH (Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana), Burgos, Spain
- Fundación Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- CENIEH (Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana), Burgos, Spain
- Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
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Will M, Krapp M, Stock JT, Manica A. Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4116. [PMID: 34238930 PMCID: PMC8266824 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24290-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key macro-evolutionary pattern in the hominin lineage, yet the mechanisms behind these changes remain debated. Hypothesized drivers include environmental, demographic, social, dietary, and technological factors. Here we test the influence of environmental factors on the evolution of body and brain size in the genus Homo over the last one million years using a large fossil dataset combined with global paleoclimatic reconstructions and formalized hypotheses tested in a quantitative statistical framework. We identify temperature as a major predictor of body size variation within Homo, in accordance with Bergmann's rule. In contrast, net primary productivity of environments and long-term variability in precipitation correlate with brain size but explain low amounts of the observed variation. These associations are likely due to an indirect environmental influence on cognitive abilities and extinction probabilities. Most environmental factors that we test do not correspond with body and brain size evolution, pointing towards complex scenarios which underlie the evolution of key biological characteristics in later Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Mario Krapp
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Jay T Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Andrea Manica
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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12
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García-Campos C, Modesto-Mata M, Martinón-Torres M, Martínez de Pinillos M, Martín-Francés L, Arsuaga JL, Bermúdez de Castro JM. Sexual dimorphism of the enamel and dentine dimensions of the permanent canines of the Middle Pleistocene hominins from Sima de los Huesos (Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102793. [PMID: 32442650 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 01/26/2023]
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism is an important component of the total variation seen in populations and plays a key role in taxonomic debates. In this study, microtomographic (microcomputed tomography) techniques were applied to a sample of hominin teeth from the Sima de los Huesos site (Spain). Dental tissue proportions of the permanent canines were assessed to characterize the pattern and degree of sexual dimorphism within this population. In addition, the possible similarities and differences with the Homo neanderthalensis remains from Krapina (Croatia) and with a recent modern human sample were evaluated. A combination of classical statistical approaches with more novel techniques allowed us not only to ratify the sex allocation of the individuals previously assigned in the literature but also to estimate the sex of the youngest individuals, which were not assessed in previous studies. Likewise, the sexes of certain extensively worn canines and isolated pieces were estimated. As a result, the sex ratio observed in our dental sample from the Sima de los Huesos population is 5:9 (Nm:Nf). In general terms, both Sima de los Huesos and Krapina dental samples have a degree of sexual dimorphism in their permanent canine tissue proportions that does not surpass that of modern humans. The marked dimorphic root volume of Sima de los Huesos mandibular canines is the exception, which surpasses the modern human mean, although it falls within the 95% confidence interval. Therefore, our results do not support that dental tissue proportions of the European Middle Pleistocene populations were more dimorphic than in modern humans. However, the differences in canine tissue proportions are great enough to allow sex estimation with a high degree of confidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cecilia García-Campos
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK.
| | - Mario Modesto-Mata
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Marina Martínez de Pinillos
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - Laura Martín-Francés
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK; Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33615, Pessac Cedex, France
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de La Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Anthropology Department, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
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13
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The affinities of Homo antecessor – a review of craniofacial features and their taxonomic validity. ANTHROPOLOGICAL REVIEW 2018. [DOI: 10.2478/anre-2018-0020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The phylogenetic affinities of Homo antecessor, a hominin dating from the early Middle Pleistocene of Europe, are still unclear. In this study we conducted a comprehensive review of the TD6 hypodigm within the context of the historical development of paleoanthropological issues concerning this species. H. antecessor, based on all available craniofacial features to date, displays a midfacial morphology very similar to specimens attributed to Classic Homo erectus, suggesting that H. antecessor is the geographical European variant of Classic H. erectus.
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14
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Hanegraef H, Martinón-Torres M, Martínez de Pinillos M, Martín-Francés L, Vialet A, Arsuaga JL, Bermúdez de Castro JM. Dentine morphology of Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos lower molars: Evolutionary implications through three-dimensional geometric morphometric analysis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 166:276-295. [PMID: 29417989 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23428] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2016] [Revised: 11/06/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This study aims to explore the affinities of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) population in relation to Homo neanderthalensis, Arago, and early and contemporary Homo sapiens. By characterizing SH intra-population variation, we test current models to explain the Neanderthal origins. MATERIALS AND METHODS Three-dimensional reconstructions of dentine surfaces of lower first and second molars were produced by micro-computed tomography. Landmarks and sliding semilandmarks were subjected to generalized Procrustes analysis and principal components analysis. RESULTS SH is often similar in shape to Neanderthals, and both groups are generally discernible from Homo sapiens. For example, the crown height of SH and Neanderthals is lower than for modern humans. Differences in the presence of a mid-trigonid crest are also observed, with contemporary Homo sapiens usually lacking this feature. Although SH and Neanderthals show strong affinities, they can be discriminated based on certain traits. SH individuals are characterized by a lower intra-population variability, and show a derived dental reduction in lower second molars compared to Neanderthals. SH also differs in morphological features from specimens that are often classified as Homo heidelbergensis, such as a lower crown height and less pronounced mid-trigonid crest in the Arago fossils. DISCUSSION Our results are compatible with the idea that multiple evolutionary lineages or populations coexisted in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene, with the SH paradigm phylogenetically closer to Homo neanderthalensis. Further research could support the possibility of SH as a separate taxon. Alternatively, SH could be a subspecies of Neanderthals, with the variability of this clade being remarkably higher than previously thought.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hester Hanegraef
- Department of Anthropology, University College London (UCL), 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- Department of Anthropology, University College London (UCL), 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom.,National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
| | - Marina Martínez de Pinillos
- Department of Anthropology, University College London (UCL), 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom.,National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
| | - Laura Martín-Francés
- National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain.,Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199 F_33615, Pessac Cedex, France
| | - Amélie Vialet
- Département de Préhistoire du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, 1 Rue René-Panhard, Paris, 75013, France
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avd. Monforte de Lemos 5, Pabellón 14, Madrid, 28029, Spain
| | - José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Department of Anthropology, University College London (UCL), 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, United Kingdom.,National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, 09002, Spain
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15
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EarlyHomoand the role of the genus in paleoanthropology. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 165 Suppl 65:72-89. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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16
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Ruff CB, Burgess ML, Squyres N, Junno JA, Trinkaus E. Lower limb articular scaling and body mass estimation in Pliocene and Pleistocene hominins. J Hum Evol 2018; 115:85-111. [PMID: 29331230 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2017] [Revised: 10/11/2017] [Accepted: 10/14/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Previous attempts to estimate body mass in pre-Holocene hominins have relied on prediction equations derived from relatively limited extant samples. Here we derive new equations to predict body mass from femoral head breadth and proximal tibial plateau breadth based on a large and diverse sample of modern humans (avoiding the problems associated with using diaphyseal dimensions and/or cadaveric reference samples). In addition, an adjustment for the relatively small femoral heads of non-Homo taxa is developed based on observed differences in hip to knee joint scaling. Body mass is then estimated for 214 terminal Miocene through Pleistocene hominin specimens. Mean body masses for non-Homo taxa range between 39 and 49 kg (39-45 kg if sex-specific means are averaged), with no consistent temporal trend (6-1.85 Ma). Mean body mass increases in early Homo (2.04-1.77 Ma) to 55-59 kg, and then again dramatically in Homo erectus and later archaic middle Pleistocene Homo, to about 70 kg. The same average body mass is maintained in late Pleistocene archaic Homo and early anatomically modern humans through the early/middle Upper Paleolithic (0.024 Ma), only declining in the late Upper Paleolithic, with regional variation. Sexual dimorphism in body mass is greatest in Australopithecus afarensis (log[male/female] = 1.54), declines in Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus (log ratio 1.36), and then again in early Homo and middle and late Pleistocene archaic Homo (log ratio 1.20-1.27), although it remains somewhat elevated above that of living and middle/late Pleistocene anatomically modern humans (log ratio about 1.15).
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher B Ruff
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
| | - M Loring Burgess
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Nicole Squyres
- Center for Functional Anatomy and Evolution, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 E. Monument St., Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
| | - Juho-Antti Junno
- Department of Archeology, University of Oulu, Oulu 90014, Finland
| | - Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
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17
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Vidal-Cordasco M, Mateos A, Zorrilla-Revilla G, Prado-Nóvoa O, Rodríguez J. Energetic cost of walking in fossil hominins. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 164:609-622. [PMID: 28832938 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2016] [Revised: 01/15/2017] [Accepted: 08/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Many biomechanical studies consistently show that a broader pelvis increases the reaction forces and bending moments across the femoral shaft, increasing the energetic costs of unloaded locomotion. However, a biomechanical model does not provide the real amount of metabolic energy expended in walking. The aim of this study is to test the influence of pelvis breadth on locomotion cost and to evaluate the locomotion efficiency of extinct Pleistocene hominins. MATERIAL AND METHODS The current study measures in vivo the influence of pelvis width on the caloric cost of locomotion, integrating anthropometry, body composition and indirect calorimetry protocols in a sample of 46 subjects of both sexes. RESULTS We show that a broader false pelvis is substantially more efficient for locomotion than a narrower one and that the influence of false pelvis width on the energetic cost is similar to the influence of leg length. Two models integrating body mass, femur length and bi-iliac breadth are used to estimate the net and gross energetic costs of locomotion in a number of extinct hominins. The results presented here show that the locomotion of Homo was not energetically more efficient than that of Australopithecus and that the locomotion of extinct Homo species was not less efficient than that of modern Homo sapiens. DISCUSSION The changes in the anatomy of the pelvis and lower limb observed with the appearance of Homo ergaster probably did not fully offset the increased expenditure resulting from a larger body mass. Moreover, the narrow pelvis in modern humans does not contribute to greater efficiency of locomotion.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Vidal-Cordasco
- Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), 3, Burgos 09002, Spain
| | - A Mateos
- Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), 3, Burgos 09002, Spain
| | - G Zorrilla-Revilla
- Escuela Interuniversitaria de Posgrado en Evolucion Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Pza. Misael Bañuelos s/n, Burgos 09001, Spain
| | - O Prado-Nóvoa
- Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), 3, Burgos 09002, Spain
| | - J Rodríguez
- Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), 3, Burgos 09002, Spain
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18
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Rodríguez L, Carretero JM, García-González R, Lorenzo C, Gómez-Olivencia A, Quam R, Martínez I, Gracia-Téllez A, Arsuaga JL. Fossil hominin radii from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain). J Hum Evol 2016; 90:55-73. [PMID: 26767960 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2014] [Revised: 09/09/2015] [Accepted: 09/15/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Complete radii in the fossil record preceding recent humans and Neandertals are very scarce. Here we introduce the radial remains recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site in the Sierra de Atapuerca between 1976 and 2011 and which have been dated in excess of 430 ky (thousands of years) ago. The sample comprises 89 specimens, 49 of which are attributed to adults representing a minimum of seven individuals. All elements are described anatomically and metrically, and compared with other fossil hominins and recent humans in order to examine the phylogenetic polarity of certain radial features. Radial remains from SH have some traits that differentiate them from those of recent humans and make them more similar to Neandertals, including strongly curved shafts, anteroposterior expanded radial heads and both absolutely and relatively long necks. In contrast, the SH sample differs from Neandertals in showing a high overall gracility as well as a high frequency (80%) of an anteriorly oriented radial tuberosity. Thus, like the cranial and dental remains from the SH site, characteristic Neandertal radial morphology is not present fully in the SH radii. We also analyzed the cross-sectional properties of the SH radial sample at two different levels: mid-shaft and at the midpoint of the neck length. When standardized by shaft length, no difference in the mid-shaft cross-sectional properties were found between the SH hominins, Neandertals and recent humans. Nevertheless, due to their long neck length, the SH hominins show a higher lever efficiency than either Neandertals or recent humans. Functionally, the SH radial morphology is consistent with more efficient pronation-supination and flexion-extension movements. The particular trait composition in the SH sample and Neandertals resembles more closely morphology evident in recent human males.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i. Plaza Misael de Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain; Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca s/n, 09002 Burgos, Spain.
| | - José Miguel Carretero
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i. Plaza Misael de Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain; Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Rebeca García-González
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i. Plaza Misael de Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Institut de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Marcel·lí Domingo s/n, 43007, Tarragona, Spain; Área de Prehistoria, Facultat de Lletres, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Av. Catalunya, 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain; Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Dept. Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, UPV-EHU, Apdo. 644, 48080 Bilbao, Spain; IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, USA
| | - Rolf Quam
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Dept. of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY 13902-6000, USA; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Área de Antropología Física, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Ana Gracia-Téllez
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Área de Paleontología, Departamento de Geología, Geografía y Medio Ambiente, Universidad de Alcalá, Campus Universitario, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain
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Arsuaga JL, Carretero JM, Lorenzo C, Gómez-Olivencia A, Pablos A, Rodríguez L, García-González R, Bonmatí A, Quam RM, Pantoja-Pérez A, Martínez I, Aranburu A, Gracia-Téllez A, Poza-Rey E, Sala N, García N, Alcázar de Velasco A, Cuenca-Bescós G, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Carbonell E. Postcranial morphology of the middle Pleistocene humans from Sima de los Huesos, Spain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:11524-9. [PMID: 26324920 PMCID: PMC4577189 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1514828112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 126] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Current knowledge of the evolution of the postcranial skeleton in the genus Homo is hampered by a geographically and chronologically scattered fossil record. Here we present a complete characterization of the postcranium of the middle Pleistocene paleodeme from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) and its paleobiological implications. The SH hominins show the following: (i) wide bodies, a plesiomorphic character in the genus Homo inherited from their early hominin ancestors; (ii) statures that can be found in modern human middle-latitude populations that first appeared 1.6-1.5 Mya; and (iii) large femoral heads in some individuals, a trait that first appeared during the middle Pleistocene in Africa and Europe. The intrapopulational size variation in SH shows that the level of dimorphism was similar to modern humans (MH), but the SH hominins were less encephalized than Neandertals. SH shares many postcranial anatomical features with Neandertals. Although most of these features appear to be either plesiomorphic retentions or are of uncertain phylogenetic polarity, a few represent Neandertal apomorphies. Nevertheless, the full suite of Neandertal-derived features is not yet present in the SH population. The postcranial evidence is consistent with the hypothesis based on the cranial morphology that the SH hominins are a sister group to the later Neandertals. Comparison of the SH postcranial skeleton to other hominins suggests that the evolution of the postcranium occurred in a mosaic mode, both at a general and at a detailed level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain;
| | - José-Miguel Carretero
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43002 Tarragona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Departamento Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 48080 Bilbao, Spain; Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, 48013 Bilbao, Spain; UMR 7194, CNRS, Département Préhistoire, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Musée de l'Homme, 75016 Paris, France; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Adrián Pablos
- Área de Antropología Física, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Laura Rodríguez
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain; Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - Rebeca García-González
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
| | - Alejandro Bonmatí
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Rolf M Quam
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University, State University of New York, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024-5192; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Pantoja-Pérez
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Área de Antropología Física, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Arantza Aranburu
- Departamento Mineralogía y Petrología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, 48080 Bilbao, Spain
| | - Ana Gracia-Téllez
- Área de Paleontología, Departamento de Geografía y Geología, Universidad de Alcalá, 28871 Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Eva Poza-Rey
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Nohemi Sala
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Nuria García
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Almudena Alcázar de Velasco
- Centro Mixto Universidad Complutense de Madrid - Instituto de Salud Carlos III de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Gloria Cuenca-Bescós
- Paleontología, Aragosaurus-Instituto de Investigación en Ciencias Ambientales de Aragón and Facultad Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | | | - Eudald Carbonell
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, 43002 Tarragona, Spain; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Beijing, 100044 Beijing, China
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Pablos A, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Sala N, Gracia-Téllez A, Arsuaga JL. Human calcanei from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 2014; 76:63-76. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2014] [Revised: 05/07/2014] [Accepted: 05/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Gallagher A. Absolute and relative endocranial size in Neandertals and later Pleistocene Homo. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2014; 65:349-75. [PMID: 24954798 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2014.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2014] [Accepted: 02/12/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Eurasian Neandertals encompass the entire observed range of recent and fossil Homo sapiens in absolute, but not relative endocranial volume, and Neandertals attest an average EQ significantly lower than their Upper Pleistocene successors. While the cognitive, social, and evolutionary implications of this phenomenon have been emphasised, the statistical basis of a mean inference of EQ in the Neandertal hypodigm has not been appropriately demonstrated. A demonstrable male bias in the available postcranial, not cranial, series has skewed perceptions of Neandertal brain-to-body size scaling towards a rejection of the null hypothesis. A simple resolution to this problem is a concise assessment of paired associated covariates against a suitable recent human comparator series. Permutations of Fisher's z and Student's t statistics are valid metrics in tests of significance in single datum hypotheses. Bootstrapped single observation tests determined significance in body size, absolute and relative endocranial volume in Pleistocene archaic, early modern, and late Pleistocene H. sapiens. With respect to absolute ECV, all current Middle-Upper Pleistocene crania fall within the substantial recent Homo range. Nevertheless, simple indices derived from raw and modified data in normal and logarithmic space reveal that Western European Neandertal males approach the lower extremes of our observed size range in relative ECV, yet none exceed statistical significance. Results confirm that relative ECV/brain size in Neandertals was not significantly depressed relative to recent and fossil H. sapiens and this is consistent with a substantial body of data from living humans dismissing any simple correspondence of relative brain size with intelligence and, by extension, evolutionary success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gallagher
- Centre for Anthropological Research (CAfR), University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park 2006, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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22
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Nakahashi W, Feldman MW. Evolution of division of labor: Emergence of different activities among group members. J Theor Biol 2014; 348:65-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2014.01.027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2013] [Revised: 01/16/2014] [Accepted: 01/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Luminescence dating and palaeomagnetic age constraint on hominins from Sima de los Huesos, Atapuerca, Spain. J Hum Evol 2014; 67:85-107. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 106] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2013] [Revised: 12/17/2013] [Accepted: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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24
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Meyer M, Fu Q, Aximu-Petri A, Glocke I, Nickel B, Arsuaga JL, Martínez I, Gracia A, de Castro JMB, Carbonell E, Pääbo S. A mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos. Nature 2013; 505:403-6. [PMID: 24305051 DOI: 10.1038/nature12788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 259] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2013] [Accepted: 10/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Excavations of a complex of caves in the Sierra de Atapuerca in northern Spain have unearthed hominin fossils that range in age from the early Pleistocene to the Holocene. One of these sites, the 'Sima de los Huesos' ('pit of bones'), has yielded the world's largest assemblage of Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils, consisting of at least 28 individuals dated to over 300,000 years ago. The skeletal remains share a number of morphological features with fossils classified as Homo heidelbergensis and also display distinct Neanderthal-derived traits. Here we determine an almost complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a hominin from Sima de los Huesos and show that it is closely related to the lineage leading to mitochondrial genomes of Denisovans, an eastern Eurasian sister group to Neanderthals. Our results pave the way for DNA research on hominins from the Middle Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Qiaomei Fu
- 1] Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany [2] Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
| | - Ayinuer Aximu-Petri
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Isabelle Glocke
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birgit Nickel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- 1] Centro de Investigación Sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain [2] Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- 1] Centro de Investigación Sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain [2] Área de Paleontología, Depto. de Geografía y Geología, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28871 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Gracia
- 1] Centro de Investigación Sobre la Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid-Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain [2] Área de Paleontología, Depto. de Geografía y Geología, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, 28871 Madrid, Spain
| | | | - Eudald Carbonell
- 1] Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, C/Marcel·lí Domingo s/n (Edifici W3), Campus Sescelades, 43007 Tarragona, Spain [2] Àrea de Prehistòria, Dept. d'Història i Història de l'Art, Univ. Rovira i Virgili, Fac. de Lletres, Av. Catalunya, 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Gallagher A. Stature, body mass, and brain size: a two-million-year odyssey. ECONOMICS AND HUMAN BIOLOGY 2013; 11:551-562. [PMID: 23562520 DOI: 10.1016/j.ehb.2012.12.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2012] [Accepted: 12/24/2012] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Physical size has been critical in the evolutionary success of the genus Homo over the past 2.4 million-years. An acceleration in the expansion of savannah grasslands in Africa from 1.6Ma to 1.2Ma witnessed concomitant increases in physical stature (150-170cm), weight (50-70kg), and brain size (750-900cm(3)). With the onset of 100,000year Middle Pleistocene glacial cycles ("ice ages") some 780,000years ago, large-bodied Homo groups had reached modern size and had successfully dispersed from equatorial Africa, Central, and Southeast Asia to high-latitude localities in Atlantic Europe and North East Asia. While there is support for incursions of multiple Homo lineages to West Asia and Continental Europe at this time, data does not favour a persistence of Homo erectus beyond ∼400,000years ago in Africa, west and Central Asia, and Europe. Novel Middle Pleistocene Homo forms (780,000-400,000years) may not have been substantially taller (150-170cm) than earlier Homo (1.6Ma-800,000years), yet brain size exceeded 1000cm(3) and body mass approached 80kg in some males. Later Pleistocene Homo (400,000-138,000years) were 'massive' in their height (160-190cm) and mass (70-90kg) and consistently exceed recent humans. Relative brain size exceeds earlier Homo, yet is substantially lower than in final glacial H. sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. A final leap in absolute and relative brain size in Homo (300,000-138,000years) occurred independent of any observed increase in body mass and implies a different selective mediator to that operating on brain size increases observed in earlier Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gallagher
- Centre for Anthropological Research (CfAR), University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006 Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Martinón-Torres M, Spěváčková P, Gracia-Téllez A, Martínez I, Bruner E, Arsuaga JL, Bermúdez de Castro JM. Morphometric analysis of molars in a Middle Pleistocene population shows a mosaic of 'modern' and Neanderthal features. J Anat 2013; 223:353-63. [PMID: 23914934 DOI: 10.1111/joa.12090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 07/14/2013] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Previous studies of upper first molar (M1) crown shape have shown significant differences between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis that were already present in the European Middle Pleistocene populations, including the large dental sample from Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos (SH). Analysis of other M1 features such as the total crown base area, cusp proportions, cusp angles and occlusal polygon have confirmed the differences between both lineages, becoming a useful tool for the taxonomic assignment of isolated teeth from Late Pleistocene sites. However, until now the pattern of expression of these variables has not been known for the SH sample. This fossil sample, the largest collection from the European Middle Pleistocene, is generally interpreted as being from the direct ancestors of Neanderthals, and thus is a reference sample for assessing the origin of the Neanderthal morphologies. Surprisingly, our study reveals that SH M(1) s present a unique mosaic of H. neanderthalensis and H. sapiens features. Regarding the cusp angles and the relative occlusal polygon area, SH matches the H. neanderthalensis pattern. However, regarding the total crown base area and relative cusps size, SH M(1) s are similar to H. sapiens, with a small crown area, a strong hypocone reduction and a protocone enlargement, although the protocone expansion in SH is significantly larger than in any other group studied. The SH dental sample calls into question the uniqueness of some so-called modern traits. Our study also sounds a note of caution on the use of M(1) occlusal morphology for the alpha taxonomy of isolated M(1) s.
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Pablos A, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Gracia A, Sala N, Arsuaga JL. Human talus bones from the Middle Pleistocene site of Sima de los Huesos (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 2013; 65:79-92. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2013.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2012] [Revised: 04/24/2013] [Accepted: 04/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Morphological description and comparison of the dental remains from Atapuerca-Sima de los Huesos site (Spain). J Hum Evol 2012; 62:7-58. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.08.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 185] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2010] [Revised: 08/16/2011] [Accepted: 08/21/2011] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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29
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Nelson E, Rolian C, Cashmore L, Shultz S. Digit ratios predict polygyny in early apes, Ardipithecus, Neanderthals and early modern humans but not in Australopithecus. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:1556-63. [PMID: 21047863 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.1740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Social behaviour of fossil hominoid species is notoriously difficult to predict owing to difficulties in estimating body size dimorphism from fragmentary remains and, in hominins, low canine size dimorphism. Recent studies have shown that the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2D : 4D), a putative biomarker for prenatal androgen effects (PAEs), covaries with intra-sexual competition and social systems across haplorrhines; non-pair-bonded polygynous taxa have significantly lower 2D : 4D ratios (high PAE) than pair-bonded monogamous species. Here, we use proximal phalanx ratios of extant and fossil specimens to reconstruct the social systems of extinct hominoids. Pierolapithecus catalaunicus, Hispanopithecus laietanus and Ardipithecus ramidus have ratios consistent with polygynous extant species, whereas the ratio of Australopithecus afarensis is consistent with monogamous extant species. The early anatomically modern human Qafzeh 9 and Neanderthals have lower digit ratios than most contemporary human populations, indicating increased androgenization and possibly higher incidence of polygyny. Although speculative owing to small sample sizes, these results suggest that digit ratios represent a supplementary approach for elucidating the social systems of fossil hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Nelson
- School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Hartley Building, Brownlow Street, Liverpool L69 3GS, UK.
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Lestrel P, Ohtsuki F, Wolfe C. Cranial vault shape in fossil hominids: Fourier descriptors in norma lateralis. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2010; 61:287-313. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2010.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2008] [Accepted: 07/13/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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31
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Gracia A, Martínez-Lage JF, Arsuaga JL, Martínez I, Lorenzo C, Pérez-Espejo MA. The earliest evidence of true lambdoid craniosynostosis: the case of "Benjamina", a Homo heidelbergensis child. Childs Nerv Syst 2010; 26:723-7. [PMID: 20361331 DOI: 10.1007/s00381-010-1133-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The authors report the morphological and neuroimaging findings of an immature human fossil (Cranium 14) diagnosed with left lambdoid synostosis. DISCUSSION The skull was recovered at the Sima de los Huesos site in Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain). Since the human fossil remains from this site have been dated to a minimum age of 530,000 years, this skull represents the earliest evidence of craniosynostosis occurring in a hominid. A brief historical review of craniosynostosis and cranial deformation is provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana Gracia
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, C. Sinesio Delgado 4, Pabellón14, 28029, Madrid, Spain.
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32
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Bone remodeling of the Homo heidelbergensis mandible; the Atapuerca-SH sample. J Hum Evol 2010; 58:127-37. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2008] [Revised: 09/03/2009] [Accepted: 02/22/2009] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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34
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Royer DF, Lockwood CA, Scott JE, Grine FE. Size variation in early human mandibles and molars from Klasies River, South Africa: Comparison with other middle and late Pleistocene assemblages and with modern humans. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2009; 140:312-23. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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35
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Size and shape variation in the proximal femur of Australopithecus africanus. J Hum Evol 2009; 56:551-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2007] [Revised: 11/21/2008] [Accepted: 11/26/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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36
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Craniosynostosis in the Middle Pleistocene human Cranium 14 from the Sima de los Huesos, Atapuerca, Spain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2009; 106:6573-8. [PMID: 19332773 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0900965106] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We report here a previously undescribed human Middle Pleistocene immature specimen, Cranium 14, recovered at the Sima de los Huesos (SH) site (Atapuerca, Spain), that constitutes the oldest evidence in human evolution of a very rare pathology in our own species, lambdoid single suture craniosynostosis (SSC). Both the ecto- and endo-cranial deformities observed in this specimen are severe. All of the evidence points out that this severity implies that the SSC occurred before birth, and that facial asymmetries, as well as motor/cognitive disorders, were likely to be associated with this condition. The analysis of the present etiological data of this specimen lead us to consider that Cranium 14 is a case of isolated SSC, probably of traumatic origin. The existence of this pathological individual among the SH sample represents also a fact to take into account when referring to sociobiological behavior in Middle Pleistocene humans.
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37
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The taxonomic implications of cranial shape variation in Homo erectus. J Hum Evol 2008; 54:827-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2006] [Revised: 10/27/2007] [Accepted: 11/18/2007] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
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38
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Tattersall I, Schwartz JH. The morphological distinctiveness of Homo sapiens and its recognition in the fossil record: Clarifying the problem. Evol Anthropol 2008. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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39
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Rightmire GP. Homo in the middle pleistocene: Hypodigms, variation, and species recognition. Evol Anthropol 2008. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 140] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Gordon AD, Green DJ, Richmond BG. Strong postcranial size dimorphism inAustralopithecus afarensis: Results from two new resampling methods for multivariate data sets with missing data. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2008; 135:311-28. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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41
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Gómez-Olivencia A, Carretero JM, Arsuaga JL, Rodríguez-García L, García-González R, Martínez I. Metric and morphological study of the upper cervical spine from the Sima de los Huesos site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). J Hum Evol 2007; 53:6-25. [PMID: 17467038 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2006] [Revised: 12/21/2006] [Accepted: 12/21/2006] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
In this article, the upper cervical spine remains recovered from the Sima de los Huesos (SH) middle Pleistocene site in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) are described and analyzed. To date, this site has yielded more than 5000 human fossils belonging to a minimum of 28 individuals of the species Homo heidelbergensis. At least eleven individuals are represented by the upper cervical (C1 and C2) specimens: six adults and five subadults, one of which could represent an adolescent individual. The most complete adult vertebrae (three atlases and three axes) are described, measured, and compared with other fossil hominins and modern humans. These six specimens are associated with one another and represent three individuals. In addition, one of these sets of cervical vertebrae is associated with Cranium 5 (Individual XXI) from the site. The metric analysis demonstrates that the Sima de los Huesos atlases and axes are metrically more similar to Neandertals than to our modern human comparative sample. The SH atlases share with Neandertals a sagittally elongated canal. The most remarkable feature of the SH (and Neandertal) axes is that they are craniocaudally low and mediolaterally wide compared to our modern male sample. Morphologically, the SH sample shares with Neandertals a higher frequency of caudally projected anterior atlas arch, which could reflect greater development of the longus colli muscle. In other features, such as the frequency of weakly developed tubercles for the attachment of the transverse ligament of the atlas, the Sima de los Huesos fossils show intermediate frequencies between our modern comparative samples and the Neandertals, which could represent the primitive condition. Our results are consistent with the previous phylogenetic interpretation of H. heidelbergensis as an exclusively European species, ancestral only to H. neanderthalensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Plaza Misael de Bañuelos s/n, 09001 Burgos, Spain.
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42
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Eme RF. Sex differences in child-onset, life-course-persistent conduct disorder. A review of biological influences. Clin Psychol Rev 2007; 27:607-27. [PMID: 17331630 DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2007.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2005] [Revised: 06/13/2006] [Accepted: 06/17/2006] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Sex is widely acknowledged to be an important factor in understanding many aspects of behavior, not the least of which is antisocial behavior. When antisocial behavior manifests itself in the domain of juvenile psychopathology, it often takes the form of a type of conduct disorder (CD) that begins in childhood and is life-course-persistent. There is an overwhelming consensus that there is a massive male preponderance in this type of CD and that biological variables are major influences on this difference. This review built on this consensual scaffolding in an attempt to provide some useful leads for identifying the biological contributions to the predominantly male complexion of life-course-persistent CD by linking it to three different levels of biological mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert F Eme
- Argosy University, Schaumburg Campus, 1000 N. Plaza Drive, Suite 100, Schaumburg, IL 60173, USA.
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43
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Scott JE, Stroik LK. Bootstrap tests of significance and the case for humanlike skeletal-size dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis. J Hum Evol 2006; 51:422-8. [PMID: 16846631 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2005] [Revised: 04/17/2006] [Accepted: 06/01/2006] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Most estimates of sexual size dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis indicate that this early hominin was more dimorphic than modern humans. In contrast, a recent study reported that size variation in A. afarensis, as represented by postcranial remains from Hadar and Maka, Ethiopia, is statistically most similar to that of modern humans, indicating a humanlike level of sexual dimorphism. Here, we evaluate the evidence for humanlike dimorphism in A. afarensis. We argue that statistical support for this claim is not as robust as has been asserted for the following reasons: (1) the analysis from which the claim was derived does not distinguish the A. afarensis sample from either the human or chimpanzee samples; (2) for some of the comparisons made, the A. afarensis sample cannot be distinguished from the Gorilla sample using two-tailed tests; and (3) the A. afarensis postcranial sample used in the analysis may contain more male than female specimens, which precludes a straightforward interpretation of the statistical results. Thus, support for humanlike dimorphism is equivocal, and a greater level of dimorphism cannot be ruled out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremiah E Scott
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4101, USA.
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44
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Harmon EH. Size and shape variation in Australopithecus afarensis proximal femora. J Hum Evol 2006; 51:217-27. [PMID: 16712903 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/08/2005] [Revised: 01/04/2006] [Accepted: 01/23/2006] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The degree of size and shape variation in the A. afarensis fossil sample has been interpreted in a variety of ways. Size variation has been described as exceeding that of extant hominoids, similar to that of strongly sexually dimorphic hominoids, and best matched to modern humans. The degree of shape variation has been characterized both as great and negligible. Recent fieldwork has increased the proximal femoral sample, providing new data with which to examine variation. The proximal femur of A. afarensis is analyzed in a comparative framework in order to gauge the magnitude of size and shape variation in this element. Seven of the best-preserved A. afarensis proximal femora contribute to the analysis (A.L. 128-1, A.L. 152-2, A.L. 211-1, A.L. 288-1ap, A.L. 333-3, A.L. 333-123, A.L. 827-1). Comparative samples from Pan, Pongo, Gorilla, and Homo provide context for interpreting variation among the fossils. The coefficient of variation (CV) of linear measurements is used to estimate size variation. Bootstrap resampling of CVs from extant hominoids provides distributions for comparison to A. afarensis CVs. Ratios of linear measurements provide scale-free shape variables that are used in pairwise comparisons. The Euclidean distance between pairs of A. afarensis are compared to the Euclidean distances between extant hominoid pairs. As found in some earlier analyses, size variation in A. afarensis is accommodated best in gorillas and orangutans. The magnitude of difference in shape between A. afarensis pairs is exceeded by most taxa, indicating that shape variation is not extreme. These general findings are contradicted by a few instances of excessive size and shape variation. These are uncharacteristic results and could point to temporal bias, although other alternatives are explored. The signal from the proximal femur is that size variation in A. afarensis is like that of the strongly sexually dimorphic apes, and shape variation is well within the range of most hominoids irrespective of their degree of size dimorphism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth H Harmon
- Department of Anthropology, Institute of Human Origins, Tempe, Arizona State University, 85287-4101, USA.
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45
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Skinner MM, Gordon AD, Collard NJ. Mandibular size and shape variation in the hominins at Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia. J Hum Evol 2006; 51:36-49. [PMID: 16563468 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2005] [Revised: 01/02/2006] [Accepted: 01/16/2006] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The hominin fossils of Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia, present an ideal means of assessing levels of skeletal size and shape variation in a fossil hypodigm belonging to the genus Homo because they have been recovered from a spatially and temporally restricted context. We compare variation in mandible size and shape at Dmanisi to that of extant hominoids and extinct hominins. We use height and breadth measurements of the mandibular corpus at the first molar and the symphysis to assess size, and analyze shape based on size-adjusted (using a geometric mean) versions of these four variables. We compare size and shape variation at Dmanisi relative to all possible pairs of individuals within each comparative taxon using an exact resampling procedure of the ratio of D2600 to D211 and the average Euclidean distance (AED) between D2600 and D211, respectively. Comparisons to extant hominoids were conducted at both the specific and subspecific taxonomic levels and to extinct hominins by adopting both a more, and less speciose, hominin taxonomy. Results indicate that the pattern of variation for the Dmanisi hominins does not resemble that of any living species: they exhibit significantly more size variation when compared to modern humans, and they have significantly more corpus shape variation and size variation in corpus heights and overall mandible size than any extant ape species. When compared to fossil hominins they are also more dimorphic in size (although this result is influenced by the taxonomic hypothesis applied to the hominin fossil record). These results highlight the need to re-examine expectations of levels of sexual dimorphism in members of the genus Homo and to account for marked size and shape variation between D2600 and D211 under the prevailing view of a single hominin species at Dmanisi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew M Skinner
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, George Washington University, 2110 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20052, USA.
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46
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Rosas A, Bastir M, Martínez-maza C, García-Tabernero A, Lalueza-Fox C. Inquiries into Neanderthal craniofacial development and evolution: “accretion” versus “organismic” models. NEANDERTHALS REVISITED: NEW APPROACHES AND PERSPECTIVES 2006. [DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-5121-0_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
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47
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Villmoare B. Metric and non-metric randomization methods, geographic variation, and the single-species hypothesis for Asian and African Homo erectus. J Hum Evol 2005; 49:680-701. [PMID: 16202442 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2003] [Revised: 07/11/2005] [Accepted: 07/13/2005] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
This paper proposes a statistical test of the single-species hypothesis using non-metric characters as a complement to statistical tests using more traditional metric characters. The sample examined is that of Asian and African Homo erectus. The paleoanthropological community is divided on the taxonomic distinction of these fossils, with workers arguing both for and against the species-level distinction between Asian and African populations. Previous arguments have focused on patterns of apparent morphological differentiation between the African and Asian cranial samples. To assess this question, three tests were performed that compared the range of variation in the fossil sample to a single-species group with a similar geographic distribution; this comparative sample was composed of 221 modern humans from Africa and Asia. For the first test, 23 metric characters were analyzed on the fossil and comparative samples. Using resampling procedures, the variation for these characters was examined, recreating 1000 samples from the human analogs and comparing the CV distributions of these samples to the CVs of the fossil group. The second test used the metric data to calculate a Euclidean distance between the African and Asian fossil samples. This distance was compared to a distribution of Euclidean distances calculated between 1000 randomly selected samples of African and Asian modern humans. For the third test, a grading scale was created for ten non-metric characters that encompassed the total morphological variation found in the fossil and modern human samples. The Manhattan distance between the Asian and African fossil samples was calculated and compared to a distribution of distances calculated between 1000 randomly selected samples of African and Asian moderns. The first two tests, using the metric data, failed to falsify the null hypothesis. However, in the third test, using non-metric data, the total Manhattan distance for the fossil sample approached the 100th percentile of the resampled distances calculated from the moderns. The implications of the contrasting results are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian Villmoare
- Arizona State University, Department of Anthropology, Box 872402, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA.
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48
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Lee SH. Patterns of size sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis: Another look. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2005; 56:219-32. [PMID: 16325486 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2005.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2004] [Accepted: 07/20/2005] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Size sexual dimorphism is one of the major components of morphological variation and has been associated with socio-ecology and behavioral variables such as mating patterns. Although several studies have addressed the magnitude and pattern of sexual dimorphism in Australopithecus afarensis, one of the earliest hominids, consensus has yet to be reached. This paper uses assigned re-sampling method, a data re-sampling method to estimate the magnitude of sexual dimorphism without relying on individual sex assessments, to examine the fossil hominid sample from Hadar. Two questions are asked: first, whether sexual dimorphism in a selected sample of skeletal elements of A. afarensis is the same as that in living humans, chimpanzees, or gorillas; and second, whether different skeletal elements reflect variation in sexual dimorphism in the same way. All possible metric variables were used as data in applying the method, including seven variables from three elements (mandibular canine, humerus, femur). Analyses show that A. afarensis is similar in size sexual dimorphism to gorillas in femoral variables, to humans in humeral variables, and to chimpanzees in canine variables. The results of this study are compatible with the hypothesis that the pattern of sexual dimorphism in A. afarensis is different from any that are observed in living humans or apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S-H Lee
- Department of Anthropology, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521-0418, USA.
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49
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Reno PL, Meindl RS, McCollum MA, Lovejoy CO. The case is unchanged and remains robust: Australopithecus afarensis exhibits only moderate skeletal dimorphism. A reply to Plavcan et al. (2005). J Hum Evol 2005; 49:279-88. [PMID: 15993470 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.04.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2004] [Accepted: 04/23/2005] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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50
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Scott JE, Lockwood CA. Patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans and species recognition in the hominid fossil record. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2005; 125:303-19. [PMID: 15386248 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.10406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
It has been suggested that patterns of craniodental variation in living hominids (Gorilla, Homo, Pan, and Pongo) may be useful for evaluating variation in fossil hominid assemblages. Using this approach, a fossil sample exhibiting a pattern of variation that deviates from one shared among living taxa would be regarded as taxonomically heterogeneous. Here we examine patterns of tooth crown size and shape variation in great apes and humans to determine 1) if these taxa share a pattern of dental variation, and 2) if such a pattern can reliably discriminate between samples that contain single species and those that contain multiple species. We use parametric and nonparametric correlation methods to establish the degree of pattern similarity among taxa, and randomization tests to assess their statistical significance. The results of this study show that extant hominids do not share a pattern of dental size variation, and thus these taxa cannot be used to generate expectations for patterns of size variation in fossil hominid species. The hominines (Gorilla, Homo, and Pan) do share a pattern of shape variation in the mandibular dentition; however, Pongo is distinct, and thus it is unclear which, if either, pattern should be expected in fossil hominids. Moreover, in this case, most combined-species samples exhibit patterns of shape variation that are similar to those for single hominine species samples. Thus, although a common pattern of shape variation is present in the mandibular dentition, it is not useful for recognizing taxonomically mixed paleontological samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremiah E Scott
- Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA.
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