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Lewis JE, Ward CV, Kimbel WH, Kidney CL, Brown FH, Quinn RL, Rowan J, Lazagabaster IA, Sanders WJ, Leakey MG, Leakey LN. A 4.3-million-year-old Australopithecus anamensis mandible from Ileret, East Turkana, Kenya, and its paleoenvironmental context. J Hum Evol 2024; 194:103579. [PMID: 39173445 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2024] [Revised: 07/26/2024] [Accepted: 07/27/2024] [Indexed: 08/24/2024]
Abstract
A hominin mandible, KNM-ER 63000, and associated vertebrate remains were recovered in 2011 from Area 40 in East Turkana, Kenya. Tephrostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic analyses indicate that these fossils date to ∼4.3 Ma. KNM-ER 63000 consists of articulating but worn and weathered mandibular corpora, with a broken right M2 crown and alveoli preserved at other tooth positions. Despite extensive damage, KNM-ER 63000 preserves diagnostic anatomy permitting attribution to Australopithecus anamensis. It can be distinguished from Australopithecus afarensis by its strongly inclined symphyseal axis with a basally convex, 'cut-away' external surface, a lateral corpus that sweeps inferomedially beneath the canine-premolar row, and alignment of the canine alveolus with the postcanine axis. KNM-ER 63000 is distinguished from Ardipithecus ramidus by its thick mandibular corpus and large M2 crown. The functional trait structure and enamel's stable carbon isotopic composition of the Area 40 large-mammal community suggests an environment comparable to Kanapoi and other ∼4.5-4 Ma eastern African sites that would have offered Au. anamensis access to both C3 and C4 food resources. With an age of ∼4.3 Ma, KNM-ER 63000 is the oldest known specimen of Au. anamensis, predating the Kanapoi and Asa Issie samples by at least ∼100 kyr. This specimen extends the known temporal range of Au. anamensis and places it in temporal overlap with fossils of Ar. ramidus from Gona, Ethiopia. The morphology of KNM-ER 63000 indicates that the reconfigured masticatory system differentiating basal hominins from the earliest australopiths existed in the narrow temporal window, if any, separating the two. The very close temporal juxtaposition of these significant morphological and adaptive differences implies that Ar. ramidus was a relative rather than a direct phyletic ancestor of earliest Australopithecus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason E Lewis
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Chronicle Heritage, 319 E Palm Lane, Phoenix, AZ 85004, USA
| | - Carol V Ward
- Department of Pathology & Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
| | - William H Kimbel
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4101, USA
| | - Casey L Kidney
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0112, USA
| | - Frank H Brown
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0112, USA
| | - Rhonda L Quinn
- School of Earth, Environment & Society, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH 43403-0085, USA
| | - John Rowan
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ignacio A Lazagabaster
- National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos 09002, Spain; Department of Evolution, Ecology and Behaviour, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
| | - William J Sanders
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1085, USA
| | - Meave G Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - Louise N Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Department of Paleontology, National Museums of Kenya, Museum Hill, Nairobi, Kenya
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Sekhavati Y, Strait D. Estimating ancestral ranges and biogeographical processes in early hominins. J Hum Evol 2024; 191:103547. [PMID: 38781711 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2024] [Accepted: 05/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/25/2024]
Abstract
Historical biogeography provides crucial insights into understanding the evolutionary history of hominins. We applied maximum-likelihood and biogeographical stochastic mapping to infer the ancestral ranges of hominins and estimate the frequency of biogeographical events. These events were inferred using two time-calibrated phylogenetic trees that differ in the position of Australopithecus sediba. Results suggest that regardless of which phylogeny was selected, Northcentral Africa was the preferred ancestral region for the ancestor of the Homo-Pan clade, as well as the ancestor of Sahelanthropus and later hominins. The northern and middle part of eastern Africa was the preferred ancestral region for several clades originating at subsequent deep nodes of the trees (∼5-4 Ma). The choice of tree topology had one important effect on results: whether hominin ancestors appearing after ∼4 Ma were widespread or endemic. These different patterns highlight the biogeographic significance of the phylogenetic relationships of A. sediba. Overall, the results showed that dispersal, local extinction, and sympatry played vital roles in creating the hominin distribution, whereas vicariance and jump dispersal were not as common. The results suggested symmetry in the directionality of dispersals. Distance probably influenced how rapidly taxa colonized a new region, and dispersals often followed the closest path. These findings are potentially impacted by the imperfection of the fossil record, suggesting that the results should be interpreted cautiously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yeganeh Sekhavati
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
| | - David Strait
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Cnr Kingsway and University Road Auckland Park, PO Box 524, Auckland Park 2006, South Africa
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Reda HG, Frost SR, Simons EA, Quade J, Simpson SW. Description and taxonomic assessment of fossil Cercopithecidae from the Pliocene Galili Formation (Ethiopia). J Hum Evol 2024; 190:103508. [PMID: 38599140 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103508] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
The Mount Galili Formation in the Afar region, Ethiopia, samples a critical time in hominin evolution, 4.4 to 3.8 Ma, documenting the last appearance of Ardipithecus and the origin of Australopithecus. This period is also important in the evolution of cercopithecids, especially the origin of Theropithecus in general and Theropithecus oswaldi lineage in particular. Galili has provided a total of 655 cercopithecid specimens that include crania, mandibles, isolated teeth and postcrania. All the fossils were recovered from the Lasdanan (5.3-4.43 Ma), Dhidinley (4.43-3.9 Ma) and Shabeley Laag (∼3.92-3.8 Ma) Members. Here, we described and analyzed 362 fossils employing both qualitative and quantitative methods. Descriptions of the material were supplemented with dental metrics and cranial shape analysis using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics. Results indicate the presence of at least six cercopithecid taxa: Theropithecus oswaldi serengetensis (n = 28), Theropithecus sp. (n = 2), three non-Theropithecus papionin groups (n = 134) and one colobine-size group (n = 58). The T. o. serengetensis represents the earliest form of the lineage, documented from ∼3.9 Ma Galili sediments. The three Galili papionins include a smaller taxon, a medium-sized taxon comparable to Pliopapio alemui and a large papionin overlapping in size with Soromandrillus, Gorgopithecus and Dinopithecus. The majority of Galili colobines have closest affinities to Kuseracolobus aramisi and some overlap with other taxa. Papionins dominate the Galili cercopithecid collection, although colobines are still fairly common (approximately 25% of the sample). Thus, Galili sample is like Kanapoi (4.2-4.1 Ma) and Gona (5.2-3.9 Ma) localities but distinct from Aramis, suggesting paleoecological similarity to the former sites. On the other hand, Theropithecus is less abundant at Galili than geologically younger Hadar (3.4-3.2 Ma) and Woranso-Mille (3.8-3.6 Ma) sites. Whether this difference is due to sampling, time or landscape variation requires further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hailay G Reda
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, USA.
| | - Stephen R Frost
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, USA
| | - Evan A Simons
- Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, L470, Portland, OR, 97239, USA
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, 1040 E. 4th Street, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Scott W Simpson
- Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106-4930, USA; Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
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Alemseged Z. Reappraising the palaeobiology of Australopithecus. Nature 2023; 617:45-54. [PMID: 37138108 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05957-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The naming of Australopithecus africanus in 1925, based on the Taung Child, heralded a new era in human evolutionary studies and turned the attention of the then Eurasian-centric palaeoanthropologists to Africa, albeit with reluctance. Almost one hundred years later, Africa is recognized as the cradle of humanity, where the entire evolutionary history of our lineage prior to two million years ago took place-after the Homo-Pan split. This Review examines data from diverse sources and offers a revised depiction of the genus and characterizes its role in human evolution. For a long time, our knowledge of Australopithecus came from both A. africanus and Australopithecus afarensis, and the members of this genus were portrayed as bipedal creatures that did not use stone tools, with a largely chimpanzee-like cranium, a prognathic face and a brain slightly larger than that of chimpanzees. Subsequent field and laboratory discoveries, however, have altered this portrayal, showing that Australopithecus species were habitual bipeds but also practised arboreality; that they occasionally used stone tools to supplement their diet with animal resources; and that their infants probably depended on adults to a greater extent than what is seen in apes. The genus gave rise to several taxa, including Homo, but its direct ancestor remains elusive. In sum, Australopithecus had a pivotal bridging role in our evolutionary history owing to its morphological, behavioural and temporal placement between the earliest archaic putative hominins and later hominins-including the genus Homo.
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Grine FE, Mongle CS, Fleagle JG, Hammond AS. The taxonomic attribution of African hominin postcrania from the Miocene through the Pleistocene: Associations and assumptions. J Hum Evol 2022; 173:103255. [PMID: 36375243 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2021] [Revised: 08/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Postcranial bones may provide valuable information about fossil taxa relating to their locomotor habits, manipulative abilities and body sizes. Distinctive features of the postcranial skeleton are sometimes noted in species diagnoses. Although numerous isolated postcranial fossils have become accepted by many workers as belonging to a particular species, it is worthwhile revisiting the evidence for each attribution before including them in comparative samples in relation to the descriptions of new fossils, functional analyses in relation to particular taxa, or in evolutionary contexts. Although some workers eschew the taxonomic attribution of postcranial fossils as being less important (or interesting) than interpreting their functional morphology, it is impossible to consider the evolution of functional anatomy in a taxonomic and phylogenetic vacuum. There are 21 widely recognized hominin taxa that have been described from sites in Africa dated from the Late Miocene to the Middle Pleistocene; postcranial elements have been attributed to 17 of these. The bones that have been thus assigned range from many parts of a skeleton to isolated elements. However, the extent to which postcranial material can be reliably attributed to a specific taxon varies considerably from site to site and species to species, and is often the subject of considerable debate. Here, we review the postcranial remains attributed to African hominin taxa from the Late Miocene to the Middle and Late Pleistocene and place these assignations into categories of reliability. The catalog of attributions presented here may serve as a guide for making taxonomic decisions in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA.
| | - Carrie S Mongle
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA; Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - John G Fleagle
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA
| | - Ashley S Hammond
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA; New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY 10024, USA
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6
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Comparative description and taxonomic affinity of 3.7-million-year-old hominin mandibles from Woranso-Mille (Ethiopia). J Hum Evol 2022; 173:103265. [PMID: 36306541 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103265] [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: 12/06/2021] [Revised: 09/02/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Fossil discoveries of early Australopithecus species from Woranso-Mille have played a significant role in improving our understanding of mid-Pliocene hominin evolution and diversity. Here, we describe two mandibles with dentitions, recovered from sediments immediately above a tuff radiometrically dated to 3.76 ± 0.02 Ma, and assess their taxonomic affinity. The two mandibles (MSD-VP-5/16 and MSD-VP-5/50) show morphological similarities with both Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis. Some of the unique features that distinguish Au. anamensis from Au. afarensis are present in the mandibles, which also share a few derived features with Au. afarensis. Their retention of more Kanapoi Au. anamensis-like traits, compared to the fewer derived features they share with Au. afarensis, and the presence of Au. anamensis at Woranso-Mille in 3.8-million-year-old deposits, lends support to their assignment to Au. anamensis. However, it is equally arguable that the few derived dentognathic features they share with Au. afarensis could be taxonomically more significant, making it difficult to conclusively assign these specimens to either species. Regardless of which species they are assigned to, the mosaic nature of the dentognathic morphology and geological age of the two mandibles lends further support to the hypothesized ancestor-descendant relationship between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. However, there is now limited fossil evidence indicating that these two species may have overlapped in time. Hence, the last appearance of Au. anamensis and first appearance of Au. afarensis are currently unknown. Recovery of Australopithecus fossils from 4.1 to 3.8 Ma is critical to further address the timing of these events.
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Barr WA, Pobiner B, Rowan J, Du A, Faith JT. No sustained increase in zooarchaeological evidence for carnivory after the appearance of Homo erectus. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2115540119. [PMID: 35074877 PMCID: PMC8812535 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2115540119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The appearance of Homo erectus shortly after 2.0 Ma is widely considered a turning point in human dietary evolution, with increased consumption of animal tissues driving the evolution of larger brain and body size and a reorganization of the gut. An increase in the size and number of zooarchaeological assemblages after the appearance of H. erectus is often offered as a central piece of archaeological evidence for increased carnivory in this species, but this characterization has yet to be subject to detailed scrutiny. Any widespread dietary shift leading to the acquisition of key traits in H. erectus should be persistent in the zooarchaeological record through time and can only be convincingly demonstrated by a broad-scale analysis that transcends individual sites or localities. Here, we present a quantitative synthesis of the zooarchaeological record of eastern Africa from 2.6 to 1.2 Ma. We show that several proxies for the prevalence of hominin carnivory are all strongly related to how well the fossil record has been sampled, which constrains the zooarchaeological visibility of hominin carnivory. When correcting for sampling effort, there is no sustained increase in the amount of evidence for hominin carnivory between 2.6 and 1.2 Ma. Our observations undercut evolutionary narratives linking anatomical and behavioral traits to increased meat consumption in H. erectus, suggesting that other factors are likely responsible for the appearance of its human-like traits.
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Affiliation(s)
- W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052;
| | - Briana Pobiner
- Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560
| | - John Rowan
- Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, Albany, NY 12222
| | - Andrew Du
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523
| | - J Tyler Faith
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84108
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
- Origins Centre, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2000, South Africa
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Combined Zonation of the African-Levantine-Caucasian Areal of Ancient Hominin: Review and Integrated Analysis of Paleogeographical, Stratigraphic and Geophysical-Geodynamical Data. GEOSCIENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/geosciences12010021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
The origin of the man on Earth is directly associated with the determination of directions of the flow distribution of the ancient man dispersal to adjacent territories. In such studies, mainly landscape and climatological changes are traditionally considered. We suggest that along with the above factors, regional tectonic-geodynamic factors played a dominant role in the character of dispersal. The considered African-Levantine-Caucasian region is one of the most geologically complex regions of the world, where collisional and spreading processes of geodynamics converge. For the first time, we determined an essential influence of the Akchagylian hydrospheric maximum (about 200 m above the mean sea level) limiting the early dispersal of hominins from Africa to Eurasia. We propose that the Levantine Corridor emerged after the end of the Akchagylian transgression and landscape forming in the Eastern Mediterranean. This corridor location was formed by the movements between the Dead Sea Transform and the boundary of the carbonate platform of the Mesozoic Terrane Belt. Further landscape evolution was largely determined by the geodynamic behavior of the deep mantle rotating structure occurring below the central part of the region under study. All the mentioned events around and in the Levantine Corridor have been studied in detail on the basis of the combined geodynamic, paleogeographic, and paleomagnetic analyses performed in northern Israel (Carmel Uplift and Galilee Plateau). Careful studies of the Evron Quarry geological section indicate that it is unique for the dating of marine and continental archaeological sequences and sheds light on the early dispersal of hominins along the Levantine Corridor.
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Canine sexual dimorphism in Ardipithecus ramidus was nearly human-like. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2116630118. [PMID: 34853174 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116630118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Body and canine size dimorphism in fossils inform sociobehavioral hypotheses on human evolution and have been of interest since Darwin's famous reflections on the subject. Here, we assemble a large dataset of fossil canines of the human clade, including all available Ardipithecus ramidus fossils recovered from the Middle Awash and Gona research areas in Ethiopia, and systematically examine canine dimorphism through evolutionary time. In particular, we apply a Bayesian probabilistic method that reduces bias when estimating weak and moderate levels of dimorphism. Our results show that Ar. ramidus canine dimorphism was significantly weaker than in the bonobo, the least dimorphic and behaviorally least aggressive among extant great apes. Average male-to-female size ratios of the canine in Ar. ramidus are estimated as 1.06 and 1.13 in the upper and lower canines, respectively, within modern human population ranges of variation. The slightly greater magnitude of canine size dimorphism in the lower than in the upper canines of Ar. ramidus appears to be shared with early Australopithecus, suggesting that male canine reduction was initially more advanced in the behaviorally important upper canine. The available fossil evidence suggests a drastic size reduction of the male canine prior to Ar. ramidus and the earliest known members of the human clade, with little change in canine dimorphism levels thereafter. This evolutionary pattern indicates a profound behavioral shift associated with comparatively weak levels of male aggression early in human evolution, a pattern that was subsequently shared by Australopithecus and Homo.
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Haile-Selassie Y. From Trees to the Ground: The Significance of Australopithecus anamensis in Human Evolution. JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2021. [DOI: 10.1086/716743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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11
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Estimating sexual size dimorphism in fossil species from posterior probability densities. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2113943118. [PMID: 34697239 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113943118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Accurate characterization of sexual dimorphism is crucial in evolutionary biology because of its significance in understanding present and past adaptations involving reproductive and resource use strategies of species. However, inferring dimorphism in fossil assemblages is difficult, particularly with relatively low dimorphism. Commonly used methods of estimating dimorphism levels in fossils include the mean method, the binomial dimorphism index, and the coefficient of variation method. These methods have been reported to overestimate low levels of dimorphism, which is problematic when investigating issues such as canine size dimorphism in primates and its relation to reproductive strategies. Here, we introduce the posterior density peak (pdPeak) method that utilizes the Bayesian inference to provide posterior probability densities of dimorphism levels and within-sex variance. The highest posterior density point is termed the pdPeak. We investigated performance of the pdPeak method and made comparisons with the above-mentioned conventional methods via 1) computer-generated samples simulating a range of conditions and 2) application to canine crown-diameter datasets of extant known-sex anthropoids. Results showed that the pdPeak method is capable of unbiased estimates in a broader range of dimorphism levels than the other methods and uniquely provides reliable interval estimates. Although attention is required to its underestimation tendency when some of the distributional assumptions are violated, we demonstrate that the pdPeak method enables a more accurate dimorphism estimate at lower dimorphism levels than previously possible, which is important to illuminating human evolution.
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12
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Lindshield S, Hernandez-Aguilar RA, Korstjens AH, Marchant LF, Narat V, Ndiaye PI, Ogawa H, Piel AK, Pruetz JD, Stewart FA, van Leeuwen KL, Wessling EG, Yoshikawa M. Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in savanna landscapes. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:399-420. [PMID: 34542218 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21924] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2020] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are the only great apes that inhabit hot, dry, and open savannas. We review the environmental pressures of savannas on chimpanzees, such as food and water scarcity, and the evidence for chimpanzees' behavioral responses to these landscapes. In our analysis, savannas were generally associated with low chimpanzee population densities and large home ranges. In addition, thermoregulatory behaviors that likely reduce hyperthermia risk, such as cave use, were frequently observed in the hottest and driest savanna landscapes. We hypothesize that such responses are evidence of a "savanna landscape effect" in chimpanzees and offer pathways for future research to understand its evolutionary processes and mechanisms. We conclude by discussing the significance of research on savanna chimpanzees to modeling the evolution of early hominin traits and informing conservation programs for these endangered apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacy Lindshield
- Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA
| | - R Adriana Hernandez-Aguilar
- Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.,Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
| | - Amanda H Korstjens
- Life and Environmental Sciences Department, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, UK
| | | | - Victor Narat
- CNRS/MNHN/Paris Diderot, UMR 7206 Eco-anthropology, Paris, France
| | - Papa Ibnou Ndiaye
- Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar, Dakar, Senegal
| | - Hideshi Ogawa
- School of International Liberal Studies, Chukyo University, Toyota, Aichi, Japan
| | - Alex K Piel
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jill D Pruetz
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, USA
| | - Fiona A Stewart
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK.,School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Kelly L van Leeuwen
- Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Bournemouth University, Talbot Campus, Poole, UK
| | - Erin G Wessling
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Midori Yoshikawa
- Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Japan
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13
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Rak Y, Geffen E, Hylander W, Ginzburg A, Ginzburg E. One hominin taxon or two at Malapa Cave? Implications for the origins of Homo. S AFR J SCI 2021. [DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2021/8747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
A report on the skeletons of two individuals from the Malapa cave site in South Africa attributes them both to a new hominin species, Australopithecus sediba. However, our analysis of the specimens’ mandibles indicates that Australopithecus sediba is not a ‘Homo-like australopith’, a transitional species between Australopithecus africanus and Homo. According to our results, the specimens represent two separate genera: Australopithecus and Homo. These genera are known to have jointly occupied sites, as seen in several early South African caves, so one cannot rule out the possibility that Malapa also contains remains of the two taxa. Our results lead us to additionally conclude that all the Australopithecus species on which the relevant mandibular anatomy is preserved (not only the ‘robust’ australopiths but also the ‘gracile’ – more generalised – ones) are too specialised to constitute an evolutionary ancestor of Homo sapiens. Furthermore, given that the Malapa site contains representatives of two hominin branches, one of which appears to be Homo, we must seek evidence of our origins much earlier than the date assigned to Malapa, approximately 2 million years before present. Support for this claim can be found in Ethiopian fossils attributed to the genus Homo and dated at 2.4 and 2.8 million years before present.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yoel Rak
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA
| | - Eli Geffen
- Department of Zoology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - William Hylander
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
| | - Avishag Ginzburg
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Ella Ginzburg
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Sports Therapy Department, Ono Academic College, Kiryat Ono, Israel
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14
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Skinner MM, Leakey MG, Leakey LN, Manthi FK, Spoor F. Hominin dental remains from the Pliocene localities at Lomekwi, Kenya (1982-2009). J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102820. [PMID: 32593871 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Revised: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Increasing evidence for both taxonomic diversity and early stone manufacture during the Pliocene highlights the importance of the hominin fossil record from this epoch in eastern Africa. Here, we describe dental remains from Lomekwi (West Turkana, Kenya), which date from between 3.2 and 3.5 Ma. The sample was collected between 1982 and 2009 and includes five gnathic specimens and a total of 67 teeth (mostly isolated permanent postcanine teeth). Standard linear dimensions indicate that, although the Lomekwi teeth are relatively small, there is broad overlap in size with contemporary Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus deyiremeda specimens at most tooth positions. However, some dental characters differentiate this sample from these species, including a relatively large P4 and M3 compared with the M1, a high incidence of well-developed protostylids, and specific accessory molar cuspules. Owing to a lack of well-preserved tooth crowns (and the complete absence of mandibular teeth) in the holotype and paratype of Kenyanthropus platyops, and limited comparable gnathic morphology in the new specimens, it cannot be determined whether these Lomekwi specimens should be attributed to this species. Attribution of these specimens is further complicated by a lack of certainty about position along the tooth row of many of the molar specimens. More comprehensive shape analyses of the external and internal morphology of these specimens, and additional fossil finds, would facilitate the taxonomic attribution of specimens in this taxonomically diverse period of human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
| | - Meave G Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, PO Box 24926, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794, USA
| | - Louise N Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, PO Box 24926, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fred Spoor
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK; Department of Anthropology, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
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15
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Frost SR, Simpson SW, Levin NE, Quade J, Rogers MJ, Semaw S. Fossil Cercopithecidae from the Early Pliocene Sagantole Formation at Gona, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2020; 144:102789. [PMID: 32485477 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102789] [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: 07/12/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/18/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
The Early Pliocene Sagantole Fm. in the Gona Project area, Afar State, Ethiopia, is noted for discoveries of the early hominin Ardipithecus ramidus. A large series of fossil cercopithecid primates dated to between 4.8 and 4.3 Ma has also been collected from these sediments. In this paper, we use qualitative analysis and standard dental and postcranial measures to systematically describe the craniodental remains and tentatively allocate postcrania to taxa where we are able to. We then use these data to compare these specimens to fossil assemblages from contemporary sites, interpret their paleobiology, and discuss implications for the paleoecology of the Gona Sagantole Fm. We recognize three cercopithecid species in the Gona Sagantole Fm. Pliopapio alemui makes up approximately two-thirds of the identifiable specimens; nearly all of the rest are allocated to Kuseracolobus aramisi, and a single molar indicates the presence of a second, somewhat larger but morphologically distinct papionin. Among the Early Pliocene cercopithecids from Gona are also a number of postcranial elements. None of the postcranial remains are directly associated with any of the cranial material. Nonetheless, some of the distal humeri and proximal femora can be tentatively allocated to either Pl. alemui or K. aramisi based on a combination of size, as the latter is approximately 50% larger than the former, and morphology. If these assignments are correct, they suggest K. aramisi was primarily arboreal and similar to most extant colobines, whereas Pl. alemui was more mixed in its substrate use, being more terrestrially adapted than K. aramisi, but less so than extant Papio or Theropithecus. Thus, we interpret the predominance of Pl. alemui over K. aramisi is consistent with a somewhat more open environment at Gona than at Aramis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen R Frost
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, 97403-1218, USA.
| | - Scott W Simpson
- Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University-School of Medicine, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA; Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Naomi E Levin
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA
| | - Michael J Rogers
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT, 06515-1355, USA
| | - Sileshi Semaw
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre La Evolución Humana, Paseo de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain; Stone Age Institute & CRAFT Research Center, Gosport, IN, 47408, USA
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16
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Perissodactyla (Rhinocerotidae and Equidae) from Kanapoi. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102373. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.07.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2016] [Revised: 07/12/2017] [Accepted: 07/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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17
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Dumouchel L, Bobe R. Paleoecological implications of dental mesowear and hypsodonty in fossil ungulates from Kanapoi. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102548. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2016] [Revised: 09/27/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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18
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Revisiting the pedogenic carbonate isotopes and paleoenvironmental interpretation of Kanapoi. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102549. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Revised: 09/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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19
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Sanders WJ. Proboscidea from Kanapoi, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102547. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 10/26/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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20
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Frost SR, Ward CV, Manthi FK, Plavcan JM. Cercopithecid fossils from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2007-2015). J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102642. [PMID: 31959361 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Recent fieldwork at Kanapoi has expanded the sample of fossil cercopithecids, facilitating a re-appraisal of their taxonomy. The assemblage now includes at least one species of cercopithecin, two papionins, and two colobines. The guenon Nanopithecus browni is similar in dental size to extant Miopithecus. We tentatively re-affirm the identification of Parapapio cf. ado and confirm the presence of Theropithecus. The colobines include a small form tentatively attributed to Kuseracolobus and a second larger species. The Kanapoi fossils represent the oldest occurrences of guenons in Africa and of the important genus Theropithecus, the most abundant and widespread primate in the Neogene of Africa. In the assemblage, Parapapio cf. ado is the most abundant form, comprising the majority of specimens. All of the other taxa are comparatively rare. Colobines make up a small part of the Kanapoi fossil assemblage compared to most other contemporary sites, including Allia Bay, Kenya, where, like Kanapoi, Australopithecus anamensis has been found. The presence of Theropithecus is consistent with the presence of some relatively open habitat at Kanapoi. While the ecological preferences of the small cercopithecin are unknown, most guenons are associated with relatively wooded habitats, as are most colobines, suggesting the availability of at least some wooded areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen R Frost
- Department of Anthropology, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1218, USA.
| | - Carol V Ward
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya.
| | - J Michael Plavcan
- Department of Anthropology, 330 Old Main, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
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Du A, Rowan J, Wang SC, Wood BA, Alemseged Z. Statistical estimates of hominin origination and extinction dates: A case study examining the Australopithecus anamensis–afarensis lineage. J Hum Evol 2020; 138:102688. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2018] [Revised: 10/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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22
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Joordens JC, Feibel CS, Vonhof HB, Schulp AS, Kroon D. Relevance of the eastern African coastal forest for early hominin biogeography. J Hum Evol 2019; 131:176-202. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2018] [Revised: 03/10/2019] [Accepted: 03/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
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23
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DeSilva J, McNutt E, Benoit J, Zipfel B. One small step: A review of Plio‐Pleistocene hominin foot evolution. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168 Suppl 67:63-140. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy DeSilva
- Department of AnthropologyDartmouth College Hanover New Hampshire
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of GeosciencesUniversity of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
| | - Ellison McNutt
- Department of AnthropologyDartmouth College Hanover New Hampshire
| | - Julien Benoit
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of GeosciencesUniversity of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
| | - Bernhard Zipfel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and School of GeosciencesUniversity of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
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Abstract
Clumped and stable isotope data of paleosol carbonate and fossil tooth enamel inform about paleoenvironments of Early Pleistocene hominins. Data on woodland- vs. grassland-dominated ecosystems, soil temperatures, aridity, and the diet of Homo rudolfensis and Paranthropus boisei ca. 2.4 Ma show that they were adapted to C3 resources in wooded savanna environments in relatively cool and wet climates in the Malawi Rift. In contrast, time-equivalent Paranthropus living in open and drier settings in the northern East African Rift relied on C4 plants, a trend that became enhanced after 2 Ma, while southern African Paranthropus persistently relied mainly on C3 resources. In its early evolutionary history, Homo already showed a high versatility, suggesting that Pleistocene Homo and Paranthropus were already dietary generalists. New geochemical data from the Malawi Rift (Chiwondo Beds, Karonga Basin) fill a major spatial gap in our knowledge of hominin adaptations on a continental scale. Oxygen (δ18O), carbon (δ13C), and clumped (Δ47) isotope data on paleosols, hominins, and selected fauna elucidate an unexpected diversity in the Pleistocene hominin diet in the various habitats of the East African Rift System (EARS). Food sources of early Homo and Paranthropus thriving in relatively cool and wet wooded savanna ecosystems along the western shore of paleolake Malawi contained a large fraction of C3 plant material. Complementary water consumption reconstructions suggest that ca. 2.4 Ma, early Homo (Homo rudolfensis) and Paranthropus (Paranthropus boisei) remained rather stationary near freshwater sources along the lake margins. Time-equivalent Paranthropus aethiopicus from the Eastern Rift further north in the EARS consumed a higher fraction of C4 resources, an adaptation that grew more pronounced with increasing openness of the savanna setting after 2 Ma, while Homo maintained a high versatility. However, southern African Paranthropus robustus had, similar to the Malawi Rift individuals, C3-dominated feeding strategies throughout the Early Pleistocene. Collectively, the stable isotope and faunal data presented here document that early Homo and Paranthropus were dietary opportunists and able to cope with a wide range of paleohabitats, which clearly demonstrates their high behavioral flexibility in the African Early Pleistocene.
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Phytoliths indicate significant arboreal cover at Sahelanthropus type locality TM266 in northern Chad and a decrease in later sites. J Hum Evol 2018; 106:66-83. [PMID: 28434541 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/29/2016] [Revised: 01/12/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
We analyzed phytolith and diatom remains preserved at 45 Miocene and Pliocene localities dated between 8 and 1 Ma in northern Chad (16-17°N). Some of these localities yielded cranial remains, lower jaws, and teeth of the hominin species Australopithecus bahrelghazali (∼3.6 Ma) and Sahelanthropus tchadensis (∼7 Ma). Of the 111 sediment samples analyzed, 41 yielded phytoliths, 20 yielded diatoms, and seven yielded both phytoliths and diatoms. Freshwater planktonic and tychoplanktonic diatom species, indicative of lacustrine conditions, are dominant (>91%) in the samples. The phytolith assemblages indicate an opening of the vegetation and a general trend toward an expansion of grass-dominated environments during the time spanning the two hominin occurrences in Chad. The phytoliths suggest the presence of a mosaic environment, including closed forest patches, palm groves, and mixed/grassland formations, between 7.5 and 7 Ma, the replacement by palm grove-like vegetation at approximately 6.5-5 Ma, and the presence of exclusive grass-dominated formations after 4.5 Ma. The type-locality of S. tchadensis (TM266) was likely similar to modern palm grove formations with an arboreal cover percentage ≥40%. The type locality of A. bahrelghazali (KT12) was a grass-dominated ecosystem (likely savanna) with an unrated percentage of arboreal cover. Furthermore, the grass phytolith data support the existence of a (recurrent) Sahelian-like dry climate in northern Chad since at least 8 Ma. Therefore the local closed vegetation formations in the Djurab region at 7.5-7 Ma were sustained by aquatic systems (such as lakes or related rivers, marshes) rather than by extensive annual precipitation.
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26
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Fuss J, Spassov N, Begun DR, Böhme M. Potential hominin affinities of Graecopithecus from the Late Miocene of Europe. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177127. [PMID: 28531170 PMCID: PMC5439669 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177127] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2016] [Accepted: 04/21/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The split of our own clade from the Panini is undocumented in the fossil record. To fill this gap we investigated the dentognathic morphology of Graecopithecus freybergi from Pyrgos Vassilissis (Greece) and cf. Graecopithecus sp. from Azmaka (Bulgaria), using new μCT and 3D reconstructions of the two known specimens. Pyrgos Vassilissis and Azmaka are currently dated to the early Messinian at 7.175 Ma and 7.24 Ma. Mainly based on its external preservation and the previously vague dating, Graecopithecus is often referred to as nomen dubium. The examination of its previously unknown dental root and pulp canal morphology confirms the taxonomic distinction from the significantly older northern Greek hominine Ouranopithecus. Furthermore, it shows features that point to a possible phylogenetic affinity with hominins. G. freybergi uniquely shares p4 partial root fusion and a possible canine root reduction with this tribe and therefore, provides intriguing evidence of what could be the oldest known hominin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Fuss
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP). Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nikolai Spassov
- National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1 Blvd Tzar Osvoboditel, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - David R. Begun
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Madelaine Böhme
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP). Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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27
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Haile-Selassie Y, Melillo SM, Su DF. The Pliocene hominin diversity conundrum: Do more fossils mean less clarity? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:6364-71. [PMID: 27274043 PMCID: PMC4988594 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1521266113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent discoveries of multiple middle Pliocene hominins have raised the possibility that early hominins were as speciose as later hominins. However, debates continue to arise around the validity of most of these new taxa, largely based on poor preservation of holotype specimens, small sample size, or the lack of evidence for ecological diversity. A closer look at the currently available fossil evidence from Ethiopia, Kenya, and Chad indicate that Australopithecus afarensis was not the only hominin species during the middle Pliocene, and that there were other species clearly distinguishable from it by their locomotor adaptation and diet. Although there is no doubt that the presence of multiple species during the middle Pliocene opens new windows into our evolutionary past, it also complicates our understanding of early hominin taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yohannes Haile-Selassie
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106; Departments of Anthropology, Anatomy, and Cognitive Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106;
| | - Stephanie M Melillo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Denise F Su
- Department of Paleobotany and Paleoecology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106
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28
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Cornélio AM, de Bittencourt-Navarrete RE, de Bittencourt Brum R, Queiroz CM, Costa MR. Human Brain Expansion during Evolution Is Independent of Fire Control and Cooking. Front Neurosci 2016; 10:167. [PMID: 27199631 PMCID: PMC4842772 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2016.00167] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2016] [Accepted: 04/04/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
What makes humans unique? This question has fascinated scientists and philosophers for centuries and it is still a matter of intense debate. Nowadays, human brain expansion during evolution has been acknowledged to explain our empowered cognitive capabilities. The drivers for such accelerated expansion remain, however, largely unknown. In this sense, studies have suggested that the cooking of food could be a pre-requisite for the expansion of brain size in early hominins. However, this appealing hypothesis is only supported by a mathematical model suggesting that the increasing number of neurons in the brain would constrain body size among primates due to a limited amount of calories obtained from diets. Here, we show, by using a similar mathematical model, that a tradeoff between body mass and the number of brain neurons imposed by dietary constraints during hominin evolution is unlikely. Instead, the predictable number of neurons in the hominin brain varies much more in function of foraging efficiency than body mass. We also review archeological data to show that the expansion of the brain volume in the hominin lineage is described by a linear function independent of evidence of fire control, and therefore, thermal processing of food does not account for this phenomenon. Finally, we report experiments in mice showing that thermal processing of meat does not increase its caloric availability in mice. Altogether, our data indicate that cooking is neither sufficient nor necessary to explain hominin brain expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alianda M Cornélio
- Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do NorteNatal, Brazil; Department of Morphology, Center of Biosciences, Federal University of Rio Grande do NorteNatal, Brazil
| | | | | | - Claudio M Queiroz
- Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Natal, Brazil
| | - Marcos R Costa
- Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte Natal, Brazil
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29
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Wood B, K. Boyle E. Hominin taxic diversity: Fact or fantasy? AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2016; 159:S37-78. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 104] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Bernard Wood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
| | - Eve K. Boyle
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
- Hominid Paleobiology Graduate Program, George Washington University; Washington DC 20052
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30
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Reti JS. Quantifying Oldowan Stone Tool Production at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0147352. [PMID: 26808429 PMCID: PMC4726611 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0147352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2015] [Accepted: 12/31/2015] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent research suggests that variation exists among and between Oldowan stone tool assemblages. Oldowan variation might represent differential constraints on raw materials used to produce these stone implements. Alternatively, variation among Oldowan assemblages could represent different methods that Oldowan producing hominins utilized to produce these lithic implements. Identifying differential patterns of stone tool production within the Oldowan has implications for assessing how stone tool technology evolved, how traditions of lithic production might have been culturally transmitted, and for defining the timing and scope of these evolutionary events. At present there is no null model to predict what morphological variation in the Oldowan should look like. Without such a model, quantifying whether Oldowan assemblages vary due to raw material constraints or whether they vary due to differences in production technique is not possible. This research establishes a null model for Oldowan lithic artifact morphological variation. To establish these expectations this research 1) models the expected range of variation through large scale reduction experiments, 2) develops an algorithm to categorize archaeological flakes based on how they are produced, and 3) statistically assesses the methods of production behavior used by Oldowan producing hominins at the site of DK from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania via the experimental model. Results indicate that a subset of quartzite flakes deviate from the null expectations in a manner that demonstrates efficiency in flake manufacture, while some basalt flakes deviate from null expectations in a manner that demonstrates inefficiency in flake manufacture. The simultaneous presence of efficiency in stone tool production for one raw material (quartzite) and inefficiency in stone tool production for another raw material (basalt) suggests that Oldowan producing hominins at DK were able to mediate the economic costs associated with stone tool procurement by utilizing high-cost materials more efficiently than is expected and low-cost materials in an inefficient manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay S. Reti
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, California, United States of America
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31
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Lüdecke T, Schrenk F, Thiemeyer H, Kullmer O, Bromage TG, Sandrock O, Fiebig J, Mulch A. Persistent C3 vegetation accompanied Plio-Pleistocene hominin evolution in the Malawi Rift (Chiwondo Beds, Malawi). J Hum Evol 2016; 90:163-75. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2015] [Revised: 10/28/2015] [Accepted: 10/29/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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32
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Delezene LK. Modularity of the anthropoid dentition: Implications for the evolution of the hominin canine honing complex. J Hum Evol 2015; 86:1-12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2013] [Revised: 03/04/2015] [Accepted: 07/03/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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33
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Abstract
Humans are unique in many respects including being furless, striding bipeds that excel at walking and running long distances in hot conditions. This review summarizes what we do and do not know about the evolution of these characteristics, and how they are related. Although many details remain poorly known, the first hominins (species more closely related to humans than to chimpanzees) apparently diverged from the chimpanzee lineage because of selection for bipedal walking, probably because it improved their ability to forage efficiently. However, because bipedal hominins are necessarily slow runners, early hominins in open habitats likely benefited from improved abilities to dump heat in order to forage safely during times of peak heat when predators were unable to hunt them. Endurance running capabilities evolved later, probably as adaptations for scavenging and then hunting. If so, then there would have been strong selection for heat-loss mechanisms, especially sweating, to persistence hunt, in which hunters combine endurance running and tracking to drive their prey into hyperthermia. As modern humans dispersed into a wide range of habitats over the last few hundred thousand years, recent selection has helped populations cope better with a broader range of locomotor and thermoregulatory challenges, but all humans remain essentially adapted for long distance locomotion rather than speed, and to dump rather than retain heat.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel E Lieberman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
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Terhune CE, Hylander WL, Vinyard CJ, Taylor AB. Jaw-muscle architecture and mandibular morphology influence relative maximum jaw gapes in the sexually dimorphic Macaca fascicularis. J Hum Evol 2015; 82:145-58. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/26/2014] [Revised: 01/31/2015] [Accepted: 02/04/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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Late Miocene hominin teeth from the Gona Paleoanthropological Research Project area, Afar, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2015; 81:68-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2009] [Revised: 02/07/2014] [Accepted: 07/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Haile-Selassie Y, Melillo SM. Middle Pliocene hominin mandibular fourth premolars from Woranso-Mille (Central Afar, Ethiopia). J Hum Evol 2015; 78:44-59. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2013] [Revised: 08/11/2014] [Accepted: 08/11/2014] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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Frost SR, Jablonski NG, Haile-Selassie Y. Early Pliocene Cercopithecidae from Woranso-Mille (Central Afar, Ethiopia) and the origins of the Theropithecus oswaldi lineage. J Hum Evol 2014; 76:39-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2013] [Revised: 05/05/2014] [Accepted: 05/05/2014] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
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Drapeau MS, Bobe R, Wynn JG, Campisano CJ, Dumouchel L, Geraads D. The Omo Mursi Formation: A window into the East African Pliocene. J Hum Evol 2014; 75:64-79. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2013] [Revised: 07/02/2014] [Accepted: 07/02/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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de Bonis L, Koufos GD. First discovery of postcranial bones of Ouranopithecus macedoniensis (Primates, Hominoidea) from the late Miocene of Macedonia (Greece). J Hum Evol 2014; 74:21-36. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2012] [Revised: 03/20/2014] [Accepted: 05/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Domínguez-Rodrigo M. Is the “Savanna Hypothesis” a Dead Concept for Explaining the Emergence of the Earliest Hominins? CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2014. [DOI: 10.1086/674530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 75] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Rein TR, McCarty LA. Metacarpophalangeal Joint Orientation in Anthropoid Manual Phalanges. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2012; 295:2057-68. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.22600] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2011] [Accepted: 07/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Abstract
Understanding the interaction between past environmental and evolutionary change informs scientific and public awareness about natural environmental dynamics. Evidence of dramatic climate variability, cooling, and aridity over the past six million years has stimulated research about whether environmental change has been a major causal factor in the development of our species' defining characteristics. Examples pertaining to the evolution of bipedality, earliest known toolmaking, dispersal of Homo erectus, extinction of Neanderthals, and the global spread H. sapiens all point to the emergence of adaptability in response to environmental uncertainty as a recurrent theme in human evolution. A synthesis of African paleoclimate data suggests that significant events in human origins tended to occur during lengthy eras of strong climate fluctuation. Human adaptability will continue to be tested as societies face the challenges of adjusting to unprecedented change in Earth's environmental dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard Potts
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013-7012
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A new species of Kolpochoerus (Mammalia: Suidae) from the Pliocene of Central Afar, Ethiopia: Its Taxonomy and Phylogenetic Relationships. J MAMM EVOL 2012. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-012-9207-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Grine FE, Sponheimer M, Ungar PS, Lee-Thorp J, Teaford MF. Dental microwear and stable isotopes inform the paleoecology of extinct hominins. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2012; 148:285-317. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Sanders WJ, Haile-Selassie Y. A New Assemblage of Mid-Pliocene Proboscideans from the Woranso-Mille Area, Afar Region, Ethiopia: Taxonomic, Evolutionary, and Paleoecological Considerations. J MAMM EVOL 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-011-9181-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Delezene LK, Kimbel WH. Evolution of the mandibular third premolar crown in early Australopithecus. J Hum Evol 2011; 60:711-30. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2010] [Revised: 12/30/2010] [Accepted: 01/08/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Landscapes and their relation to hominin habitats: Case studies from Australopithecus sites in eastern and southern Africa. J Hum Evol 2011; 60:281-98. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2009] [Revised: 07/25/2010] [Accepted: 10/15/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Feeding Ecology and Niche Partitioning of the Laetoli Ungulate Faunas. PALEONTOLOGY AND GEOLOGY OF LAETOLI: HUMAN EVOLUTION IN CONTEXT 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/978-90-481-9956-3_16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
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Haile-Selassie Y. Phylogeny of early Australopithecus: new fossil evidence from the Woranso-Mille (central Afar, Ethiopia). Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2010; 365:3323-31. [PMID: 20855306 PMCID: PMC2981958 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The earliest evidence of Australopithecus goes back to ca 4.2 Ma with the first recorded appearance of Australopithecus 'anamensis' at Kanapoi, Kenya. Australopithecus afarensis is well documented between 3.6 and 3.0 Ma mainly from deposits at Laetoli (Tanzania) and Hadar (Ethiopia). The phylogenetic relationship of these two 'species' is hypothesized as ancestor-descendant. However, the lack of fossil evidence from the time between 3.6 and 3.9 Ma has been one of its weakest points. Recent fieldwork in the Woranso-Mille study area in the Afar region of Ethiopia has yielded fossil hominids dated between 3.6 and 3.8 Ma. These new fossils play a significant role in testing the proposed relationship between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. The Woranso-Mille hominids (3.6-3.8 Ma) show a mosaic of primitive, predominantly Au. anamensis-like, and some derived (Au. afarensis-like) dentognathic features. Furthermore, they show that, as currently known, there are no discrete and functionally significant anatomical differences between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. Based on the currently available evidence, it appears that there is no compelling evidence to falsify the hypothesis of 'chronospecies pair' or ancestor-descendant relationship between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. Most importantly, however, the temporally and morphologically intermediate Woranso-Mille hominids indicate that the species names Au. afarensis and Au. anamensis do not refer to two real species, but rather to earlier and later representatives of a single phyletically evolving lineage. However, if retaining these two names is necessary for communication purposes, the Woranso-Mille hominids are best referred to as Au. anamensis based on new dentognathic evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yohannes Haile-Selassie
- Department of Physical Anthropology, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
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