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Pestana C, de Sousa AA, Todorov OS, Beaudet A, Benoit J. Evolutionary history of hominin brain size and phylogenetic comparative methods. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023; 275:217-232. [PMID: 36841569 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.12.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2023]
Abstract
An absolutely and relatively large brain has traditionally been viewed as a distinctive characteristic of the Homo genus, with anatomically modern humans presented at the apex of a long line of progressive increases in encephalization. Many studies continue to focus attention on increasing brain size in the Homo genus, while excluding measures of absolute and relative brain size of more geologically recent, smaller brained, hominins such as Homo floresiensis, and Homo naledi and smaller brained Homo erectus specimens. This review discusses the benefits of using phylogenetic comparative methods to trace the diverse changes in hominin brain evolution and the drawbacks of not doing so.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher Pestana
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | | | - Orlin S Todorov
- School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Amélie Beaudet
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Julien Benoit
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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2
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Abstract
We review the state of paleoanthropology research in Asia. We survey the fossil record, articulate the current understanding, and delineate the points of contention. Although Asia received less attention than Europe and Africa did in the second half of the twentieth century, an increase in reliably dated fossil materials and the advances in genetics have fueled new research. The long and complex evolutionary history of humans in Asia throughout the Pleistocene can be explained by a balance of mechanisms, between gene flow among different populations and continuity of regional ancestry. This pattern is reflected in fossil morphology and paleogenomics. Critical understanding of the sociocultural forces that shaped the history of hominin fossil research in Asia is important in charting the way forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Hee Lee
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA
| | - Autumn Hudock
- Department of Anthropology, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, North Carolina 28223, USA
- Current affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, USA
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3
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Abstract
Abstract
Creation and subsequent abandonment of a number of earlier species considered human ancestors: Eoanthropus dawsoni, Hesperopithecus haroldcooki, Homo gardarensis and Ramapithecus punjabicus is presented using cases from the history of science. This review indicates that the fossil evidence for these species has been questionable from the beginning but that mental images – memes – they invoked were attractive to students of human evolution and as such persisted even if not confirmed by further finds, with new research still being disputed. Against this background the status of the recent construction of the hominin species “Homo floresiensis” is discussed showing that despite dubious interpretations of the objective data and a relatively long time of non-confirmation due to paucity of newly discovered skeletal remains, the “species” still exists in minds of scholars and in the scientific literature extending into textbooks.
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Wu X, Pei S, Cai Y, Tong H, Xing S, Jashashvili T, Carlson KJ, Liu W. Morphological description and evolutionary significance of 300 ka hominin facial bones from Hualongdong, China. J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103052. [PMID: 34601289 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103052] [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] [Received: 11/17/2020] [Revised: 07/10/2021] [Accepted: 07/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Late Middle Pleistocene hominins in Africa displaying key modern morphologies by 315 ka are claimed as the earliest Homo sapiens. Evolutionary relationships among East Asian hominins appear complex due to a growing fossil record of late Middle Pleistocene hominins from the region, reflecting mosaic morphologies that contribute to a lack of consensus on when and how the transition to modern humans transpired. Newly discovered 300 ka hominin fossils from Hualongdong, China, provide further evidence to clarify these relationships in the region. In this study, facial morphology of the juvenile partial cranium (HLD 6) is described and qualitatively and quantitatively compared with that of other key Early, Middle, and Late Pleistocene hominins from East Asia, Africa, West Asia, and Europe and with a sample of modern humans. Qualitatively, facial morphology of HLD 6 resembles that of Early and Middle Pleistocene hominins from Zhoukoudian, Nanjing, Dali, and Jinniushan in China, as well as others from Java, Africa, and Europe in some of these features (e.g., supraorbital and malar regions), and Late Pleistocene hominins and modern humans from East Asia, Africa, and Europe in other features (e.g., weak prognathism, flat face and features in nasal and hard plate regions). Comparisons of HLD 6 measurements to group means and multivariate analyses support close affinities of HLD 6 to Late Pleistocene hominins and modern humans. Expression of a mosaic morphological pattern in the HLD 6 facial skeleton further complicates evolutionary interpretations of regional morphological diversity in East Asia. The prevalence of modern features in HLD 6 suggests that the hominin population to which HLD 6 belonged may represent the earliest pre-modern humans in East Asia. Thus, the transition from archaic to modern morphology in East Asian hominins may have occurred at least by 300 ka, which is 80,000 to 100,000 years earlier than previously recognized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiujie Wu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Shuwen Pei
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Yanjun Cai
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 710049 Xi'an, China
| | - Haowen Tong
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Song Xing
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China
| | - Tea Jashashvili
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA; Department of Geology and Paleontology, Georgian National Museum, Tbilisi, 0105, Georgia
| | - Kristian J Carlson
- Department of Integrative Anatomical Sciences, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2000 South Africa.
| | - Wu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China.
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5
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Young CB. Static allometry of a small-bodied omnivore: body size and limb scaling of an island fox and inferences for Homo floresiensis. J Hum Evol 2020; 149:102899. [PMID: 33137549 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102899] [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: 05/05/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/01/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Island dwarfing is a paraphyletic adaptation across numerous mammalian genera. From mammoths to foxes, extreme body size reduction is shared by diverse organisms that migrate to an island environment. Because it largely occurs owing to ecological variables, not phylogenetic ones, skeletal characters in a dwarfed taxon compared with its ancestor may appear abnormal. As a result, allometric patterns between body size and morphological traits may differ for an island dwarf compared with its ancestor. The diminutive Late Pleistocene hominin, Homo floresiensis, displays a unique character suite that is outside of the normal range of variation for any extinct or extant hominin species. To better explain these as ecological traits due to island dwarfing, this research looks at how dwarfing on islands influences limb scaling and proportions in an organism in a similar ecological niche as H. floresiensis. Here, I analyze absolute limb lengths and static allometry of limb lengths regressed on predicted body mass of dwarfed island foxes and their nondwarfed relatives. Dwarfed island foxes have significantly smaller intercepts but steeper slopes of all limb elements regressed on predicted body mass than the mainland gray fox. These allometric alterations produce limbs in the island fox that are significantly shorter than predicted for a nondwarfed gray fox of similar body mass. In addition, the humerofemoral, intermembral, and brachial indices are significantly different. These results provide a novel model for understanding skeletal variation of island endemic forms. Unique body size and proportions of H. floresiensis are plausible as ecological adaptations and likely not examples of symplesiomorphies with Australopithecus sp. Caution should be exerted when comparing an island dwarf with a closely related species as deviations from allometric expectations may be common.
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Affiliation(s)
- Colleen B Young
- University of Missouri, Department of Anthropology, 112 Swallow Hall, Columbia, MO, 65203, USA.
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6
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Scardia G, Neves WA, Tattersall I, Blumrich L. What kind of hominin first left Africa? Evol Anthropol 2020; 30:122-127. [PMID: 32893976 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21863] [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: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Recent discoveries of stone tools from Jordan (2.5 Ma) and China (2.1 Ma) document hominin presence in Asia at the beginning of the Pleistocene, well before the conventional Dmanisi datum at 1.8 Ma. Although no fossil hominins documenting this earliest Out of Africa phase have been found, on chronological grounds a pre-Homo erectus hominin must be considered the most likely maker of those artifacts. If so, this sheds new light on at least two disputed subjects in paleoanthropology, namely the remarkable variation among the five Dmanisi skulls, and the ancestry of Homo floresiensis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giancarlo Scardia
- Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Instituto de Geociências e Ciências Exatas, Rio Claro, Brazil
| | - Walter A Neves
- Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Instituto de Estudos Avançados, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Ian Tattersall
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
| | - Lukas Blumrich
- Universidade de São Paulo (USP), Instituto de Estudos Avançados, São Paulo, Brazil
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7
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Intercellular competition and levels of development: The plasticity of inevitability. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E11061-E11062. [DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1719479115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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8
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Argue D, Groves CP, Lee MS, Jungers WL. The affinities of Homo floresiensis based on phylogenetic analyses of cranial, dental, and postcranial characters. J Hum Evol 2017; 107:107-133. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.02.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2016] [Revised: 02/21/2017] [Accepted: 02/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
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9
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Churchill SE, Vansickle C. Pelvic Morphology in Homo erectus
and Early Homo. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2017; 300:964-977. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2016] [Revised: 01/20/2017] [Accepted: 02/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Steven Emilio Churchill
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology; Duke University; Durham North Carolina
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand; Wits South Africa
| | - Caroline Vansickle
- Department of Anthropology; Bryn Mawr College; Bryn Mawr Pennsylvania
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in Palaeosciences, University of the Witwatersrand; Wits South Africa
- Department of Anthropology; University of Wisconsin-Madison; Wisconsin
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11
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Affiliation(s)
- Aida Gómez-Robles
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington DC 20052, USA
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12
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Baab KL, Brown P, Falk D, Richtsmeier JT, Hildebolt CF, Smith K, Jungers W. A Critical Evaluation of the Down Syndrome Diagnosis for LB1, Type Specimen of Homo floresiensis. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0155731. [PMID: 27275928 PMCID: PMC4898715 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The Liang Bua hominins from Flores, Indonesia, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate since their initial description and classification in 2004. These remains have been assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis, with the partial skeleton LB1 as the type specimen. The Liang Bua hominins are notable for their short stature, small endocranial volume, and many features that appear phylogenetically primitive relative to modern humans, despite their late Pleistocene age. Recently, some workers suggested that the remains represent members of a small-bodied island population of modern Austro-Melanesian humans, with LB1 exhibiting clinical signs of Down syndrome. Many classic Down syndrome signs are soft tissue features that could not be assessed in skeletal remains. Moreover, a definitive diagnosis of Down syndrome can only be made by genetic analysis as the phenotypes associated with Down syndrome are variable. Most features that contribute to the Down syndrome phenotype are not restricted to Down syndrome but are seen in other chromosomal disorders and in the general population. Nevertheless, we re-evaluated the presence of those phenotypic features used to support this classification by comparing LB1 to samples of modern humans diagnosed with Down syndrome and euploid modern humans using comparative morphometric analyses. We present new data regarding neurocranial, brain, and symphyseal shape in Down syndrome, additional estimates of stature for LB1, and analyses of inter- and intralimb proportions. The presence of cranial sinuses is addressed using CT images of LB1. We found minimal congruence between the LB1 phenotype and clinical descriptions of Down syndrome. We present important differences between the phenotypes of LB1 and individuals with Down syndrome, and quantitative data that characterize LB1 as an outlier compared with Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome groups. Homo floresiensis remains a phenotypically unique, valid species with its roots in Plio-Pleistocene Homo taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Baab
- Department of Anatomy, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ, 85308, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter Brown
- Bioanthropology, School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Dean Falk
- Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306–7772, United States of America
- School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, 87505, United States of America
| | - Joan T. Richtsmeier
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America
| | - Charles F. Hildebolt
- Department of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States of America
| | - Kirk Smith
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, United States of America
| | - William Jungers
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794–8081, United States of America
- Association Vahatra, BP 3972, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
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Dembo M, Matzke NJ, Mooers AØ, Collard M. Bayesian analysis of a morphological supermatrix sheds light on controversial fossil hominin relationships. Proc Biol Sci 2016. [PMID: 26202999 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 95] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The phylogenetic relationships of several hominin species remain controversial. Two methodological issues contribute to the uncertainty-use of partial, inconsistent datasets and reliance on phylogenetic methods that are ill-suited to testing competing hypotheses. Here, we report a study designed to overcome these issues. We first compiled a supermatrix of craniodental characters for all widely accepted hominin species. We then took advantage of recently developed Bayesian methods for building trees of serially sampled tips to test among hypotheses that have been put forward in three of the most important current debates in hominin phylogenetics--the relationship between Australopithecus sediba and Homo, the taxonomic status of the Dmanisi hominins, and the place of the so-called hobbit fossils from Flores, Indonesia, in the hominin tree. Based on our results, several published hypotheses can be statistically rejected. For example, the data do not support the claim that Dmanisi hominins and all other early Homo specimens represent a single species, nor that the hobbit fossils are the remains of small-bodied modern humans, one of whom had Down syndrome. More broadly, our study provides a new baseline dataset for future work on hominin phylogeny and illustrates the promise of Bayesian approaches for understanding hominin phylogenetic relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mana Dembo
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Department of Archaeology,, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Nicholas J Matzke
- National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Arne Ø Mooers
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
| | - Mark Collard
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Department of Archaeology,, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK
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Balzeau A, Charlier P. What do cranial bones of LB1 tell us about Homo floresiensis? J Hum Evol 2016; 93:12-24. [PMID: 27086053 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2014] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Cranial vault thickness (CVT) of Liang Bua 1, the specimen that is proposed to be the holotype of Homo floresiensis, has not yet been described in detail and compared with samples of fossil hominins, anatomically modern humans or microcephalic skulls. In addition, a complete description from a forensic and pathological point of view has not yet been carried out. It is important to evaluate scientifically if features related to CVT bring new information concerning the possible pathological status of LB1, and if it helps to recognize affinities with any hominin species and particularly if the specimen could belong to the species Homo sapiens. Medical examination of the skull based on a micro-CT examination clearly brings to light the presence of a sincipital T (a non-metrical variant of normal anatomy), a scar from an old frontal trauma without any evident functional consequence, and a severe bilateral hyperostosis frontalis interna that may have modified the anterior morphology of the endocranium of LB1. We also show that LB1 displays characteristics, related to the distribution of bone thickness and arrangements of cranial structures, that are plesiomorphic traits for hominins, at least for Homo erectus s.l. relative to Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. All the microcephalic skulls analyzed here share the derived condition of anatomically modern H. sapiens. Cranial vault thickness does not help to clarify the definition of the species H. floresiensis but it also does not support an attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens. We conclude that there is no support for the attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens as there is no evidence of systemic pathology and because it does not have any of the apomorphic traits of our species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Balzeau
- Équipe de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR 7194 du CNRS, Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium.
| | - Philippe Charlier
- Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology, UFR of Health Sciences (UVSQ/Paris-Descartes University, AP-HP), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France
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15
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Morrison DA. Taxonomy of Australian Mammals. — By Stephen Jackson and Colin Groves. Syst Biol 2015. [DOI: 10.1093/sysbio/syv085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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16
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Larick R, Ciochon RL. Retracted: Early hominin biogeography in Island Southeast Asia. Evol Anthropol 2015; 24:185-213. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.21460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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17
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Leppard TP. Passive Dispersal versus Strategic Dispersal in Island Colonization by Hominins. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1086/682325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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18
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Mandibular evidence supports Homo floresiensis as a distinct species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:E604-5. [PMID: 25659745 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1418997112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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19
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Research critics to be properly informed. Nature 2014. [DOI: 10.1038/513487c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
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Rare events in earth history include the LB1 human skeleton from Flores, Indonesia, as a developmental singularity, not a unique taxon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:11961-6. [PMID: 25092307 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1407385111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The original centrally defining features of "Homo floresiensis" are based on bones represented only in the single specimen LB1. Initial published values of 380-mL endocranial volume and 1.06-m stature are markedly lower than later attempts to confirm them, and facial asymmetry originally unreported, then denied, has been established by our group and later confirmed independently. Of nearly 200 syndromes in which microcephaly is one sign, more than half include asymmetry as another sign and more than one-fourth also explicitly include short stature. The original diagnosis of the putative new species noted and dismissed just three developmental abnormalities. Subsequent independent attempts at diagnosis (Laron Syndrome, Majewski osteodysplastic primordial dwarfism type II, cretinism) have been hampered a priori by selectively restricted access to specimens, and disparaged a posteriori using data previously unpublished, without acknowledging that all of the independent diagnoses corroborate the patent abnormal singularity of LB1. In this report we establish in detail that even in the absence of a particular syndromic diagnosis, the originally defining features of LB1 do not establish either the uniqueness or normality necessary to meet the formal criteria for a type specimen of a new species. In a companion paper we present a new syndromic diagnosis for LB1.
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