1
|
Riga A, Davies TW, Azzarà B, Boschian G, Buzi C, Kimambo JS, Manzi G, Masao FT, Mgimwa A, Nyambo H, Tafforeau P, Jilala W, Moggi-Cecchi J, Cherin M. New hominin dental remains from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). J Hum Evol 2024; 193:103556. [PMID: 38971116 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2024] [Revised: 05/28/2024] [Accepted: 06/02/2024] [Indexed: 07/08/2024]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Thomas W Davies
- Department of Human Origins, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Beatrice Azzarà
- Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Italy
| | | | - Costantino Buzi
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain; Department of History and History of Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Jackson S Kimambo
- Eastern Africa Research Centre for Palaeosciences (EARCEP), Karatu, Tanzania
| | - Giorgio Manzi
- Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
| | - Fidelis T Masao
- Department of Archaeology & Heritage, University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Amon Mgimwa
- Antiquities Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania
| | - Happiness Nyambo
- Antiquities Division, Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Tanzania
| | - Paul Tafforeau
- European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), Grenoble, France
| | - Wilson Jilala
- National Museum and House of Culture, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | | | - Marco Cherin
- Department of Physics and Geology, University of Perugia, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Frémondière P, Haeusler M, Thollon L, Webb NM, Marchal F. Obstetrical Constraints and the Origin of Extended Postnatal Brain Maturation in Hominin Evolution. BIOLOGY 2024; 13:398. [PMID: 38927278 PMCID: PMC11201025 DOI: 10.3390/biology13060398] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/17/2024] [Revised: 05/18/2024] [Accepted: 05/24/2024] [Indexed: 06/28/2024]
Abstract
The origin of difficult birth is still a matter of debate in obstetrics. Recent studies hypothesized that early hominins already experienced obstructed labor even with reduced neonatal head sizes. The aim of this work is to test this hypothesis using an extant obstetrical sample with known delivery outcomes. Three delivery outcomes (i.e., instrument-assisted, Caesarean section, and vaginal birth) were evaluated using a discriminant analysis based on 131 mother-baby dyads and 36 feto-pelvic variables. This obstetrical sample was compared with 20 australopithecine "dyads" generated from the combination of six pelvic reconstructions (three for Australopithecus afarensis, two for A. africanus, and one for A. sediba) and three fetal head size estimations. The obstetrical analysis revealed that dystocic births can be predicted by pelvic features such as an anteroposteriorly flattened pelvic inlet. Australopithecines shared these pelvic morphologies with humans and had eutocic birth only for infants of 110 g brain size or smaller, equaling a human-like neonatal/adult brain size ratio of 25-28%. Although birth mechanism cannot be deduced, the newborn/adult brain size ratio was likely more human-like than previously thought, suggesting that australopithecines were secondarily altricial to circumvent instances of obstructed labor and subsequently require a prolonged postnatal brain growth period, implying some aspects of life history pattern similar to modern humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Pierre Frémondière
- Faculty of Medical and Paramedical Sciences, School of Midwifery, Aix Marseille University, 51 Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13344 Marseille CEDEX 15, France
- UMR 7268 ADES, Aix Marseille University, EFS, CNRS, 51 Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13344 Marseille CEDEX 15, France;
| | - Martin Haeusler
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland;
| | - Lionel Thollon
- LBA, Aix Marseille University, Gustave Eiffel University, 51 Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13344 Marseille CEDEX 15, France;
| | - Nicole M. Webb
- Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland;
- Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, Senckenberganlage 25, 60325 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - François Marchal
- UMR 7268 ADES, Aix Marseille University, EFS, CNRS, 51 Boulevard Pierre Dramard, 13344 Marseille CEDEX 15, France;
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Crompton RH, Sellers W, Davids K, McClymont J. Biomechanics and the origins of human bipedal walking: The last 50 years. J Biomech 2023; 157:111701. [PMID: 37451208 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiomech.2023.111701] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2022] [Revised: 06/22/2023] [Accepted: 06/23/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Motion analysis, as applied to evolutionary biomechanics, has experienced its own evolution over the last 50 years. Here we review how an ever-increasing fossil record, together with continuing advancements in biomechanics techniques, have shaped our understanding of the origin of upright bipedal walking. The original, and long-established hypothesis held by Lamarck (1809), Darwin (1859) and Keith (1934), amongst others, maintained that bipedality originated in an arboreal context. However, the first field studies of gorilla and chimpanzees from the 1960's, highlighted their so-called 'knucklewalking' quadrupedalism, leading scientists to assume, semi-automatically, that knucklewalking must have been the precursor to bipedality. It would not be until the discovery of skeletons of early human relatives Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus prometheus, and the inclusion of methods of analysis from computer science, biomechanics, sports science and medicine, that the knucklewalking hypothesis would be most robustly challenged. Their short, but human-like lower limbs and human-like hand indicated that knucklewalking was not part of our ancestral locomotor repertoire. Rather, most current research in evolutionary biomechanics agrees it was a combination of climbing and bipedalism, both in an arboreal context, which facilitated upright, terrestrial, bipedal walking over short distances.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Robin Huw Crompton
- Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, The University of Liverpool, William Henry Duncan Building, West Derby Street, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK.
| | - William Sellers
- Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK
| | - Keith Davids
- Sport and Physical Activity Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University, Howard Street, Sheffield S1 1WB, UK
| | - Juliet McClymont
- Musculoskeletal and Ageing Science, The University of Liverpool, William Henry Duncan Building, West Derby Street, Liverpool L7 8TX, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Baboon perspectives on the ecology and behavior of early human ancestors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2116182119. [PMID: 36279425 PMCID: PMC9659385 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2116182119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
For more than 70 y researchers have looked to baboons (monkeys of the genus
Papio
) as a source of hypotheses about the ecology and behavior of early hominins (early human ancestors and their close relatives). This approach has undergone a resurgence in the last decade as a result of rapidly increasing knowledge from experimental and field studies of baboons and from archeological and paleontological studies of hominins. The result is a rich array of analogies, scenarios, and other stimuli to thought about the ecology and behavior of early hominins. The main intent here is to illustrate baboon perspectives on early hominins, with emphasis on recent developments. This begins with a discussion of baboons and hominins as we know them currently and explains the reasons for drawing comparisons between them. These include occupation of diverse environments, combination of arboreal and terrestrial capabilities, relatively large body size, and sexual dimorphism. The remainder of the paper illustrates the main points with a small number of examples drawn from diverse areas of interest: diet (grasses and fish), danger (leopards and crocodiles), social organization (troops and multilevel societies), social relationships (male–male, male–female, female–female), communication (possible foundations of language), cognition (use of social information, comparison of self to others), and bipedalism (a speculative developmental hypothesis about the neurological basis). The conclusion is optimistic about the future of baboon perspectives on early hominins.
Collapse
|
5
|
Biochronology of South African hominin-bearing sites: A reassessment using cercopithecid primates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2210627119. [PMID: 36279427 PMCID: PMC9659350 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2210627119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite recent advances in chronometric techniques (e.g., Uranium-Lead [U-Pb], cosmogenic nuclides, electron spin resonance spectroscopy [ESR]), considerable uncertainty remains regarding the age of many Plio-Pleistocene hominin sites, including several in South Africa. Consequently, biochronology remains important in assessments of Plio-Pleistocene geochronology and provides direct age estimates of the fossils themselves. Historically, cercopithecid monkeys have been among the most useful taxa for biochronology of early hominins because they are widely present and abundant in the African Plio-Pleistocene record. The last major studies using cercopithecids were published over 30 y ago. Since then, new hominin sites have been discovered, radiometric age estimates have been refined, and many changes have occurred in cercopithecid taxonomy and systematics. Thus, a biochronological reassessment using cercopithecids is long overdue. Here, we provide just such a revision based on our recent study of every major cercopithecid collection from African Plio-Pleistocene sites. In addition to correlations based on shared faunal elements, we present an analysis based on the dentition of the abundant cercopithecid
Theropithecus oswaldi
, which increases in size in a manner that is strongly correlated with geological age (
r
2
∼0.83), thereby providing a highly accurate age-estimation tool not previously utilized. In combination with paleomagnetic and U-Pb data, our results provide revised age estimates and suggest that there are no hominin sites in South Africa significantly older than ∼2.8 Ma. Where conflicting age estimates exist, we suggest that additional data are needed and recall that faunal estimates have ultimately proved reliable in the past (e.g., the age of the KBS Tuff).
Collapse
|