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Melillo SM, Gibert L, Saylor BZ, Deino A, Alene M, Ryan TM, Haile-Selassie Y. New Pliocene hominin remains from the Leado Dido'a area of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2021; 153:102956. [PMID: 33711722 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/03/2020] [Revised: 01/25/2021] [Accepted: 01/25/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Fossiliferous deposits at Woranso-Mille span the period when Australopithecus anamensis gave rise to Australopithecus afarensis (3.8-3.6 Ma) and encompass the core of the A. afarensis range (ca. 3.5-3.2 Ma). Within the latter period, fossils described to date include the intriguing but taxonomically unattributed Burtele foot, dentognathic fossils attributed to Australopithecus deyiremeda, and one specimen securely attributed to A. afarensis (the Nefuraytu mandible). These fossils suggest that at least one additional hominin lineage lived alongside A. afarensis in the Afar Depression. Here we describe a collection of hominin fossils from a new locality in the Leado Dido'a area of Woranso-Mille (LDD-VP-1). The strata in this area are correlated to the same chron as those in the Burtele area (C2An.3n; 3.59-3.33 Ma), and similar in age to the Maka Sands and the Basal through lower Sidi Hakoma Members of the Hadar Formation. We attribute all but one of the LDD hominin specimens to A. afarensis, based on diagnostic morphology of the mandible, maxilla, canines, and premolars. The LDD specimens generally fall within the range of variation previously documented for A. afarensis but increase the frequency of some rare morphological variants. However, one isolated M3 is extremely small, and its taxonomic affinity is currently unknown. The new observations support previous work on temporal trends in A. afarensis and demonstrate that the large range of variation accepted for this species is present even within a limited spatiotemporal range. The value added with this sample lies in its contribution to controlling for spatiotemporal differences among site samples in the A. afarensis hypodigm and its contemporaneity with non-A. afarensis specimens at Woranso-Mille.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie M Melillo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Luis Gibert
- Departament de Mineralogia, Petrologia i Geologia Aplicada Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Beverly Z Saylor
- Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Alan Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Mulugeta Alene
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Timothy M Ryan
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Yohannes Haile-Selassie
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA; Departments of Anthropology and Biology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
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van Beesel J, Hutchinson JR, Hublin JJ, Melillo SM. Exploring the functional morphology of the Gorilla shoulder through musculoskeletal modelling. J Anat 2021; 239:207-227. [PMID: 33629406 PMCID: PMC8197971 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Revised: 01/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Musculoskeletal computer models allow us to quantitatively relate morphological features to biomechanical performance. In non‐human apes, certain morphological features have long been linked to greater arm abduction potential and increased arm‐raising performance, compared to humans. Here, we present the first musculoskeletal model of a western lowland gorilla shoulder to test some of these long‐standing proposals. Estimates of moment arms and moments of the glenohumeral abductors (deltoid, supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles) over arm abduction were conducted for the gorilla model and a previously published human shoulder model. Contrary to previous assumptions, we found that overall glenohumeral abduction potential is similar between Gorilla and Homo. However, gorillas differ by maintaining high abduction moment capacity with the arm raised above horizontal. This difference is linked to a disparity in soft tissue properties, indicating that scapular morphological features like a cranially oriented scapular spine and glenoid do not enhance the abductor function of the gorilla glenohumeral muscles. A functional enhancement due to differences in skeletal morphology was only demonstrated in the gorilla supraspinatus muscle. Contrary to earlier ideas linking a more obliquely oriented scapular spine to greater supraspinatus leverage, our results suggest that increased lateral projection of the greater tubercle of the humerus accounts for the greater biomechanical performance in Gorilla. This study enhances our understanding of the evolution of gorilla locomotion, as well as providing greater insight into the general interaction between anatomy, function and locomotor biomechanics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia van Beesel
- Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - John R Hutchinson
- Structure & Motion Laboratory, The Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, UK
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Stephanie M Melillo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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Haile-Selassie Y, Melillo SM, Vazzana A, Benazzi S, Ryan TM. A 3.8-million-year-old hominin cranium from Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia. Nature 2019; 573:214-219. [DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1513-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Haile-Selassie Y, Melillo SM, Ryan TM, Levin NE, Saylor BZ, Deino A, Mundil R, Scott G, Alene M, Gibert L. Corrigendum to "Dentognathic remains of Australopithecus afarensis from Nefuraytu (Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia): Comparative description, geology, and paleoecological context" [J Hum Evol 100 (2016) 35-53]. J Hum Evol 2016; 102:81. [PMID: 27887742 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 11/01/2016] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yohannes Haile-Selassie
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Department of Anthropology, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA; Department of Cognitive Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.
| | - Stephanie M Melillo
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Timothy M Ryan
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Quantitative Imaging, EMS Energy Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Naomi E Levin
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Beverly Z Saylor
- Department of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Alan Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - Ronald Mundil
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - Gary Scott
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - Mulugeta Alene
- School of Earth Sciences, Addis Ababa University, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Luis Gibert
- University of Barcelona, Martí Franquès s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
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Haile-Selassie Y, Melillo SM, Ryan TM, Levin NE, Saylor BZ, Deino A, Mundil R, Scott G, Mulugeta Alene, Gibert L. Dentognathic remains of Australopithecus afarensis from Nefuraytu (Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia): Comparative description, geology, and paleoecological context. J Hum Evol 2016; 100:35-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.08.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2016] [Revised: 08/03/2016] [Accepted: 08/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Haile-Selassie Y, Gibert L, Melillo SM, Ryan TM, Alene M, Deino A, Levin NE, Scott G, Saylor BZ. New species from Ethiopia further expands Middle Pliocene hominin diversity. Nature 2015; 521:483-8. [DOI: 10.1038/nature14448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2014] [Accepted: 04/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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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] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [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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