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We provide the basis for a scenario of hominid evolution that complies with both the Habitat Theory of Vrba (1992) and early hominid biogeography. It expresses the association between faunal turnover and climate change with significant developments during human evolution (cf. Howell, 1959). This scenario suggests a single origin for the Paranthropus lineage but separate origins for Homo rudolfensis and Homo habilis from Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus africanus ancestors respectively. The scenario we propose is bold and as yet unsubstantiated by analyses of character states and polarities. We hope that this flagrancy will incite focused research on its assumptions and result in new hypotheses based on a more holistic accounting of morphology, biogeography, and ecology.

Near Eastern late archaic humans represent a regional lineage of Late Pleistocene hominids, whose phylogenetic relationship to Near Eastern early modern humans is probably distant. Most of their postcranial features, plus some dental and facial ones, appear to be characteristic of non-habiline archaic Homo in general and are variably shared with Near Eastern early modern humans. They also show marked encephalization and associated pelvic and spinal canal changes, a decrease in facial robusticity, ecogeographical patterning in body shape, and regional features with affinities to the European Neandertals. Among the last is their maintenance of an enlarged nasal region and long face combined with the Late Pleistocene facial gracilization evident through time in the Near Eastern late archaic human sample. These hominids contrast with Near Eastern early modern humans in a mosaic pattern, depending upon the biological complex considered., Les hommes archaïques tardifs du Proche-Orient constituent une lignée d'Hominidés du Pléistocène supérieur probablement sans relation phylogénétique étroite avec les hommes modernes anciens de la même région. La plupart de leurs caractères post-crâniens et certains de leurs caractères faciaux et dentaires semblent caractériser l'ensemble des représentants archaïques du genre Homo post-habilis et sont partagés de façon variable par les hommes modernes du Proche-Orient. Ces hommes montrent par ailleurs une encéphalisation marquée avec des modifications associées du canal spinal et de la région pelvienne, une réduction de la robustesse faciale, un modelage éco-géographique de la forme corporelle et des caractères régionaux qui les rapprochent des Néanderthaliens européens. Parmi ce dernier ensemble de caractères, on trouve la persistance d'une cavité nasale et d'une face allongée, à laquelle s'applique le phénomène de gracilisation faciale du Pléistocène supérieur, évident au cours du développement chronologique de la série des hommes archaïques tardifs du Proche-Orient. Ces Hominidés se distinguent des Hommes modernes anciens du Proche-Orient de façon variable, suivant les complexes biologiques considérés., Trinkaus Erik. Near Eastern Late Archaic Humans. In: Paléorient, 1995, vol. 21, n°2. pp. 9-24.

New research on the stone tool bearing deposits at the Plio-Pleistocene hominid site of Sterkfontein (South Africa) demonstrates the complexity of Member 5, which is now shown to include at least three infills. The deepest and most recently excavated infill contains a large Oldowan industry associated with Paranthropus robustus and two other species not previously found at Sterkfontein. The Oldowan is estimated at 1·7 to 2·0 m.y. and is largely in a near-primary context with fresh artefact conditions, a range of sizes and a majority of small flaking debris. Two assemblages of Early Acheulean artefacts are contained in a second infill, with at least one of these in a secondary context. The Acheulean compares with similar assemblages from East Africa dated to ± 1·5 m.y. The cranium of a Homo habilis, StW 53, derives from a third infill estimated to at least 1·8 m.y. but with uncertain artefact content. The Acheulean assemblages are affected by local contamination with Middle Stone Age artefacts entering through solution pockets within the top 22 feet of the member. Analytical methods for the study of consolidated underground cavern infills are described.

There are four hominoid localities in the Yuanmou basin. There is no appreciable difference of fossil mammals collected from them respectively. On the other hand, judging from the occurrence of the strata and the characteristics of the deposits as well as from the trace of the neotectonics, the “homo layers” are identical to “Ramapithecus layers” in their occurrence. Thus the Hominoid fossils are exactly the same age.

While research into the diet and subsistence of early hominids has focussed primarily on medium to large size mammals, modern ethnographic and dietary evidence suggests that other food sources are of equal or greater importance in hunter-gatherer diets, particularly in seasonally stressful times of year. Fish is examined in this paper as an alternative food source for early hominids. Nutritional, ecological and ethnographic evidence indicates that fish would be a seasonally available, nutritious and easy to procure alternative food source for early hominids, particularly during periods when other food sources may be of poor quality. Carnivores and non-human primates rely on fish as a seasonal resource, and archaeological findings also document the importance of fish for Late Pleistocene hominid groups. Fish remains are associated with many early hominid sites, and five sites at Olduvai Gorge are examined here in detail. The patterns of fish exploitation seen in Late Pleistocene archaeological sites are manifested in three of the Olduvai Gorge sites, making a strong, although not absolute, case for early hominid fish procurement. The implications for early hominid behaviour of fish procurement are several, and include timing of the early hominid seasonal round to exploit spawning or stranded fish, and group size larger than the nuclear family unit, with greater social interaction. Further investigation must also be conducted on the possible differences in procurement strategy between the hominid species at FLKNN (Homo habilis) and BK (presumed H. erectus).

Olduvai Hominin (OH) 8, a 1.76 million year old left foot skeleton, has osteophytic lipping on the metatarsal bases, which when compared to a modern sample, may help paleoanthropologists determine whether the foot bones represent an injured subadult or an osteoarthritic adult. This study compares the OH 8 lipping pattern to those of 140 individual Amerindians comprising four different age classes to determine whether the OH 8 lipping is likely to be age-related osteoarthritis. OH 8 metatarsal lipping followed a pattern similar to that determined in the comparative sample to be age-related osteoarthritis. Similarities include metatarsal base lipping that is frequently located on the dorsal surface, metatarsal base lipping that is more severe on the lateral metatarsals compared to the medial metatarsals, and the presence of a pseudojoint between metatarsal 1 and metatarsal 2. The chance of finding an individual with osteoarthritis lipping increases from 3.45% in the age group 18–22 years to 55% in individuals over 35 years. The chance of finding a pseudojoint increases from 1.32% in non-osteoarthritic individuals to 15.15% in individuals with osteoarthritis. Results from this study indicate that the OH 8 foot bones are most likely from an adult and more likely to belong to Paranthropus boisei, the skull of which was found in the same excavations with OH 8, than to the juvenile Homo habilis holotype.

A quantitative analysis that employs randomization methods and distance statistics has been undertaken in an attempt to clarify the taxonomic affinities of the partial Homo cranium (SK 847) from Member 1 of the Swartkrans Formation. Although SK 847 has been argued to represent early H. erectus, exact randomization tests reveal that the magnitude of differences between it and two crania that have been attributed to that taxon (KNM-ER 3733 and KNM-WT 15000) is highly unlikely to be encountered in a modern human sample drawn from eastern and southern Africa. Some of the variables that differentiate SK 847 from the two early H. erectus crania (e.g., nasal breadth, frontal breadth, mastoid process size) have been considered to be relevant characters in the definition of that taxon. Just as the significant differences between SK 847 and the two early H. erectus crania make attribution of the Swartkrans specimen to that taxon unlikely, the linkage of SK 847 to KNM-ER 1813, and especially Stw 53, suggests that the Swartkrans cranium may have its closest affinity with H. habilis sensu lato. Differences from KNM-ER 1813, however, hint that the South African fossils may represent a species of early Homo that has not been sampled in the Plio-Pleistocene of eastern Africa. The similarity of SK 847 and Stw 53 may support faunal evidence which suggests that Sterkfontein Member 5 and Swartkrans Member 1 are of similar geochronological age.

Paleoneurology interprets natural or artificial endocasts. It is, therefore, the only method which is able to provide direct information on the ancestry of the human brain. Australopithecus, Homo habilis and Homo erectus are of outstanding importance concerning human evolution. This short review deals with some well-preserved endocasts of these forms. Possibilities and limitations of paleoneurology are discussed with respect to the taxonomic attribution of fossil specimens. Functional aspects of the cortical sulcus pattern can be interpreted rather strictly and is, therefore, of considerably phylogenetic significance. It indicates that even some early hominids exhibit a human-like brain organization (e.g. KNM-ER 1470) while others (such a KNM-ER 1805) feature a rather pongid-like brain organization. However, controversy over the interpretation of endocasts from early hominids continues: It has not been possible to unequivocally demonstrate a human-like feature of the Australopithecus brain.

A principal components analysis (PCA) of basicranial measurements (Thompson 1991) isolated KNM-ER 1805 as having the highest Principal Component (PC) score on PCI of all the fossil hominids. Two measurements with high loadings on PCI were B12 and B13 and these two measurements indicate the relative positions of the foramina ovale (FO) and infratemporal crests (IT) to the tympanic bone (TP). The object of this study was to compare the two measurements of KNM-ER 1805 with those of other early fossil hominids as well as a sample of extant hominoids. The comparison involved the raw measurements, the index of the two measurements, the coefficient of variation, and a t-test. The results of this comparison showed that KNM-ER 1805 had more forwardly placed foramina ovale than any of the comparative specimens. KNM-ER 1805 possesses a number of other unique features which differentiate it from other hominids including a persistent metopic suture, the form of the premolar roots, and the form of the asterionic region. These apparent unique features mean that KNM-ER 1805 is unlikely to represent an “average” maleHomo habilis and so is an inappropriate model for the male morph of that species.

Analysis of early stone tools from a perspective of developmental cognitive psychology reveals that the transition from Homo habilis to Homo erectus was accompanied by important developments in cognitive ability. From the spatial concepts used in stone knapping, and the nature of the shared intentionality required for the manufacture of bifaces, two specific cognitive abilities stand out. The first, termed relative decentration, was the ability to divorce action more completely from the direct perception of ego, thereby allowing Homo erectus to construct a more complex external world. The second was the ability to coordinate a greater number and variety of concepts at the same time. Both of these abilities indicate that Homo erectus could have used much more complex organizational schemes in its day to day behavior than those used by Homo habilis.

The subsistence activities and diet of ancient hominids are debated topics, and some researchers have recently questioned the view that meat was a significant dietary component of Plio-Pleistocene hominids. We examine the potential advantages and disadvantages of ungulate utilization by ancient hominids (e.g. Homo habilis and early Homo erectus) with regard to (a) human nutritional constraints, (b) seasonal variations in the physical condition of modern African ungulates, (c) the wild plant food potential of East African environments, and (d) the faunal record from Plio-Pleistocene sites such as FLK Zinjanthropus at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. The different lines of evidence suggest that the subsistence activities of early Homo probably included active, confrontational scavenging to obtain mostly intact carcasses of large animals and some opportunistic hunting of small animals, both of which yielded significant quantities of meat and fat that were an important source of calories, vitamins, and minerals. The possibility of consuming toxic amounts of protein could have been averted by emphasizing the consumption of organ meats and viscera at certain times of the year.

Some theoretical and methodological morphometrical approaches in evolutionary anthropology and paleoanthropology are reviewed in this study. It is shown which are the contemporary possibilities of sophisticated biometrical and biostatistical methods and the role of the morphometrical approach. A new approach, experimental morphometrics, is presented, reflecting recent trends in evolutionary morphology as well as sophisticated biostatistical methods. The approach emphasizes the complex inter-related approach to the data processing and a double nature of morphometric data, i.e. biological and biostatistical one. The practical use of experimental morphometry is given for the two examples of analyses of the evolution of the hominoid and hominid femur and tibia. The hypothesis on a two stage restructuring of morphology of the hominid femur and tibia is supported by experimental results. Two different steps during this restructuring could be recognized: 1) Structural remodelling typical for the origin of hominids and australopithecine evolution, and 2) proportional remodelling of lower limb long bones which is connected with the Australopithecus/Homo transition (i.e. mainly Homo habilis stage). The results confirm the increasing trend of bipedal adaptations on the early hominid lower limb skeleton. Analysis of microevolutionary trends on the Homo sapiens femur and tibia indicates at least three different morphological patterns, Paleolithic, Neolithic and Recent, with numerous specific features in morphology and proportions. Neanderthal morphology is very derived. Upper Paleolithic/Mesolithic/Neolithic transition has a key character for the understanding of post-Paleolithic morphology. A very high sexual dimorphism of the femur and tibia has been demonstrated for Upper Paleolithic and Neolithic populations.

Over 30 years ago, Robinson identified differences in subnasal morphology among Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus and Homo erectus. Subsequently, the early hominid sample has been expanded and thus warrants a reappraisal of subnasal morphological variation, in order to assess the validity of features utilized in earlier taxonomic studies. This study provides a quantitative and qualitative assessment of subnasal morphology in samples of extant great apes and humans, and in all currently available African hominid specimens that historically have been referred to Australopithecus, Paranthropus, H. erectus and Homo habilis. Results indicate that morphological patterns sort among extant and fossil hominoid taxa. The identification of these patterns has systematic significance and they may be utilized in the taxonomic allocation of fossil hominid specimens. No single morphological pattern characterizes the early Homo sample, an observation that is consistent with other investigations that have noted the variability displayed by this sample.

The 1959 discovery of the hominin fossil Zinjanthropus boisei brought the world's attention to the rich records at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Subsequent excavations of archaeological level 22 (FLK Zinj) Bed I uncovered remains of Homo habilis and a high-density collection of fossils and Oldowan stone tools. The occurrence of this unusual collection of bones and tools at this specific location has been controversial for decades. We present paleoecological data that provide new insights into the origin of FLK Zinj. Our recent excavations 200 m north of the site uncovered a 0.5-m-thick tufa mound draped by Tuff IC, in the same stratigraphic horizon as level 22. Stable isotope analyses indicate that the carbonates were deposited by a freshwater spring. Phytolith analysis of the waxy clay under Tuff IC revealed abundant woody dicotyledon and palm phytoliths, indicating that the site was wooded to densely wooded. The time equivalency and close physical proximity of the two environments indicate the two are related. This study has provided the first documented evidence of springs in Bed I and these data have important implications for the interpretation of hominin behavior in meat acquisition and the ongoing debate on scavenging versus hunting.

International audience; Documentation of early human migrations through Island Southeast Asia and Wallacea en route to Australia has always been problematic due to a lack of well-dated human skeletal remains. The best known modern humans are from Niah Cave in Borneo (40–42 ka), and from Tabon Cave on the island of Palawan, southwest Philippines (47 ± 11 ka). The discovery of Homo floresiensis on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia has also highlighted the possibilities of identifying new hominin species on islands in the region. Here, we report the discovery of a human third metatarsal from Callao Cave in northern Luzon. Direct dating of the specimen using U-series ablation has provided a minimum age estimate of 66.7 ± 1 ka, making it the oldest known human fossil in the Philippines. Its morphological features, as well as size and shape characteristics, indicate that the Callao metatarsal definitely belongs to the genus Homo. Morphometric analysis of the Callao metatarsal indicates that it has a gracile structure, close to that observed in other small-bodied Homo sapiens. Interestingly, the Callao metatarsal also falls within the morphological and size ranges of Homo habilis and H. floresiensis. Identifying whether the metatarsal represents the earliest record of H. sapiens so far recorded anywhere east of Wallace’s Line requires further archaeological research, but its presence on the isolated island of Luzon over 65,000 years ago further demonstrates the abilities of humans to make open ocean crossings in the Late Pleistocene.

The morphology of the Olduvai Hominid (OH) 8 foot and the sequence of metatarsal epiphyseal fusion in modern humans and chimpanzees support the hypothesis that OH 8 belonged to an individual of approximately the same relative age as the OH 7 subadult, the holotype of Homo habilis. Modern humans and chimpanzees exhibit a variety of metatarsal epiphyseal fusion patterns, including one identical to that observed in OH 8 in which metatarsal 1 fuses before metatarsals 2-5. More than the metatarsal fusion sequence, however, the principal evidence of the youthful age of OH 8 lies in the morphology of metatarsals 1, 2, and 3. Because both OH 8 and OH 7 come from the same stratum at the FLK NN type site, the most parsimonious explanation of the OH 8 and OH 7 data is that this material belonged to the same individual, as originally proposed by Louis Leakey. The proposition that OH 8 belonged to an adult is unsupported by morphology, including radiographic evidence, and the fusion sequences in human and chimpanzee skeletal material reported here and in the literature.

It is considered a chain of calendar events that has as its result an appearance of the species Homo sapience and formation of the noosphere on the Earth. In the beginning of the winter galactic season a great biocatastrophe took place – the precenozoic (maastrichtian) extinction. The cause – the Earth came into galactic radioactive belt in the moment of perigalactium. In the next galactic period in its first (neogenian) epochs when the Earth intersected the galactic belt in the three-demential space of tropic forest the development of small animals such as Australopithecus afirensis. At the end of this epochs when the Earth came out of galactic belt (2 Ma) the species Homo habilis has appeared and the Earth’s noosphere begins to form.

BackgroundThe fossil record reveals surprising crocodile diversity in the Neogene of Africa, but relationships with their living relatives and the biogeographic origins of the modern African crocodylian fauna are poorly understood. A Plio-Pleistocene crocodile from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, represents a new extinct species and shows that high crocodylian diversity in Africa persisted after the Miocene. It had prominent triangular "horns" over the ears and a relatively deep snout, these resemble those of the recently extinct Malagasy crocodile Voay robustus, but the new species lacks features found among osteolaemines and shares derived similarities with living species of Crocodylus.Methodology/principal findingsThe holotype consists of a partial skull and skeleton and was collected on the surface between two tuffs dated to approximately 1.84 million years (Ma), in the same interval near the type localities for the hominids Homo habilis and Australopithecus boisei. It was compared with previously-collected material from Olduvai Gorge referable to the same species. Phylogenetic analysis places the new form within or adjacent to crown Crocodylus.Conclusions/significanceThe new crocodile species was the largest predator encountered by our ancestors at Olduvai Gorge, as indicated by hominid specimens preserving crocodile bite marks from these sites. The new species also reinforces the emerging view of high crocodylian diversity throughout the Neogene, and it represents one of the few extinct species referable to crown genus Crocodylus.

The Bed-I series of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a reference site in human evolution, having yielded the holotypes of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis, together with manufactured artefacts and abundant large and micro-fauna. Excavations in Olduvai Gorge have been recently resumed, with new aims and new results. This paper presents the results of the taphonomic analysis carried out on a fossil small-mammal assemblage recovered from FLK NW level 20, a layer overlying Tuff C, dated from 1.84. Ma. The analysis provides good evidence of a category 1 predator, most likely a barn owl, as the predator of the bone assemblage. Trampling and sediment compression might influence postdepositional breakage of the bones. This study is especially relevant since previous taphonomic analyses carried out at levels above and below this sample led to inconclusive results due to a low number of fossils (Fernández-Jalvo et al., 1998). The new sample provides new information to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental context in which early hominins inhabited. © 2010., This analysis has been supported by project CGL2007-66231 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Resume La morphologie claviculaire peut etre estimee a partir des courbures projetees sur deux plans perpendiculaires, dorsal et crânial. En vue crâniale il n’existe pas de differences au sein du genre Homo , ce qui traduit des capacites d’elevation du bras identiques entre les differentes especes. Au contraire, deux groupes de clavicules peuvent etre definis en vue dorsale. Le premier est caracterise par des clavicules presentant une double courbure et comprend toutes les clavicules du genre Homo , d’ Homo habilis jusqu’a Neanderthal inclus, en passant par Homo ergaster . Le second groupe est caracterise par des clavicules ne presentant qu’une courbure en vue dorsale, ou alors deux faiblement prononcees, et comprend uniquement les clavicules modernes, les restes du Paleolithique superieur et ceux des hommes anatomiquement modernes. Les clavicules presentant une double courbure en vue dorsale sont associees a des scapulas situees hautes sur le thorax par rapport a celles de l’homme moderne. Cependant, les epaules avec une scapula haute par rapport au thorax presentent deux types d’architectures : (i) des epaules a clavicules courtes, associees a des scapulas situees plus lateralement sur le thorax que celles de l’homme moderne ; ce groupe comprend les premiers representants du genre Homo , tels que Homo habilis et Homo ergaster ; (ii) des epaules a clavicules longues, propres aux neandertaliens et aux Homo antecessor , associees a une scapula situee bien dorsalement, comme chez l’homme moderne. En d’autres termes, le genre Homo presente trois architectures differentes de l’epaule. L’evolution de l’epaule est donc bien plus complexe que ce qui etait communement admis et la mise en place d’une bipedie moderne n’est pas associee a une mise en place d’une epaule moderne.

The first colonisation of the Greater Australian region, Sahul, is the oldest evidence for the expression of behaviour that is distinctively human. This colonisation is central to an understanding of human evolution because it provides certainties where other events provide only ambiguities. In this paper we expand on our previous outlines (e.g. Davidson and Noble 1989; Nobel and Davidson 1991) of a case that the first passage of people from the Greater Southeast Asian landmass, Sunda, to Sahul represents the earliest documentation of the evolutionary emergence of language. Our case stands opposed to an argument for an early emergence, which rests on the appearance on endocasts of Homo habilis of novel features in the region of Broca's area (Tobias 1987; Falk 1983). We define what we mean by language in due course and briefly set out why it is distinctively human, why it is necessary for the first colonisation of Australia, and also fundamental to understanding behaviours that characterise the evolutionary emergence of human diversity. The first colonisation of Sahul, perhaps as much as 53,000 years ago (Roberts, Jones and Smith 1991), involved the use of a boat, and was part of a pattern of Pleistocene boat use undocumented elsewhere until the end of the Pleistocene (Cherry 1990). It also involved only humans fully modern in their anatomy, as no remains of other hominid fossils have been found in Australia (Brown 1990). Finally, the early archaeology of the Australian region provides evidence as old as or older than elsewhere for the sorts of symbolic activities (Morse in press) distinctive of the behaviour of modern humans. Claims that the beginnings of these activities can be seen as glimmerings in the earlier record are under sustained attack (Chase and Dibble 1987; Davidson 1991; d'Errico 1991; White in press), and do not seem likely to survive.

Although cladistic analysis provides one of the most useful approaches to discovering the phyletic relatiosships among the species of Australopithecus and early Homo, methodological problems continue to beset any attempt to apply it in this context. Two of the most pressing problems are redundancy of traits due to similarity of underlying function and overrepresentation of some anatomical or functional systems in trait lists. In an attempt to mitigate these problems, we collapse our list of 77 traits into sets of traits using two methods. The first method segregates traits into seven groups by anatomical region. The second method segregates traits by function into five complexes which correspond fairly well with recognized trends in the evolution of early hominids (adaptation for heavy chewing, reduction of the anterior dentition, basicranial flexion, increased orthognathism and encephalization). The most parsimonious cladogram describing the relationships among the early hominid species obtained using the original 77 traits or the summary scores from the functional complexes, places Australopithecus afarensis as a sister group to all other hominids. Australopithecus aethiopicus occupies the next branch, leaving A. africanus, A. robustus, A. boisei and Homo as a monophyletic group. The cladogram next separates A. africanus from the remaining hominids and finally divides Homo from A. robustus and A. boisei. Summary scores for anatomical regions produced three equally parsimonious cladograms, one of which was identical to that described above. This result implies that there was a large amount of parallelism in hominid evolution, and that adaptations for heavy chewing evolved separately in the lineage leading to A. aethiopicus and in the lineage leading to A. robustus and A. boisei. Another implication is that Homo descended from an A. africanus-like ancestor and diverged from A. robustus and A. boisei relatively late in hominid evolution by reducing the extent of its adaptation to heavy chewing. Most current phylogenies are not compatible with the cladogram obtained in this study, but are instead compatible with a cladogram obtained when traits related to heavy chewing are used exclusively. The “heavy chewing” cladogram reverses the positions of A. aethiopicus and Homo. Perhaps the reason why most current cladograms resemble the “heavy chewing” cladogram is the over-representation of traits related to heavy chewing in most trait lists.

Early hominid cranial, mandibular and dental remains prior to one million years were reviewed morphometrically, on the basis of a maximum of 140 cranial, 28 mandibular and 173 dental variables. Existing species were tested for excessive variability and for coherence with respect to the possession of either species-specific characters or unique combinations of symplesiomorphic character states. The specimens were resolved into the following species: Australopithecus afarensis, A. africanus, Paranthropus robustus, P. boisei, Paranthropus aff. P. boisei, Homo habilis, H. rudolfensis and H. ergaster. Australopithecus afarensis is confirmed as the most primitive of the known hominid taxa, but the relationships of A. africanus are unclear. Some features of H. rudolfensis, which includes KNM-ER 1470 and 1802, resemble those in the Paranthropus clade. These features are most parsimoniously interpreted as convergent similarities, and they reinforce earlier conclusions that homoplasies are relatively commonplace in the hominid fossil record.

The discovery of several associated body parts of early hominids whose taxonomic identity is known inspires this study of body size and proportions in early hominids. The approach consists of finding the relationship between various measures of skeletal size and body mass in modern ape and human specimens of known body weight. This effort leads to 78 equations which predict body weight from 95 fossil specimens ranging in geological age between 4 and 1.4 mya. Predicted weights range from 10 kg to over 160 kg, but the partial associated skeletons provide the essential clues as to which predictions are most reliable. Measures of hindlimb joint size are the best and probably those equations based on the human samples are better than those based on all Hominoidea. Using hindlimb joint size of specimens of relatively certain taxonomy and assuming these measures were more like those of modern humans than of apes, the male and female averages are as follows: Australopithecus afarensis, 45 and 29 kg; A. africanus, 41 and 30 kg; A. robustus, 40 and 32 kg; A. boisei, 49 and 34 kg; H. habilis, 52 and 32 kg. These values appear to be consistent with the range of size variation seen in the entire postcranial samples that can be assigned to species. If hominoid (i.e., ape and human combined) proportions are assumed, the males would be 10 to 23 kg larger and the females 4 to 10 kg larger.

Olduvai Hominid 8 (OH 8), an articulating set of fossil hominin tarsal and metatarsal bones, is critical to interpretations of the evolution of hominin pedal morphology and bipedal locomotion. It has been suggested that OH 8 may represent the foot of a subadult and may be associated with the OH 7 mandible, the type specimen of Homo habilis. This assertion is based on the presence of what may be unfused distal metatarsal epiphyses. Accurately assessing the skeletal maturity of the OH 8 foot is important for interpretations of the functional morphology and locomotor behavior of Plio-Pleistocene hominins. In this study, we compare metatarsal fusion patterns and internal bone morphology of the lateral metatarsals among subadult hominines (85 modern humans, 48 Pan, and 25 Gorilla) to assess the likelihood that OH 8 belonged to either an adult or subadult hominin. Our results suggest that if OH 8 is indeed from a subadult, then it displays a metatarsal developmental pattern that is unobserved in our comparative sample. In OH 8, the fully fused base of the first metatarsal and the presence of trabecular bone at the distal ends of the second and third metatarsal shafts make it highly improbable that it belonged to a subadult, let alone a subadult that matches the developmental age of the OH 7 mandible. In total, the results of this study suggest that the OH 8 foot most likely belonged to an adult hominin.

Early hominins formed large and thick-enamelled cheek-teeth within relatively short growth periods as compared with modern humans. To understand better the developmental basis of this process, we measured daily enamel increments, or cross striations, in 17 molars of Plio-Pleistocene hominins representing seven different species, including specimens attributed to early Homo. Our results show considerable variation across species, although all specimens conformed to the known pattern characterised by greater values in outer than inner enamel, and greater cuspal than cervical values. We then compared our results with the megadontia index, which represents tooth size in relation to body mass, for each species to assess the effect of daily growth rates on tooth size. Our results indicate that larger toothed (megadont) taxa display higher rates or faster forming enamel than smaller toothed hominins. By forming enamel quickly, large tooth crowns were able to develop within the constraints of shorter growth periods. Besides daily increments, many animals express long-period markings (striae of Retzius) in their enamel. We report periodicity values (number of cross striations between adjacent striae) in 14 new specimens of Australopithecus afarensis, Paranthropus aethiopicus, Paranthropus boisei, Homo habilis, Homo rudolfensis and Homo erectus, and show that long-period striae express a strong association with male and average male-female body mass. Our results for Plio-Pleistocene hominins show that the biological rhythms that give rise to long-period striae are encompassed within the range of variation known for modern humans, but show a lower mean and modal value of 7 days in australopithecines. In our sample of early Homo, mean and modal periodicity values were 8 days, and therefore similar to modern humans. These new data on daily rates of enamel formation and periodicity provide a better framework to interpret surface manifestations of internal growth markings on fossil hominin tooth crowns. Importantly, our data on early hominin cross striation variation may now contribute towards solving difficult taxonomic diagnoses where much may depend on fragmentary molar remains and enamel structure.

We establish through 13 excavations the landscape context and nature of hominin activities across the Zinjanthropus land surface from which the Leakeys recovered the FLK 22 and FLK NN 1 paleoanthropological assemblages. The land surface was created by fluvial incision of the eastern margin of paleo-Lake Olduvai following a major lake withdrawal. Erosion was uneven, leaving a peninsula bounded by a river channel, the FLK Fault, and a freshwater wetland. This FLK Peninsula supported groves of trees that attracted hominins and carnivores, and that preserved the dense concentrations of carcass remains and stone tools they left behind, including those at FLK 22. Some carcasses appear to have been acquired at the ecotone of the Peninsula and Wetland, where another dense artifact and bone assemblage accumulated. A lesser topographic high at the edge of a Typha marsh in the Wetland was the site of FLK NN 1 and a scatter of large stone tools used possibly for rootstock processing. Our landscape reconstruction delimits the vegetation mosaic indicated by previous work and provides a topographical explanation for the existence of FLK 22 and FLK NN 1. Both are unexpected if the FLK area was the flat, featureless lake margin terrain typical of lake basins similar to paleo-Olduvai. The results show that the Leakeys' sites were not isolated occupation floors but rather parts of a land surface utilized intensively by hominins. Although commonly considered to have been home bases, their likely high predation risk, evidenced by large carnivore feeding traces and the remains of four hominin individuals, suggests visits to them were brief and limited to feeding. Finally, stratigraphic observations confirm that FLK NN 3 accumulated on an older land surface, refuting the hypothesis that the OH 8 foot found there is the same individual as the OH 35 leg from FLK 22.

Sangiran (Solo Basin, Central Java, Indonesia) is the singular Homo erectus fossil locale for Early Pleistocene Southeast Asia. Sangiran is the source for more than 80 specimens in deposits with (40)Ar/(39)Ar ages of 1.51-0.9 Ma. In April 2001, we recovered a H. erectus left maxilla fragment (preserving P(3)- M(2)) from the Sangiran site of Bapang. The find spot lies at the base of the Bapang Formation type section in cemented gravelly sands traditionally called the Grenzbank Zone. Two meters above the find spot, pumice hornblende has produced an (40)Ar/(39)Ar age of 1.51 ± 0.08 Ma. With the addition of Bpg 2001.04, Sangiran now has five H. erectus maxillae. We compare the new maxilla with homologs representing Sangiran H. erectus, Zhoukoudian H. erectus, Western H. erectus (pooled African and Georgian specimens), and Homo habilis. Greatest contrast is with the Zhoukoudian maxillae, which appear to exhibit a derived pattern of premolar-molar relationships compared to Western and Sangiran H. erectus. The dental patterns suggest distinct demic origins for the earlier H. erectus populations represented at Sangiran and the later population represented at Zhoukoudian. These two east Asian populations, separated by 5000 km and nearly 800 k.yr., may have had separate origins from different African/west Eurasian populations.

Fully adult partial skeletons attributed to Australopithecus afarensis (AL 288-1, “Lucy”) and to Homo habilis (OH 62, “Lucy's child”), respectively, both include remains from upper and lower limbs. Relationships between various limb bone dimensions of these skeletons are compared to those of modern African apes and humans. Surprisingly, it emerges that OH 62 displays closer similarities to African apes than does AL 288-1. Yet A. afarensis, whose skeleton is dated more than 1 million years earlier, is commonly supposed to be the ancestor of Homo habilis. If OH 62, classified as Homo habilis by its discoverers, does indeed represent a stage intermediate between A. afarensis and later Homo, a revised interpretation of the course of human evolution would be necessary.

The mandibular remains from Java have been controversial since the discovery of Kedung Brubus (Mandible A) in 1890. These mandibles, now called Kedung Brubus, and Sangiran 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, and 22, have been assigned to a wide variety of taxa. It is now commonly accepted that all seven mandibles can be accommodated in a single species;Homo erectus. A recent assessment to this effect was performed by Kramer (1989). Utilizing powerful statistical techniques he distinguished the Sangiran mandibles from the robust australopithecines and placed them all withinH. erectus. The jaws are not a homogeneous sample. Morphologically they are a mixture ofAustralopithecus africanus («Homo habilis») males (5,6), anA. africanus («H. habilis») female (8),H. erectus males (1,9), and aH. erectus female (22) and Kedung Brubus. The dating of these fossils remains unresolved, with a minimum date of 500,000 ya and a maximum of 1.6 mya. Any of the mandibles may have been transported and secondarily redeposited. If the jaws are allH. erectus then they have a sexual dimorphism exceeding that of modern gorillas. When Kedung Brubus is included with those from Sangiran the range of size dimorphism is well beyond that known for any primate, thus more than one species may be invloved. This dimorphism is found inA. africanus («H. habilis») but not inH. erectus samples anywhere else in the world. TheH. erectus skulls found in Java correspond with mandibles 1, 9, and 22. It is not likely that the largest mandible (6) is aH. erectus, because the skull would have had heavy temporal lines and probably a sagittal crest, neither of which is found on anyH. erectus specimen. But, a cranium has been found which morphologically matches the Sangiran 6 mandible. A double sagittal crest is present on Sangiran 31 a reported «Meganthropus» specimen.

Paleoanthropologists, while expending great effort to recover archaeological evidence of early hominid activities in the Plio-Pleistocene of Africa, have devoted almost no attention to the question of which early hominid(s) authored the Oldowan Industrial Complex. Weak and indirect evidence has been adduced for the propositions that (1) Homo habilis alone made the first stone tools (even though Homo is not found at this early time) and (2) Paranthropus was not a toolmaker (mainly because it was a vegetarian with a smaller cranial volume than Homo habilis). The most parsimonious interpretation of all present evidence, including geochronological, archaeological, and diagnostic fossil evidence of the hands of Australopithecus spp., Paranthropus robustus, and Homo habilis, indicates that Paranthropus and Homo habilis were both early toolmakers. Paranthropus may have been the first maker of stone tools, and these "robust" australopithecines may have relied heavily on lithic and bone technology to procure (and ...

This study reports the femoral lengths of 31 Plio-Pleistocene hominids dated between 3.1 and 0.7 million years ago, and uses those lengths to estimate stature by way of the femur-stature ratio reported by Feldesman et al. (Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 78:219–220, 1989). By this method the average female Australopithecus afarensis is 105 cm and the average male is 151 cm. The respective values are 115 and 138 cm for A. africanus. As defined by Howell (In VJ Maglio and HBS Cooke (eds): The Evolution of African Mammals. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1978) and Johanson et al. (Kirtlandia 28:1–14, 1978), Homo habilis is a sexually dimorphic species, with females standing 118 cm and males 157 cm. Such apparently strong dimorphism may be due to the possibility that there are actually two species of nonrobust hominids between 2 and 1.7 m.y.a. The estimate for the female Austratopithecus boisei is 124 cm and for the male, 137 cm, but these estimates are especially difficult to be certain of because there are no femora that can be positively identified as male A. boisei. Australopithecus robustus is estimated to be 110 cm (female) and 132 cm (male). African Homo erectus stood 160 cm (female) and 180 cm (male). From these estimates several generalizations are apparent. First, there is apparently strong sexual dimorphism in stature in A. afarensis and H. habitis, but less in the other species. Second, the “robust” australopithecines were relatively small statured. Third, it is apparently not true that humans have been getting progressively taller throughout their evolutionary history. Some individuals were as tall as modern humans 3 m.y.a., by 2 m.y.a. one individual stood about 173 cm, and by 1.7 m.y.a. a stature of 180+ cm was not uncommon.

Seventy six metrical traits measured on the femur and tibia of three higher primate groups —Ceboidea, Cercopithecoidea, Hominoidea have been processed by various univariate and multivariate statistical methods to survey the process of evolution of the morphology of the femur and tibia in higher primates. Intragroup and intergroup variability, similarity and differences as well as various aspects of scaling and sexual dimorphism have been analyzed to study adaptive trends and phylogenetic diversity in higher primates, in individual superfamilies and to explore the adaptive morphological pattern of early hominids and basic differences between hominids and pongids. Two basic morphotypes of the femur and tibia in higher primates have been determined. They are (1) advanced hominoid morphotype (hominids and pongids) and (2) ancestral higher primate morphotype (platyrrhine and cattarrhine monkeys, early hominoids, and hylobatids). Cebid lower limb bones are adapted to arboreal quadrupedalism with antipronograde features while femur and tibia of cercopithecid monkeys are basically adapted to the semi-arboreal locomotion. Early hominoids (Proconsul) and hylobatids are morphologically different from pongids; some features are close toAteles or other monkey species. Pongids and hominids are taken as one major morphological group with different scaling and some functional and morphological similarities. Numerous analogous features were described on the lower limb skeleton ofPan andPongo showing analogous ecological parameters in their evolution. Major morphological and biomechanical trends are analyzed. It is argued that early advanced hominoid morphology is ancestral both to the pongids and to early hominids. The progressive morphological trend in early hominids has been found fromA. afarensis with ancestral hominid morphology, toH. habilis with an elongated femur and structural features similar to advanced hominids. A detailed phylogenetic analysis of higher primate femur and tibia is also presented.

Within the genus Homo, the most encephalized taxa (Neandertals and modern humans) show relatively wider frontal lobes than either Homo erectus or australopithecines. The present analysis considers whether these changes are associated with a single size-based or allometric pattern (positive allometry of the width of the anterior endocranial fossa) or with a more specific and non-allometric pattern. The relationship between hemispheric length, maximum endocranial width, and frontal width at Broca's area was investigated in extant and extinct humans. Our results do not support positive allometry for the frontal lobe's width in relation to the main endocranial diameters within modern humans (Homo sapiens). Also, the correlation between frontal width and hemispheric length is lower than the correlation between frontal width and parieto-temporal width. When compared with the australopithecines, the genus Homo could have experienced a non-allometric widening of the brain at the temporo-parietal areas, which is most evident in Neandertals. Modern humans and Neandertals also display a non-allometric widening of the anterior endocranial fossa at the Broca's cap when compared with early hominids, again more prominent in the latter group. Taking into account the contrast between the intra-specific patterns and the between-species differences, the relative widening of the anterior fossa can be interpreted as a definite evolutionary character instead of a passive consequence of brain size increase. This expansion is most likely associated with correspondent increments of the underlying neural mass, or at least with a geometrical reallocation of the frontal cortical volumes. Although different structural changes of the cranial architecture can be related to such variations, the widening of the frontal areas is nonetheless particularly interesting when some neural functions (like language or working memory, decision processing, etc.) and related fronto-parietal cortico-cortical connections are taken into account.

The systematic excavation of the Dmanisi site (Republic of Georgia) has provided the earliest evidence of hominins outside Africa, dating back to ca. 1.8 Ma. The analysis of the hominin remains has mainly focused on the morphology of the crania and mandibles. We present the first detailed morphological analysis and comparison of the Dmanisi teeth. The dental evidence from Dmanisi shows a unique combination of primitive and derived traits. In general, although the Dmanisi dental fossils show primitive morphology that resembles that seen in Australopithecus and H. habilis, they also display some derived characteristics, particularly in relation to dental reduction, resembling that seen in the dentition of H. erectus from the Far East.

Students of the early hominin career have debated the status of Homo habilis since its discovery in 1960. Today discussion centers on which specimens should be included in the species and what constitutes the holotype. Recent reviews of early Homo suggest that the Olduvai Hominid 8 foot may sample Paranthropus while the OH 7 skull bones, mandible, and hand sample H. habilis. Moreover, some suggest that while H. habilis in Middle Bed I at Olduvai is craniodentally Homo-like, the postcranial skeleton of H. habilis is more like that of Australopithecus. Evidence presented here indicates not only that OH 7 and OH 8 represent H. habilis but also that they come from a single individual. The association of OH 35 with OH 7 and OH 8 is less certain. Morphological, pathological, and taphonomic evidence favors the inclusion of OH 35 in the holotype. However, stratigraphic evidence suggests that OH 35 and OH 8 are not coterminous. With or without OH 35, the holotype of H. habilis ranks as one of the most complete early hominin skeletons and the most complete and functionally informative specimen of early Homo.

Il n’existe actuellement aucun consensus concernant la taxinomie et la constitution de l’hypodigme d’Homo habilis Leakey et al. 1964. Quatre hypothèses majeures sont aujourd’hui avancées à partir des restes crâniens et mandibulaires des spécimens attribués classiquement à Homo habilis sensu lato : (1) tous les spécimens appartiennent à un seul et même taxon : Homo habilis ; (2) deux espèces peuvent être identifiées dans ce groupe : Homo habilis sensu stricto et Homo rudolfensis ; (3) ces spécimens n’appartiennent pas au genre Homo mais au genre Australopithecus ; (4) les spécimens de l’espèce rudolfensis devraient être mis dans le genre Kenyanthropus. Le but de cette étude est de réévaluer de façon critique la variabilité au sein de cet ensemble fossile du Plio-Pléistocène et de tester si les spécimens appartiennent bien au genre Homo. Deux types d’étude ont été entrepris : une comparaison morphologique et une analyse cladistique. Dans cette dernière analyse, l’Unité Taxinomique Opérationnelle (OTU) est constituée par le spécimen et non l’espèce, en l’absence de consensus concernant l’attribution taxinomique des spécimens fossiles étudiés. Ces analyses portent sur les pièces originales provenant d’Éthiopie, du Kenya, de Tanzanie, du Malawi et de République d’Afrique du sud. L’étude morphologique permet de mettre en évidence une variabilité considérable au sein des premiers représentants du genre Homo. Deux espèces peuvent être définies au sein de cet ensemble : habilis et rudolfensis. L’analyse cladistique des 122 caractères crâniens montre l’appartenance de ces deux espèces au genre Homo et non aux genres Australopithecus ou Kenyanthropus. No consensus has been achieved concerning the taxonomic significance of the species Homo habilis. Four main hypotheses have been advanced: (1) the specimens from Olduvai, East Turkana and Omo belong to the same palaeospecies: Homo habilis sensu lato; (2) the hypodigm is heterogenous; two species could be defined : Homo habilis sensu stricto and Homo rudolfensis; (3) these specimens do not belong to the genus Homo but to Australopithecus or (4) Kenyanthropus. The goal of this study is to critically re-evaluate the hypotheses concerning the taxonomy of the specimens attributed to early Homo, and to test whether they belong to the genus Homo or to another genus. A morphological study and numerical cladistic analyses on 122 morphological characteristics were carried out on the original Plio-Pleistocene specimens. The Operational Taxonomic Unit (OTU) is defined by the fossil specimen rather than the species in the absence of consensus concerning the taxonomic attribution of the fossil specimens studied. Indeed, because no consensus concerning the hypodigm of Homo habilis has been achieved, the creation of OTU on the basis of shared anatomy would have introduced circularity into our analysis. The results of these analyses show that: (a) two species could be defined: habilis and rudolfensis; (b) the specimens belonging to these two taxa are included in the clade of Homo ; (c) the conclusions concerning the revision of the genus Homo and the inclusion of the specimens of habilis and rudolfensis to the genus Australopithecus or Kenyanthropus are questioned.

International audience; Assessment of clavicular curvatures projected onto two perpendicular planes to decompose the three dimensional shape into cranial and dorsal primary curvatures has shown that two morphological groups of clavicle exist within the genus Homo. The first one includes all species from Homo habilis to Neandertals, while the second includes only Upper Paleolithic remains and more recent modern humans. These morphological differences are associated with different shoulder architectures. The morphology of the Omo I left clavicle is sufficiently complete to compare its curvatures to other clavicles of several species of Homo. Its overall morphology, assessed by its curvatures, is similar to that of Upper Paleolithicremains and modern humans, confirming the conclusions of previous descriptions of the Omo I remains in general and of its clavicles in particular.; La morphologie claviculaire estimée à partir des courbures, projetées sur deux plans perpendiculaires pouvant être considérés comme les plans dorsal et cranial, a monté que deux groupes de clavicules existent au sein du genre Homo : le premier groupe comprend toutes les espèces allant d'Homo habilis à Néanderthal et le second comprend les hommes du Paléolithique supérieur et modernes. Ces différences morphologiques sont en outre associées à des architectures différentes de l'épaule. La morphologie claviculaire d'Omo I gauche (la seule pratiquement complète), estimée à partir de ses courbures, est comparée avec celles d'autres restes attribuées au genre Homo. Par sa morphologie générale, elle se révèle similaire à celle de l'homme moderne, ce qui confirme les conclusions des descriptions déjà faites des restes d'Omo I KHS en général et de sa clavicule en particulier.

Whether the Late Pleistocene hominin fossils from Flores, Indonesia, represent a new species, Homo floresiensis, or pathological modern humans has been debated. Analysis of three wrist bones from the holotype specimen (LB1) shows that it retains wrist morphology that is primitive for the African ape-human clade. In contrast, Neandertals and modern humans share derived wrist morphology that forms during embryogenesis, which diminishes the probability that pathology could result in the normal primitive state. This evidence indicates that LB1 is not a modern human with an undiagnosed pathology or growth defect; rather, it represents a species descended from a hominin ancestor that branched off before the origin of the clade that includes modern humans, Neandertals, and their last common ancestor.