中国直立人与早期智人的牙齿形态鉴别

对直立人与早期智人的上颌牙齿特征的比较表明 :直立人牙齿的长宽尺寸 ,除中门齿唇舌径外 ,与早期智人的相应值很难区分 -早期智人的长宽尺寸多在直立人相应值的变异范围之内 ;直立人牙齿的观察性特征几乎都能在早期智人某些成员中见到。这意味着直立人与早期智人可能并无“种”而只有“亚种”这一分类级别上的差异 ,把直立人并入智人种这一建议是可取的。对若干化石地点的单个牙齿进行的重新鉴定表明 :桐梓、沂源、郧县梅铺、洛南和淅川的人类牙齿不一定是代表直立人的 ,有可能是代表早期智人的。

DENTAL MORPHOLOGICAL DISTINCTIONS BETWEENHOMO ERECTUS AND EARLY HOMO SAPIENS IN CHINA

The comparisons of maxillary dental fossils of Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens found in China show that most of the dental measurements of early Homo sapiens are within the ranges of Homo erectus, except the central incisor breadth which is larger in early Homo sapiens. Almost all the dental nonmetric characters of Homo erectus can be found in early Homo sapiens. The results of the comparisons suggest that there may not be a clear species boundary between Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens, and the opinion that Homo erectus should be merged with early Homo sapiens is acceptable by the present study. The comparisons of present study also show that the dental remains from Tongzi, Yiyuan, Yunxian, Luonan and Xichuan may be reclassified as early Homo sapiens, although these fossils have been believed to be Homo erectus.