A new pelvic fragment from swartkrans and the relationship between the robust and gracile australopithecines

A recently discovered hominid pelvic fragment from Swartkrans (SK 3155) is described in detail with particular reference to the relationship of the two presently recognized forms of australopithecines in South Africa. Results of this examination and metrical analysis indicate that the acetabulum and iliac blade of the early hominids are similar to Homo sapiens except for a unique pattern of traits: a relatively small sacral articular surface, a relatively small acetabulum, a relatively large iliac fossa, and wide lateral splaying of the iliac blades. The new Swartkrans fossil expresses these traits more strongly than does the gracile australopithecine (Sts 14) and is therefore somewhat less similar to Homo sapiens but it is very unlike any pongid.     

The Origin of Homo sapiens in the Light of Different Research Methods

The origins of Homo sapiens is a central issue of modern paleoanthropology. The available fossil material serves as a basis for postulating different hypotheses and models, but as is widely appreciated, anthropologists have yet to reach a consensus about human origins. It seems possible that the main reasons behind such an irreducible divergence of opinions are different methodological approaches rather than the analyses of fossil material. Some scientists would say that it is the fragmentary nature of fossil material which accounts for the debates about the origins of H. sapiens. Had the debate been only a matter of the empirical considerations many disagreements concerning H. sapiens would have probably disappeared long ago. But since the controversies are imbued in methodological reality the closure of the debate is not to be expected soon. There are three research methods: morphological, archaeological and genetic. Each approach has a specific definition of H. sapiens at its disposal, which largely accounts for the different scenarios for the origin of our species. Any debate concerning this problem must therefore begin with a discussion about the research methods. The controversy about our origins thus appears to be of secondary importance. The present paper aims at presenting the methodological controversy in relation to the origins of H. sapiens. The discussion about the genealogy of H. sapiens certainly is in urgent need of a new, more integrated way of approaching the past.     

Analysis of the probability of multiple taxa in a combined sample of swartkrans and kromdraai dental material

It has been argued (Grine, [1988] Evolutionary History of the “Robust” Australopithecines [New York. Aldine de Gruyter], pp. 223–243) that the australopithecine material from Swartkrans and Kromdraai represents distinct species. In an attempt to test the validity of separate taxa at Swartkrans and Kromdraai, Cope's (Cope [1989] Systematic Variation in Cercopithecus Dental Samples [Austin: University of Texas]) method of analysis was adapted and utilized. This procedure includes an analysis of the coefficients of variation (CVs) of the individual posterior teeth (buccal-lingual breadth) of a combined fossil sample compared with the CVs of several known single taxon reference groups. The Cope and Lacy (Cope and Lacy [1992] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 89:359–378) simulation technique was also employed in the analysis. Based on these analyses, there is no justification for a taxonomic separation between the australopithecine material from Swartkrans and Kromdraai. Therefore, the assertion that the Swartkrans and Kromdraai material represent two distinct species is not indicated by the available dental metric evidence. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Hand use and metacarpal robusticity in Catarrhini

Recent studies,Rightmire (1972) andDay andScheuer (1973), have investigated the affinities of early hominid metacarpals from Swartkrans. Because of its extensive use in the analysis of metatarsals, the index of robusticity has also been applied to some fossil metacarpals. From the metatarsal analyses, it has been shown that within a group a variety of robusticity patterns exist with the average pattern occuring approximately 50 per cent of the time. This, coupled with the fact that it has also been shown that within the order Primates the pattern is not necessarily diagnostic of any locomotor category, has led us to investigate the usefulness of such an index in assessing primate metacarpals. In this study, metacarpal robusticity patterns and the Total Robusticity Quotient are established for seven cercopithecoid genera and the results correlated with hand use. It is found that although patterns of robusticity are not diagnostic of locomotor categories, the TRQ relates well to hand use: low TRQ's are found in primates which use their hands to walk on a flat substrate, while high TRQ's are diagnostic of arm swinging animals. Primates with reduced thumb use in a precision grip and little manipulative use of the hand have higher TRQ's than those with a good precision grip. The model derived from our sample of Cercopithecoidea is tested with a hominoid sample of four genera and found to be similarly applicable.     

Cortical surface patterns in human and nonhuman primates

An analysis of skulls from several primate species shows that a “worm-track” surface pattern, first identified in the brow region in fossil adult hominids and subsequently in olive baboons, chimpanzees, and macaques, is also present in numerous other species. Fine cancellous bone and its attendant vermiculate surface pattern have been observed in subadult and adult gelada baboons, gibbons, gorillas, and orangutans as well as in modern Homo sapiens and several Plio-Pleistocene fossil hominids. In contemporary primates, fine cancellous bone has been identified not only in the brow region, but also along the zygomatic arch, on the pterygoid plates, on the maxilla, along the temporal line, on the mastoid process, and in the region of inion. Given the widespread distribution of this trait, caution is advised when using it as a diagnostic indicator of the evolutionary or functional significance of craniofacial morphology.     

Several cranial indices and their relevance to fossil man

An evaluation of three cranial indices proposed by Le Gros Clark ('50) is presented in light of hominid fossil material not previously considered. The data analysis suggests that the supra-orbital height index is an important contribution to cranial analysis and elaborations of it may prove valuable. From the results, the authors suggest that the two australopithecine types be separated on the genus level, i.e., Australopithecus africanus and Paranthropus robustus. It is also proposed that Skhūl V be considered Homo sapiens sapiens. The authors generally conclude that a more dynamic approach in primate cranial analysis is needed. This approach should incorporate non-morphological variables.     

A re-examination of the human fossil specimen from Bački Petrovac (Serbia)

A fragmented human calotte was discovered during the early 1950s near Ba?ki Petrovac (Serbia), in association with Palaeolithic stone tools. After its initial publication, the fossil specimen remained largely unknown outside of the Serbian academe and no detailed comparative study has ever been carried out. Since the whereabouts of the fossil itself are currently unknown, and given its potential significance for the Pleistocene human evolution, we re-examine the data published by 0255 and 0260. Using the original measurements, mostly taken on the frontal bone, and a wide comparative sample of 68 fossil specimens, the fossil was compared and analyzed by statistical multivariate methods. We also conducted a visual examination of the morphology based on the available photographic material. Our analysis reveals phenetic similarity with Middle Pleistocene archaic Homo from Africa and anatomically modern Homo sapiens. However, the absence of primitive cranial traits in Ba?ki Petrovac indicates a clear modern Homo sapiens designation. Although lost at the moment, there is a chance for the re-discovery of the fossil in the years to come. This would give us an opportunity to acquire absolute dates and to study the specimen in a more detailed manner.     

The Casal de' Pazzi archaic parietal: comparative analysis of new fossil evidence from the late Middle Pleistocene of Rome

A fossilized fragment of human parietal bone has been recently recovered from the lowest layer of the Casal de' Pazzi fluvial deposit (stratigraphically dated at about 200–250 ky BP). The fossil presents characters-i.e., thickness, degree and development of curvature, type of endocranial vascularization-which distinguish it from the corresponding cranial regions of both Homo erectus and anatomically modern Homo sapiens. While a morphological orientation towards Neanderthal characters can be considered, the affinities of the Casal de' Pazzi parietal are primarily with other late Middle Pleistocene specimens. The authors conclude that the Casal de' Pazzi human find can be assigned to the “archaic Homo sapiens” group falling within the European pre-Neanderthal range. Its particular morphology constitutes new evidence of human evolution from the geographical area of Rome.     

Human taxonomic diversity in the pleistocene: Does Homo erectus represent multiple hominid species?

Recently, nomina such as “Homo heidelbergensis” and “H. ergaster” have been resurrected to refer to fossil hominids that are perceived to be specifically distinct from Homo sapiens and Homo erectus. This results in a later human fossil record that is nearly as speciose as that documenting the earlier history of the family Hominidae. However, it is agreed that there remains only one extant hominid species: H. sapiens. Has human taxonomic diversity been significantly pruned over the last few hundred millennia, or have the number of taxa been seriously overestimated? To answer this question, the following null hypothesis is tested: polytypism was established relatively early and the species H. erectus can accommodate all spatio-temporal variation from ca. 1.7 to 0.5 Ma. A disproof of this hypothesis would suggest that modern human polytypism is a very recent phenomenon and that speciation throughout the course of human evolution was the norm and not the exception. Cranial variation in a taxonomically mixed sample of fossil hominids, and in a modern human sample, is analyzed with regard to the variation present in the fossils attributed to H. erectus. The data are examined using both univariate (coefficient of variation) and multivariate (determinant) analyses. Employing randomization methodology to offset the small size and non-normal distribution of the fossil samples, the CV and determinant results reveal a pattern and degree of variation in H. erectus that most closely approximates that of the single species H. sapiens. It is therefore concluded that the null hypothesis cannot be rejected. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

A cranial base of Australopithecus robustus from the hanging remnant of Swartkrans, South Africa

SKW 18, a partial hominin cranium recovered from the site of Swartkrans, South Africa, in 1968 is described. It is derived from ex situ breccia of the Hanging Remnant of Member 1, dated to approximately 1.5-1.8 Mya. Although partially encased in breccia, it was refit to the facial fragment SK 52 (Clarke 1977 The Cranium of the Swartkrans Hominid SK 847 and Its Relevance to Human Origins, Ph.D. dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg), producing the composite cranium SKW 18/SK 52. Subsequent preparation revealed the most complete cranial base attributable to the species Australopithecus robustus. SKW 18 suffered weathering and slight postdepositional distortion, but retains considerable anatomical detail. The composite cranium most likely represents a large, subadult male, based on the incomplete fusion of the spheno-occipital synchondrosis; unerupted third molar; pronounced development of muscular insertions; and large teeth. Cranial base measures of SKW 18 expand the range of values previously recorded for A. robustus. SKW 18 provides information on anatomical features not previously visible in this taxon, and expands our knowledge of morphological variability recognizable in the cranial base. Morphological heterogeneity in the development of the prevertebral and nuchal muscular insertions is likely the result of sexual dimorphism in A. robustus, while differences in cranial base angles and the development of the occipital/marginal sinus drainage system cannot be attributed to size dimorphism.     

Variations and asymmetries in regional brain surface in the genus Homo

Paleoneurology is an important field of research within human evolution studies. Variations in size and shape of an endocast help to differentiate among fossil hominin species whereas endocranial asymmetries are related to behavior and cognitive function. Here we analyse variations of the surface of the frontal, parieto-temporal and occipital lobes among different species of Homo, including 39 fossil hominins, ten fossil anatomically modern Homo sapiens and 100 endocasts of extant modern humans. We also test for the possible asymmetries of these features in a large sample of modern humans and observe individual particularities in the fossil specimens.This study contributes important new information about the brain evolution in the genus Homo. Our results show that the general pattern of surface asymmetry for the different regional brain surfaces in fossil species of Homo does not seem to be different from the pattern described in a large sample of anatomically modern H. sapiens, i.e., the right hemisphere has a larger surface than the left, as do the right frontal, the right parieto-temporal and the left occipital lobes compared with the contra-lateral side. It also appears that Asian Homo erectus specimens are discriminated from all other samples of Homo, including African and Georgian specimens that are also sometimes included in that taxon. The Asian fossils show a significantly smaller relative size of the parietal and temporal lobes. Neandertals and anatomically modern H. sapiens, who share the largest endocranial volume of all hominins, show differences when considering the relative contribution of the frontal, parieto-temporal and occipital lobes. These results illustrate an original variation in the pattern of brain organization in hominins independent of variations in total size. The globularization of the brain and the enlargement of the parietal lobes could be considered derived features observed uniquely in anatomically modern H. sapiens.     

Right‐handed fossil humans

Fossil hominids often processed material held between their upper and lower teeth. Pulling with one hand and cutting with the other, they occasionally left impact cut marks on the lip (labial) surface of their incisors and canines. From these actions, it possible to determine the dominant hand used. The frequency of these oblique striations in an array of fossil hominins documents the typically modern pattern of 9 right‐ to 1 left‐hander. This ratio among living Homo sapiens differs from that among chimpanzees and bonobos and more distant primate relatives. Together, all studies of living people affirm that dominant right‐handedness is a uniquely modern human trait. The same pattern extends deep into our past. Thus far, the majority of inferred right‐handed fossils come from Europe, but a single maxilla from a Homo habilis, OH‐65, shows a predominance of right oblique scratches, thus extending right‐handedness into the early Pleistocene of Africa. Other studies show right‐handedness in more recent African, Chinese, and Levantine fossils, but the sample compiled for non‐European fossil specimens remains small. Fossil specimens from Sima del los Huesos and a variety of European Neandertal sites are predominately right‐handed. We argue the 9:1 handedness ratio in Neandertals and the earlier inhabitants of Europe constitutes evidence for a modern pattern of handedness well before the appearance of modern Homo sapiens.     

Echoes from the past: New insights into the early hominin cochlea from a phylo-morphometric approach

We investigate cochlear variation, an indirect evidence of auditory capacities among early hominins and extant catarrhine species, in order to assess (i) the phylogenetic signal of relative external cochlear length (RECL) and oval window area (OWA), (ii) the evolutionary model with the highest probability of explaining our observed data, (iii) some hominin ancestral nodes for RECL and OWA. RECL has a high phylogenetic signal under a Brownian motion model, and is closely correlated with body mass. Our model-based method has the advantage over parsimony-based methods of incorporating branch lengths in a phylo-morphospace, and this shows RECL shifted towards significantly higher values at the Homo erectus-Homo sapiens node. We also observe that the StW 53 and KB 6067 fossil specimens from Sterkfontein and Kromdraai likely represent one or two distinct, smaller-bodied and less derived hominin form(s) compared to Paranthropus specimens represented at Swartkrans.     

Adaptation to bipedal gait and fifth metatarsal structural properties in Australopithecus,Paranthropus, and Homo

Humans, unlike African apes, have relatively robust fifth metatarsals (Mt5) presumably reflecting substantial weight-bearing and stability function in the lateral column of the former. When this morphological difference emerged during hominin evolution is debated. Here we investigate internal diaphyseal structure of Mt5s attributed to Australopithecus (from Sterkfontein), Paranthropus (from Swartkrans), and Homo (from Olduvai, Dmanisi, and Dinaledi) placed in the context of human and African ape Mt5 internal diaphyseal structure. ‘Whole-shaft’ properties were evaluated from 17 cross sections sampling 25% to 75% diaphyseal length using computed tomography. To assess structural patterns, scaled cortical bone thicknesses (sCBT) and scaled second moments of area (sSMA) were visualized and evaluated through penalized discriminant analyses. While the majority of fossil hominin Mt5s exhibited ape-like sCBT, their sSMA were comparatively more human-like. Human-like functional loading of the lateral column existed in at least some fossil hominins, although perhaps surprisingly not in hominins from Dmanisi or Dinaledi.     

Taxonomic affinity of the early Homo cranium from Swartkrans,South Africa

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. © 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Affinities of the Swartkrans 847 hominid cranium

Further evidence of the presence of a second hominid species at the Swartkrans locality was obtained in 1969 when the SK.847 specimen was discovered by us to represent the same individual as the SK.80 maxilla. The SK.847 specimen had previously been regarded as robust australopithecine, whereas the latter was first attributed to Telanthropus capensis and subsequently to a species of the genus Homo. Recent criticism of our interpretation of these remains has not evaluated and analyzed critically the primary fossil evidence. Instead it relies on a strict adherence to an as yet unsubstantiated hypothesis that posits only a single hominid species at any point in space and time in the Cenozoic history of Hominidae.     

Rethinking the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa

Current fossil, genetic, and archeological data indicate that Homo sapiens originated in Africa in the late Middle Pleistocene. By the end of the Late Pleistocene, our species was distributed across every continent except Antarctica, setting the foundations for the subsequent demographic and cultural changes of the Holocene. The intervening processes remain intensely debated and a key theme in hominin evolutionary studies. We review archeological, fossil, environmental, and genetic data to evaluate the current state of knowledge on the dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa. The emerging picture of the dispersal process suggests dynamic behavioral variability, complex interactions between populations, and an intricate genetic and cultural legacy. This evolutionary and historical complexity challenges simple narratives and suggests that hybrid models and the testing of explicit hypotheses are required to understand the expansion of Homo sapiens into Eurasia.     

Mugharet el'Aliya: Affinities of an enigmatic north African Aterian maxillary fragment

Objectives

This study uses a virtual framework to examine the left maxillary fragment of the juvenile fossil from Mugharet el'Aliya, Morocco, found in association with an Aterian lithic industry. Previously, this fossil had been ascribed to modern humans or the Neanderthal lineage based on its “archaic”/“Neanderthal-like” features and apparent large size. Here, we conducted a novel 3D shape comparative analysis of the maxillary fragment to clarify its taxonomic affinities with regard to its size and ontogeny.

Materials and Methods

Eighty Computed Tomography and surface scans representing ontogenetic samples of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis were used to capture species-specific differences. The toolkit of geometric morphometrics in combination with surface registration and an elastic iterative closest point algorithm were used to create a dataset of meshes with an identical number of corresponding vertices for the maxillae. Multivariate statistics were applied to Procrustes superimposed coordinates derived from the vertices of this dataset.

Results

Our analysis showed affinities of the Mugharet el'Aliya individual with our H. sapiens sample, especially with a subadult individual from Qafzeh. No size-independent affinities with Neanderthals of comparable dental age could be identified.

Discussion

Our results add to the evidence connecting fossils from western Asia, especially Qafzeh and Skhul, and the North African Aterian. Furthermore, Mugharet el'Aliya adds to our knowledge of the ontogenetic development of adult morphology that is frequently used to characterize hominin groups, for example, Neanderthals and modern humans.     

A new pleistocene hominid-bearing locality at Hoedjiespunt,South Africa

HDP1 is an archaeological and faunal site located on the Hoedjiespunt peninsula at Saldanha Bay, South Africa, that has recently yielded fossil human remains. Artefacts from the associated archaeological deposits are identified as being Middle Stone Age. U series analysis of capping calcretes and analysis of the foraminifera and fauna associated with the human fossils indicate an age for the deposit in excess of 74,000 years before present, and it most probably dates to around 300,000 years before present. The fossil human teeth from in situ deposits at Hoedjiespunt are described and found to be large by comparison with modern humans but smaller than the known upper dentitions of southern African “archaic” Homo sapiens. The Hoedjiespunt molars are found to be morphologically within the range of variation observed in the teeth of modern Homo sapiens. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.