1981年发现的安徽和县猿人化石

本文记述1981年在安徽和县发现的人的五枚牙齿化石、额骨眶上部残片及顶骨残片一块。研究表明,大多数形态特征与北京猿人非常相似,但也有较北京猿人进步的特征。和县猿人无疑地属直立人(Homo erectus),和县猿人的门齿与元谋猿人的门齿,在形态特征上存在较大的差别。

HOMO ERECTUS FROM HEXIAN, ANHUI FOUND IN 1981

The excavation was carried out by a field team of IVPP including the author together with the Museum of Anhui Province from May to June, 1981.A lot of mammalian and 7 pieces of human fossils were found in this excavation. The present article deals with only the human fossils.The material includes five teeth and a piece of right supraorbital torus and a fragment of parietal bone.The characters of the fossils may be summarized as follows:1) The upper central incisor is bigger than those of all Homo erectus. The lingual surface is shovel-shaped and bears a well-developed basal tubercle from the free border of which extend several finger-like prolongations ending abruptly at the central pit of the lingual surface. These features are very similar to those of Peking Man and Yunxian Man.2) The pattern of the occlusal surface of the upper molars is similar to that of Peking Man. The paracone is separated from the metacone by a transvesal furrow which transgresses the buccal edge and descends to the neck of the buccal surface. Real longitudinal furrows are lacking. The slope of each cusp shows a larger wrinkle on the middle and a smaller one on each side of it.3) The lower molars show a typical Dryopithecus pattern. The trigonid is distinctly broader than the talonid, while the trigonid of the Neanderthal group is generally narrower than the talonid. A cingulum is present. Their size fall within the range of those of Australopithecus and is much larger than that of Peking Man and Java Man.4) The supraorbital torus is heavy. The supratoral sulcus between the torus and the frontal squama is present, but it is much less pronounced than that of Peking Man.From the evidences mentioned above, Hexian human fossils undoubtedly belong to Homo erectus.The upper incisor of Hexian Man, however, is not similar to the Yuanmou incisors in morphology. The lateral borders of the Yuanmou incisors are more divergent outward than those of Peking Man and Hexian Man. One of three finger-like processes of the Yuanmou incisors extends to the cutting edge. These primitive characters frequently appear in anthropoid incisors.