Journal of Human Evolution最新文献

{"title":"Morphological variation of the Australopithecus afarensis maxilla","authors":"Hester Hanegraef ,&nbsp;Fred Spoor","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103651","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103651","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Central to discussions about hominin diversity in the mid-Pliocene of eastern Africa is whether or not certain fossils should be attributed to <em>Australopithecus afarensis</em>, instead of representing separate species. Key to answering this question is a good understanding of the magnitude and pattern of intraspecific variation shown by <em>A. afarensis</em>. Given the importance of maxillary characteristics in species diagnoses of early hominins, we explored morphological variation among all nine sufficiently preserved <em>A. afarensis</em> maxillae from Hadar. After CT-based virtual reconstruction, these were analyzed in the comparative context of 448 extant hominine (modern human and African ape) maxillae, representing all currently recognized subspecies, large geographic areas, and both sexes. Maxillary morphology was captured by three-dimensional landmarks, and size and shape were examined using geometric morphometric methods. The main findings are that 1) <em>A. afarensis</em> has high degrees of size and shape variation compared with extant hominines, potentially linked with sexual dimorphism, 2) no allometry was found, despite the large size variation, 3) a temporal trend in maxillary size is suggested but not in shape, and 4) the inferred patterns of sexual dimorphism in form and shape are different from those observed in <em>Homo sapiens</em>, <em>Pan</em>, and <em>Gorilla</em>. These results provide a greater understanding of <em>A. afarensis</em>, enable quantitative comparisons with contemporary maxillae attributed to <em>Kenyanthropus platyops</em>, <em>Australopithecus deyiremeda</em>, and <em>Australopithecus bahrelghazali</em>, and can help evaluate variation in other Plio-Pleistocene hominins, such as those assigned to species of early <em>Homo</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103651"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143552770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"First articulating os coxae, femur, and tibia of a small adult Paranthropus robustus from Member 1 (Hanging Remnant) of the Swartkrans Formation, South Africa","authors":"Travis Rayne Pickering ,&nbsp;Marine Cazenave ,&nbsp;R.J. Clarke ,&nbsp;A.J. Heile ,&nbsp;Matthew V. Caruana ,&nbsp;Kathleen Kuman ,&nbsp;Dominic Stratford ,&nbsp;C.K. Brain ,&nbsp;Jason L. Heaton","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since paleontological work began there in 1948, Swartkrans (South Africa) has yielded hundreds of Early Pleistocene hominin fossils, currently attributed to (in ascending order of quantity) cf. <em>Australopithecus africanus</em>, <em>Homo</em> spp., and <em>Paranthropus robustus.</em> The bulk of that large sample comprises craniodental remains, with (mostly fragmentary) postcranial materials being much less abundant at the site. In that context, our announcement here of the first articulating partial os coxae, nearly complete femur, and complete tibia of a young adult hominin (SWT1/HR-2), excavated from the &lt;2.3 to &gt;1.7-million-year-old Hanging Remnant (Member 1) of the Swartkrans Formation, represents an important addition to the understanding of hominin postural and locomotor behavior in Early Pleistocene South Africa. We provide qualitative and quantitative descriptions and initial functional morphological interpretations of the fossils, based mostly on external bone morphology. Epiphyseal fusion data, element dimensions, the crural index, and live body stature and mass estimates that we provide all indicate that SWT1/HR-2 is one of the smallest known adult hominins in the fossil record. We discuss the paleobiological implications of these findings in relation to our taxonomic diagnosis of SWT1/HR-2 as representing <em>P. robustus</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103647"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143534380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Examining the relationship between pelvic shape and numbers of lumbar vertebrae in anthropoid primates","authors":"Eva-Mercè Fuentes ,&nbsp;Monica V. Avilez ,&nbsp;Jeffery K. Spear ,&nbsp;Scott A. Williams","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103649","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103649","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103649"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143508345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"New specimens allow revisiting the dental anatomy of Middle Miocene fossil primates from Patagonia","authors":"Nelson M. Novo ,&nbsp;Ulyses F.J. Pardiñas ,&nbsp;Marcelo F. Tejedor","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103648","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103648","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103648"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143511304","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A three-dimensional geometric morphometric study of Miocene ape lumbar vertebrae, with implications for hominoid locomotor evolution","authors":"Scott A. Williams ,&nbsp;Xue Wang ,&nbsp;Monica V. Avilez ,&nbsp;Lillian Fok ,&nbsp;Maria V. Giraldo ,&nbsp;Jeffrey K. Spear ,&nbsp;Thomas C. Prang","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Miocene apes represent snapshots in time of key transitions in hominoid evolution. While all extant apes are adapted to orthograde posture and suspensory behavior, many Miocene apes demonstrate evidence for pronogrady and habitual arboreal quadrupedalism or present ‘mosaic’ morphologies suggestive of locomotion and posture unlike any extant catarrhine. Here, we use three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to study penultimate lumbar vertebrae of extant anthropoids and those of three well-preserved Miocene apes: <em>Ekembo nyanzae</em> (KNM-MW 13142), <em>Morotopithecus bishopi</em> (UMP 67-28), and <em>Pierolapithecus catalaunicus</em> (IPS 21350-64), which have been interpreted as a pronograde arboreal quadruped, an orthograde suspensory or vertical climbing ape, and an orthograde vertical climber that was not adapted to suspensory behavior, respectively. Our results show that <em>E. nyanzae</em> shares three-dimensional shape space with terrestrial papionins, whereas <em>M. bishopi</em> and <em>P. catalaunicus</em> fall within overlapping morphospace shared by <em>Ateles</em> and hylobatids. <em>Morotopithecus bishopi</em> and <em>P. catalaunicus</em> share with hylobatids and brachiating atelids (<em>Ateles</em> and <em>Brachyteles</em>) well-established features such as dorsal lumbar transverse (costal) processes and a newly identified feature in this study, the presence of a convex pillar along the pars interarticularis that forms the lateral borders of the laminae. The latter feature is also shared with <em>E. nyanzae</em>. Together with their large body size estimates, we interpret these results to indicate that <em>E. nyanzae</em> was primarily a pronograde quadruped that may have been semiterrestrial rather than strictly arboreal, while <em>M. bishopi</em> and <em>P. catalaunicus</em> were adapted to both orthogrady and forelimb-dominated climbing and suspension.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103650"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143474072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Locomotor adaptation in the hominoid clavicle through ontogeny","authors":"Hannah N. Farrell,&nbsp;Zeresenay Alemseged","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103652","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103652","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconstructions of the locomotor behavior of early hominins have been hindered by our incomplete understanding of the form-function relationship in the extant hominoid shoulder. Although extensive research has highlighted the role of the highly mobile shoulder in supporting the locomotor diversity and versatility observed in hominoids, the contribution of the clavicle and its morphological diversity to shoulder function remains significantly underexplored. In this study, we analyzed the cross-sectional geometry of the ape clavicle using a large ontogenetic sample to identify new osteological signals related to locomotor adaptation in the shoulder. We assessed the interspecific and intraspecific differences in cortical bone distribution, with ratios of cortical properties describing the relative eccentricity of the cross section (the ratio of the second moments of area about the maximum [I_MAX] and minimum [I_MIN] principal axes [I_MAX/I_MIN]), the orientation of the anatomical plane that eccentricity is occurring in (the ratio of the second moments of area relative to the craniocaudal [I_X] and dorsoventral [I_Y] axes [I_X/I_Y]), and the relative proportion of cortical bone in each section. Our analyses demonstrate that the hominoid clavicle holds strong signals of locomotor adaptation that can be identified both across taxa and through ontogeny. Gibbons and orangutans have a relatively uniform clavicular cortical geometry throughout life, with gibbon clavicles built to best withstand habitual, unidirectional bending forces and orangutan clavicles remodeled to resist unpredictable, multidirectional loading. Furthermore, we find a clear signal of increased clavicular bending in the same portion of the diaphysis through ontogeny in the cortical geometry of chimpanzees and gorillas, likely reflecting both the shifts toward terrestriality through ontogeny and bending rigidity needed for continued arboreality at a larger body mass. Ultimately, these results are promising for the identification of locomotor adaptation in the shoulder of early hominins, especially <em>Australopithecus</em>, and highlight the key structural role of the clavicle in ape locomotion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103652"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143474073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Facial morphologies of Middle Pleistocene Europe: Morphological mosaicism and the evolution of Homo neanderthalensis","authors":"Siri Topsø Olsen ,&nbsp;Suzanna White","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103645","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The phylogeny of the Middle Pleistocene hominins is a matter of intense scientific debate. Important phylogenetic and taxonomic uncertainties remain, not least due to conflicting results of phylogenetic analyses when methodologies or morphological focus differ. Geography has been proposed to play a key role in Middle Pleistocene hominin diversity, with a European group potentially ancestral to Neanderthals (<em>Homo neanderthalensis</em>) and an African group possibly ancestral to <em>Homo sapiens</em>, but the evidence is equivocal. In this study, we explore the connection between geography and facial morphology in Middle Pleistocene hominins with a particular emphasis on the potential Neanderthal affinities of the European group. Furthermore, to assess the impact of methodology on the results, we use a multimethod approach in which morphological affinities in both facial shape and discrete facial traits are assessed on a dataset consisting of 38 fossil and 20 recent hominin skulls divided into five groups (European and non-European Middle Pleistocene hominins, <em>H</em>. <em>sapiens</em>, <em>H</em>. <em>neanderthalensis</em>, and <em>Homo erectus/Homo ergaster</em>). Two main conclusions emerge from these analyses. First, methodological approach has a marked impact on the recorded pattern of morphological affinity, which may explain result discrepancies among previous studies. Second, this disparity may be caused by morphological mosaicism and polymorphism in the facial region of Middle Pleistocene hominins. The results provide some support for a closer connection between European Middle Pleistocene hominins and Neanderthals in terms of discrete facial traits, but not in overall facial shape, raising questions about the process of evolution of the Neanderthal facial phenotype. As a consequence of these results, we argue that greater attention needs to be paid to clarifying the broader evolutionary processes guiding hominin evolution during this period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103645"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143478737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dental microwear of Neogene cercopithecoids from the Turkana Basin, Kenya","authors":"Leah K. Fehringer ,&nbsp;Catherine C. Beck ,&nbsp;Louise N. Leakey ,&nbsp;Patricia Princehouse ,&nbsp;John Rowan ,&nbsp;Gabrielle A. Russo ,&nbsp;Mark F. Teaford ,&nbsp;Kevin T. Uno ,&nbsp;Peter S. Ungar","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103646","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103646","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconstructions of the diets of individual fossil species can help us better understand the adaptive radiations of higher-level primate taxa. Some researchers have posited that folivory was key to the divergence of cercopithecoids from the catarrhine stem, with bilophodonty reflecting an adaptation for leaf consumption. Others have questioned this model, suggesting that dental functional morphology and wear patterns are more consistent with frugivory and perhaps hard-object consumption. Here, we present new microwear texture data (<em>n =</em> 22) that might contribute to the discussion. Specimens were sampled from Buluk (∼17 Ma, Early Miocene, <em>Noropithecus bulukensis</em>) and Lothagam (∼8–4 Ma, Late Miocene to Early Pliocene, <em>Parapapio lothagamensis</em>/sp. indet and fossil Colobinae) in the Turkana Basin, Kenya, and compared with a select group of extant taxa. Point clouds were generated from high-resolution replicas of molar teeth using a white light confocal profiler and analyzed using scale-sensitive fractal analysis. Redults of dental microwear texture analyses for both fossil samples align with those off extant grass (<em>Theropithecus</em>) and leaf (<em>Trachypithecus</em>) eaters and differ significantly from those of frugivores/generalists (<em>Macaca, Papio</em>) and hard-object specialists (<em>Cercocebus</em>). While both <em>Noropithecus</em> and <em>Parapapio</em> postdate the divergence of the cercopithecoid clade from other catarrhines, these results are largely consistent with previous work on the dietary ecology of the early papionin <em>Parapapio</em> from Lothagam and the traditional ‘tough-food’ model of leaves/grasses. Some previous <em>Noropithecus</em> dietary reconstructions indicated a diet of harder objects or fruits. Thus, the discrepancy between the microwear results and previous dietary reconstructions for <em>N. bulukensis</em> is unexpected. These results raise hypotheses that may help provide new context and insights into the radiation of this important superfamily of primates.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103646"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143430206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A reanalysis of the Taung endocranial surface: Comparison with large samples of living hominids","authors":"Shawn Hurst ,&nbsp;Ralph Holloway ,&nbsp;Heather Garvin ,&nbsp;Grace Bocko ,&nbsp;Kara Garcia ,&nbsp;Zachary Cofran ,&nbsp;John Hawks ,&nbsp;Lee Berger","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103637","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103637","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Since its discovery, the natural endocast of the Taung cranium has played a central role in the interpretation of human brain evolution. Aspects of the endocast including the identification of the lunate sulcus, possible expansion of the parietal lobe, and rounded profile suggested to R. Dart that the Taung individual was aligned with humans and not with other anthropoid primates, yet these interpretations were immediately controversial and remain so today. We have generated a detailed curvature map of the Taung endocast to evaluate its surface organization with reference to 189 chimpanzee and 20 human brains. These data enable evolutionary consideration of the surface detail of depressions and projections sufficient to mark primary sulci and variations in sulcal organization due to superficial bridges between adjacent gyri. Our results suggest that the lunate sulcus in the Taung endocast displays a gyral bridge between the occipital lobe and the inferior parietal lobule seen in 65% of our adult human brain hemispheres but in only 1.8% of our chimpanzee ones. The frontal lobe organization of the Taung endocast reflects a superior frontal sulcus pattern seen in 92.8% of our adult human brain hemispheres, but in 0% of our adult chimpanzee sample, and an inferior frontal sulcus pattern seen in 100% of our adult human brain hemispheres but in only 2.1% of our chimpanzee ones. The Taung inferior frontal gyrus retains a fronto-orbital sulcus which is seen in 0% of our adult human brain hemispheres and in 100% of our adult chimpanzee ones. These observations help to resolve some apparent inconsistencies of interpretation of the posterior endocast of the Taung specimen while showing that the specimen shared some derived aspects of endocast organization with humans that were not found in chimpanzees.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 103637"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143421878","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Paleoenvironments at the Homo erectus type locality of Trinil (Java, Indonesia): The artiodactyl evidence","authors":"B. Gruwier ,&nbsp;K. Kovarovic","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103638","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103638","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we assess the artiodactyl fossil record of the <em>Homo erectus</em> type locality of Trinil (Indonesia) and explore the paleoenvironmental implications for the site and for our understanding of early hominin paleoecology. Combining ecomorphological analyses on postcranial elements of cervids from Trinil (<em>n</em> = 43) with a range of existing paleobiological and paleoecological data on the bovids and cervids, a holistic reconstruction is made of the ecology of the artiodactyl community. The ecomorphological analyses indicate that the cervid <em>Axis lydekkeri</em> was adapted to relatively open environments with wet substrate. In combination with evidence of the other families, these results are compared in a correspondence analysis with the artiodactyl communities of contemporary Asian nature reserves. Trinil was shown to be similar to a number of Mainland Southeast Asian sites and reconstructed as an open woodland habitat with a wet component, possibly in the form of alluvial grasslands. The paleoenvironmental conditions reconstructed for Trinil indicate that <em>Homo erectus</em> was present in relatively open environments but that it still had a significant degree of environmental flexibility and was able to persist in wet and dry environments, with a vegetation structure ranging from grassland to open woodland.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"200 ","pages":"Article 103638"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143421877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}