Journal of Human Evolution最新文献

{"title":"JHE: The case for preserving a legacy journal and its community","authors":"Radu Iovita , Nohemi Sala , Song Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103677","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103677","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103677"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143635002","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":"Human midfacial growth pattern differs from that of Neanderthals and chimpanzees","authors":"Alexandra Schuh ,&nbsp;Philipp Gunz ,&nbsp;Chiara Villa ,&nbsp;Bruno Maureille ,&nbsp;Michel Toussaint ,&nbsp;Grégory Abrams ,&nbsp;Jean-Jacques Hublin ,&nbsp;Sarah E. Freidline","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103667","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103667","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Present-day humans have small and retracted midfaces, while Neanderthals possess large and forwardly projected midfaces. To understand the ontogenetic patterns underlying these characteristic morphologies, we compared maxillary growth and development from birth to adulthood in present-day humans (<em>Homo sapiens</em>; <em>n</em> = 128), Neanderthals (<em>Homo neanderthalensis</em>; <em>n</em> = 13), and chimpanzees (<em>Pan troglodytes verus</em>; <em>n</em> = 33) using macroscopic (i.e., geometric morphometrics) and microscopic (i.e., surface histology) approaches. Using geometric morphometrics to quantify macroscopic patterns of growth and development, we found that the midfaces of present-day humans are on average already smaller at birth than those of Neanderthals and grow more slowly after birth. In particular, we find an early cessation of growth around adolescence, which is unique to our species. Microscopically, this is reflected in reduced amounts of bone resorption, indicative of decreased cellular activities linked to bone development. Greater amounts of bone formation in the infraorbital and nasal regions and faster growth rates are responsible for the large Neanderthal midface. These results highlight the importance of postnatal ontogeny (especially in late stages) for explaining facial differences between Neanderthals and present-day humans, as well as part of the gracilization process characteristic of present-day humans.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"202 ","pages":"Article 103667"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143682672","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":"The Marine Isotope Stage 5 (∼105 ka) lithic assemblage from Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter and insights into social transmission across the Kalahari Basin and its environs","authors":"Precious Chiwara-Maenzanise ,&nbsp;Benjamin J. Schoville ,&nbsp;Yonatan Sahle ,&nbsp;Jayne Wilkins","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103654","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103654","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The social transmission of cultural information is widely acknowledged as a key factor in the survival of our species. This paper explores lithic technological systems to assess the presence and extent of cultural information transmission between early human groups in the Kalahari Basin and its environs during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 (∼130–74 ka). This period is crucial for understanding the development and expansion of complex behaviors in Africa. Dated to ∼105 ka, the dark brown silt and roofspall lithic assemblage at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter in the southern Kalahari provides evidence of early human behavior from South Africa's interior. Technological analyses reveal that lithic reduction at Ga-Mohana Hill North Rockshelter focused on producing flakes, convergent pieces, and blades, primarily using the recurrent Levallois method. Comparisons with contemporaneous MIS 5 assemblages in the Kalahari and surrounding regions, such as Erfkroon, Florisbad, and White Paintings Rockshelter, reveal significant technological similarities. These include the use of local raw materials, recurrent Levallois methods, hard hammer percussion technique, core maintenance through débordants, manufacturing of blanks with comparable shapes and sizes, mostly with faceted platforms, and a low frequency of formal tools. These similarities suggest a shared technological tradition and potential cultural exchange among the groups at these sites. This connectivity may reflect their shared adaptation to the predominantly arid and semi-arid conditions of the Kalahari Basin and its environs, which may have necessitated the formation of social ties to access scarce and potentially unpredictable resources, in contrast to the fragmentation observed in some other regions during interglacial periods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"202 ","pages":"Article 103654"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143682673","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":"Ulnar morphology of Pliobates cataloniae (Pliopithecoidea: Crouzeliidae): Insights into catarrhine locomotor diversity and forelimb evolution","authors":"Georgina Raventós-Izard ,&nbsp;Oriol Monclús-Gonzalo ,&nbsp;Salvador Moyà-Solà ,&nbsp;David M. Alba ,&nbsp;Julia Arias-Martorell","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103663","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103663","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>Pliobates cataloniae</em> is a small-bodied crouzeliid pliopithecoid from the Miocene (∼11.6 Ma) of Abocador de Can Mata (ACM; Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula). It exhibits a mosaic of primitive (stem catarrhine) and derived (modern hominoid-like) postcranial features. The holotype partial skeleton, from locality ACM/C8-A4, includes an almost complete ulna—a bone that plays a critical role in forearm flexion-extension and pronation-supination. Here, we use landmark-based three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to evaluate the closest morphometric affinities of the <em>Pliobates</em> ulna and explore its implications for the locomotor repertoire of this taxon. The comparative sample includes 156 specimens corresponding to 35 species from 20 anthropoid genera, three lorisid genera, and 10 fossil catarrhines. Our results indicate that the trochlear notch morphology of <em>Pliobates</em> resembles that of stem catarrhines and other nonhominoid primates. However, <em>Pliobates</em> differs from cercopithecoids (especially terrestrial taxa) in radial notch features related to enhanced pronation-supination capabilities, closely resembling the condition displayed by crown hominoids, <em>Ateles</em>, and <em>Loris</em>. In turn, the distal ulna of <em>Pliobates</em> does not overlap with any extant group and differs from the other fossils analyzed, most closely resembling that of hylobatids and lorisids. <em>Pliobates</em> probably had an extensive range of movement in the distal forearm, as indicated by the incipiently expanded semilunar ulnar head, the relatively short styloid process, the deep fovea, and the hooklike styloid process. This suggests that <em>Pliobates</em> would have frequently displayed nonstereotypical limb postures and slow locomotor behaviors. Overall, the ulnar morphology of <em>Pliobates</em> suggests that its locomotor repertoire may have combined cautious above-branch quadrupedalism and eclectic climbing with nonagile suspensory behaviors resembling those of <em>Ateles</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"202 ","pages":"Article 103663"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143637521","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 fresh look at an iconic human fossil: Virtual reconstruction of the KNM-WT 15000 cranium","authors":"Karen L. Baab","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103664","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103664","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"202 ","pages":"Article 103664"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143637520","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":"Micro-computed tomography unveils anatomy of the oldest known plesiadapiform cranium","authors":"Jordan W. Crowell ,&nbsp;K. Christopher Beard ,&nbsp;Stephen G.B. Chester","doi":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103655","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jhevol.2025.103655","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Palaechthonids are a likely paraphyletic or polyphyletic assemblage of dentally plesiomorphic plesiadapiforms known from the Paleocene of North America. This family is known primarily from isolated dental fossils, but one partial cranium of the palaechthonid <em>Plesiolestes nacimienti</em> (Division of Vertebrate Paleontology, Biodiversity Institute, University of Kansas [KUVP] 9557) exists and was studied a half-century ago to infer aspects of the paleobiology of basal or stem primates. Since then, additional plesiadapiform crania representing several families have been described, but KUVP 9557 remains the best preserved for a palaechthonid and is the geologically oldest known cranial fossil of any plesiadapiform or euarchontan mammal (primates + colugos + treeshrews). Here, for the first time, we scanned the partial cranium of <em>P. nacimienti</em> using micro-computed tomography (μCT) to assess previously described morphology, document novel morphology, and make comparisons with crania of other plesiadapiforms and euarchontans. While several previous cranial descriptions are reaffirmed here (e.g., caudal expansion of the nasals, an intraorbital lacrimal foramen), μCT scan data have clarified that certain previously identified structures (e.g., postorbital process) are not present and have unveiled previously unknown structures (e.g., foramen ovale, optic foramen). Comparisons indicate that the cranial anatomy of <em>P. nacimienti</em> is most like that of non-microsyopid plesiadapiforms and that unambiguous synapomorphies with an extant euarchontan clade are absent. Paleobiological inferences presented here suggest that <em>P. nacimienti</em> was broadly similar to the extant treeshrew <em>Ptilocercus</em>, albeit less insectivorous, which is in line with evolutionary scenarios proposed for the ancestral primatomorphan or the ancestral primate (sensu lato) that emphasize the importance of arboreality and angiosperm products.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":54805,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Human Evolution","volume":"201 ","pages":"Article 103655"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143610320","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":"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}