Dental data challenge the ubiquitous presence of Homo in the Cradle of Humankind
Zanolli, Clément (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Université de Bordeaux)
Davies, Thomas W. (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Department of Human Evolution)
Joannes-Boyau, Renaud (University of Johannesburg. Palaeo-Research Institute)
Beaudet, Amélie (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Bruxelles, Laurent (University of the Witwatersrand. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies)
de Beer, Frikkie (South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd)
Hoffman, Jakobus (South African Nuclear Energy Corporation SOC Ltd)
Hublin, Jean-Jacques (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Department of Human Evolution)
Jakata, Kudakwashe (University of the Witwatersrand. Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Kgasi, Lazarus (University of Johannesburg. Palaeo-Research Institute)
Kullmer, Ottmar (Goethe University Frankfurt. Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity. Department of Paleobiology and Environment)
Macchiarelli, Roberto (Université de Poitiers. Département Géosciences)
Pan, Lei (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment)
Schrenk, Friedemann (Goethe University Frankfurt. Institute of Ecology, Evolution, and Diversity. Department of Paleobiology and Environment)
Santos, Frédéric (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique. Université de Bordeaux)
Stratford, Dominic (University of the Witwatersrand. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies)
Tawane, Mirriam (Ditsong National Museum of Natural History)
Thackeray, Francis (University of the Witwatersrand. Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Xing, Song (Chinese Academy of Sciences. Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment)
Zipfel, Bernhard (University of the Witwatersrand. Evolutionary Studies Institute)
Skinner, Matthew M. (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Department of Human Evolution)

Fecha:	2022
Resumen:	The origins of Homo, as well as the diversity and biogeographic distribution of early Homo species, remain critical outstanding issues in paleoanthropology. Debates about the recognition of early Homo, first appearance dates, and taxonomic diversity within Homo are particularly important for determining the role that southern African taxa may have played in the origins of the genus. The correct identification of Homo remains also has implications for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships between species of Australopithecus and Paranthropus, and the links between early Homo species and Homo erectus. We use microcomputed tomography and landmark-free deformation-based three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to extract taxonomically informative data from the internal structure of postcanine teeth attributed to Early Pleistocene Homo in the southern African hominin-bearing sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Drimolen, and Kromdraai B. Our results indicate that, from our sample of 23 specimens, only 4 are unambiguously attributed to Homo, 3 of them coming from Swartkrans member 1 (SK 27, SK 847, and SKX 21204) and 1 from Sterkfontein (Sts 9). Three other specimens from Sterkfontein (StW 80 and 81, SE 1508, and StW 669) approximate the Homo condition in terms of overall enamel-dentine junction shape, but retain Australopithecus-like dental traits, and their generic status remains unclear. The other specimens, including SK 15, present a dominant australopith dental signature. In light of these results, previous dietary and ecological interpretations can be reevaluated, showing that the geochemical signal of one tooth from Kromdraai (KB 5223) and two from Swartkrans (SK 96 and SKX 268) is consistent with that of australopiths.
Ayudas:	European Commission 819960
Derechos:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Lengua:	Anglès
Documento:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Materia:	Early Homo ; Taxonomic assessment ; Dental structure ; Geometric morphometrics
Publicado en:	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Vol. 119, Issue 28 (July 2022) , art. e2111212119, ISSN 1091-6490

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2111212119
PMID: 35787044

11 p, 2.1 MB

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Documentos de investigación > Documentos de los grupos de investigación de la UAB > Centros y grupos de investigación (producción científica) > Ciencias > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
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