Geometric morphometric analysis of the early Pleistocene hominin teeth from Jianshi,Hubei Province,China  

作　　者：Ronald CLARKE 

机构地区：[1]University of the Witwatersrand,Johannesburg,South Africa

出　　处：《Science China Earth Sciences》2010年第8期1141-1152,共12页中国科学（地球科学英文版）

基　　金：supported by Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No.KZCX2-YW-106);National Natural Science Founda-tion of China (Grant Nos.40772016 and 40972017);International Cooperation Program of MST of China (Grant Nos.2007DFB20330 and 2009DFB20580)

摘　　要：Although the early Pleistocene hominin fossils found in East Asia continent are widely recognized as the earliest hominins migrated from Africa, debates remain on the morphology and taxonomy of these fossils. In this study, dental crown shape of the three early Pleistocene hominin teeth (P3, M1, and M1) found in Jianshi, Hubei Province of China was analyzed by means of geometric morphometrics. The comparative samples of fossil hominins from Africa, Asia, and Europe as well as those of modern humans (N=257) were used. The results indicate that the contour, asymmetry, and cusp patterns of these three types of teeth differ obviously between the fossil hominins and modern humans. The crown shape of P3 in most fossil hominins including Australopithecus, African early Homo, and Asian Pleistocene hominins are asymmetric with their crown occlusal contours long and curving elliptic-shaped. The occlusal contour of the fossil hominin M1 is symmetric and rectangle-shaped with no marked cusp protrusion. The crown shape of fossil M1 is characterized by asymmetric contour with slightly projected metaconid and hypoconid. On the contrary, in modern Chinese and some European late Pleistocene hominins, the crowns of P3s show symmetric contours with buccal side wider than lingual side; the crown shape of M1 is asymmetric with lingual cusp distalplaced, especially for hypoconid; the M1 has symmetric and round crown contour. Our study reveals that Australopithecus has wide variations in its crown shape, whereas these dental morphospaces of Asian hominins are closely placed. The crown contour, symmetry, and cusp patterns of these three teeth of Jianshi hominin resemble those of Asian early and middle Pleistocene hominins. No marked difference in dental crown shape is shown between the Jianshi hominin and other Chinese Homo erectus, and there is also no evidence in support of the Jianshi hominin's closeness to Australopithecus and African early Homo members.Although the early Pleistocene hominin fossils found in East Asia continent are widely recognized as the earliest hominins migrated from Africa, debates remain on the morphology and taxonomy of these fossils. In this study, dental crown shape of the three early Pleistocene hominin teeth (P3, M1, and M1) found in Jianshi, Hubei Province of China was analyzed by means of geometric morphometrics. The comparative samples of fossil hominins from Africa, Asia, and Europe as well as those of modern humans (N=257) were used. The results indicate that the contour, asymmetry, and cusp patterns of these three types of teeth differ obviously between the fossil hominins and modern humans. The crown shape of P3 in most fossil hominins including Australopithecus, African early Homo, and Asian Pleistocene hominins are asymmetric with their crown occlusal contours long and curving elliptic-shaped. The occlusal contour of the fossil hominin M1 is symmetric and rectangle-shaped with no marked cusp protrusion. The crown shape of fossil M1 is characterized by asymmetric contour with slightly projected metaconid and hypoconid. On the contrary, in modern Chinese and some European late Pleistocene hominins, the crowns of P3s show symmetric contours with buccal side wider than lingual side; the crown shape of M1 is asymmetric with lingual cusp distalplaced, especially for hypoconid; the M1 has symmetric and round crown contour. Our study reveals that Australopithecus has wide variations in its crown shape, whereas these dental morphospaces of Asian hominins are closely placed. The crown contour, symmetry, and cusp patterns of these three teeth of Jianshi hominin resemble those of Asian early and middle Pleistocene hominins. No marked difference in dental crown shape is shown between the Jianshi hominin and other Chinese Homo erectus, and there is also no evidence in support of the Jianshi hominin’s closeness to Australopithecus and African early Homo members.

关 键 词：human evolution TOOTH SHAPE GEOMETRIC MORPHOMETRIC Jianshi HUBEI China 

分 类 号：Q981[天文地球—古生物学与地层学]