Potts Richard, Behrensmeyer Anna K, Deino Alan, Ditchfield Peter, Clark Jennifer
Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0112, USA.
Science. 2004 Jul 2;305(5680):75-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1097661.
Hominin fossils from the African mid-Pleistocene are rare despite abundant Acheulean tools in Africa and apparently African-derived hominins in Eurasia between 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago (Ma). Here we describe an African fossil cranium constrained by 40Ar/39Ar analyses, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary features to 0.97 to 0.90 Ma, and stratigraphically associated with Acheulean handaxes. Although the cranium represents possibly the smallest adult or near-adult known between 1.7 and 0.5 Ma, it retains features observed in larger Homo erectus individuals, yet shows a distinct suite of traits indicative of wide population variation in the hominins of this period.
尽管在非洲有丰富的阿舍利工具，且在100万至50万年前（Ma）欧亚大陆明显存在源自非洲的古人类，但来自非洲中更新世的古人类化石却很罕见。在此，我们描述了一个非洲化石颅骨，通过40Ar/39Ar分析、磁性地层学和沉积特征确定其年代为97万至90万年前，并与阿舍利手斧在地层上相关联。尽管该颅骨可能代表了170万至50万年前已知的最小成年或接近成年个体，但它保留了在较大的直立人个体中观察到的特征，同时显示出一系列独特的特征，表明这一时期古人类种群存在广泛变异。
