Curnoe D
Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia.
Homo. 2006;57(4):263-94. doi: 10.1016/j.jchb.2006.02.001. Epub 2006 Aug 2.
This study reports a comparison of molar crown and cusp size and shape in the Swartkrans early Homo mandible SK 15 with relevant Plio-Pleistocene taxa. Univariate and multivariate methods are employed to consider the morphological affinities of this specimen and to assess its taxonomy. The case exists for classifying SK 15 in Homo habilis with 11 features aligning it with this species. The results of multivariate studies are consistent with this hypothesis. Moreover, SK 15 lacks a number of important features that characterise the mandibular molars of Homo sapiens erectus. Considerable evidence for parallelism in the dental morphology of SK 15 and H. habilis with A. robustus is discussed. Fossil evidence for the presence of H. sapiens erectus during the Plio-Pleistocene of South Africa presently seems to be lacking. Archaeological interpretations should take greater account of this gap in the fossil record.
本研究报告了斯瓦特克朗斯早期人属下颌骨SK 15的磨牙冠和牙尖大小及形状与相关上新世-更新世类群的比较。采用单变量和多变量方法来考量该标本的形态学亲缘关系，并评估其分类。有理由将SK 15归类为能人，有11个特征使其与该物种相符。多变量研究结果与这一假设一致。此外，SK 15缺乏许多直立人下颌磨牙所特有的重要特征。讨论了SK 15和能人在牙齿形态上与粗壮南方古猿存在平行现象的大量证据。目前似乎缺乏南非上新世-更新世期间直立人存在的化石证据。考古学解释应更多地考虑化石记录中的这一空白。
