Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, Germany.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2014 Jan;153(1):154-60. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.22376. Epub 2013 Oct 15.
A very limiting factor for paleoanthropological studies is the poor state of preservation of the human fossil record, where fragmentation and deformation are considered normal. Although anatomical information can still be gathered from a distorted fossil, such specimens must typically be excluded from advanced morphological and morphometric analyses, thus reducing the fossil sample size and, ultimately, our knowledge of human evolution. In this contribution we provide the first digital reconstruction of the KNM-ER 1813 Homo habilis cranium. Based on state of-the-art three-dimensional digital modeling and geometric morphometric (GM) methods, the facial portion was aligned to the neurocranium, the overall distortion was removed, and the missing regions were restored. The reconstructed KNM-ER 1813 allows for an adjustment of the anthropometric measurements gathered on the original fossil. It is suitable for further quantitative studies, such as GM analyses focused on skull morphology or for finite element analysis to explore the mechanics of early Homo feeding behavior and diet.
古人类学研究的一个非常限制因素是人类化石记录保存状况不佳，其中碎裂和变形被认为是正常的。尽管从变形的化石中仍然可以收集到解剖学信息，但此类标本通常必须排除在先进的形态和形态计量学分析之外，从而减少化石样本量，并最终减少我们对人类进化的了解。在本研究中，我们首次对 KNM-ER 1813 能人颅骨进行了数字化重建。基于最先进的三维数字建模和几何形态计量学（GM）方法，将面部与脑颅对齐，去除整体变形，并修复缺失区域。重建的 KNM-ER 1813 允许对原始化石上收集的人体测量学数据进行调整。它适用于进一步的定量研究，例如专注于颅骨形态的 GM 分析，或用于有限元分析，以探索早期人类的进食行为和饮食的力学。
