Vialet Amélie, Modesto-Mata Mario, Martinón-Torres María, Martínez de Pinillos Marina, Bermúdez de Castro José-María
Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR7194, UPVD, Centre Européen de Recherches Préhistoriques de Tautavel, Paris, France.
Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, Burgos, Spain.
PLoS One. 2018 Jan 16;13(1):e0189714. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189714. eCollection 2018.
We here present a comparative study of the Montmaurin-LN Middle Pleistocene mandible (Haute-Garonne, France). This mandible, of which its right and left molar series are preserved in situ, was found in La Niche cave (Montmaurin's karst system) in 1949, and was first attributed to the 'Mindel-Riss' interglacial (= MIS 9 to 11) based on its geological context. Later studies based on geological and faunal evidence have attributed the Montmaurin-LN mandible to MIS 7. Following a detailed morphological and metric comparative study of the mandible in the 1970s, it was interpreted in the light of a still limited fossil record and the prevailing paradigm back then. Waiting for geochronological studies in the forthcoming years, here we review the main morphological and metrical features of this mandible and its molars, which have been reassessed in the framework of a remarkably enlarged Pleistocene fossil record since the mandible was first described, and our current, more in-depth understanding of human evolution in Europe. Using a selection of mandibular features with potential taxonomic signal we have found that the Montmaurin-LN mandible shares only a few derived traits with Neandertals. Our analyses reveal that this mandible is more closely related to the ancient specimens from the African and Eurasian Early and Middle Pleistocene, particularly due to the presence of primitive features of the Homo clade. In contrast, the external morphology of the molars is clearly similar to that of Neandertals. The results are assessed in the light of the present competing hypotheses used to explain the European hominin fossil record.
我们在此展示对蒙莫兰 - LN中更新世下颌骨（法国上加龙省）的比较研究。该下颌骨的左右磨牙列原位保存，于1949年在拉尼什洞穴（蒙莫兰岩溶系统）被发现，基于其地质背景，最初被归为“明德 - 里斯”间冰期（=海洋同位素阶段9至11）。后来基于地质和动物群证据的研究将蒙莫兰 - LN下颌骨归为海洋同位素阶段7。在20世纪70年代对该下颌骨进行详细的形态学和测量学比较研究后，根据当时仍然有限的化石记录和主流范式对其进行了解释。在等待未来几年的地质年代学研究之际，我们在此回顾该下颌骨及其磨牙的主要形态学和测量学特征，自该下颌骨首次被描述以来，这些特征在显著扩大的更新世化石记录框架内以及我们目前对欧洲人类进化更深入的理解中得到了重新评估。通过选择具有潜在分类信号的下颌特征，我们发现蒙莫兰 - LN下颌骨与尼安德特人仅共享少数衍生特征。我们的分析表明，该下颌骨与非洲和欧亚大陆早更新世及中更新世的古代标本关系更为密切，特别是由于存在人属分支的原始特征。相比之下，磨牙的外部形态明显与尼安德特人的相似。根据目前用于解释欧洲古人类化石记录的相互竞争的假说对结果进行了评估。
