Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Paleoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, UK; Structure & Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, UK.
CHER, The Natural History Museum, London, UK.
J Hum Evol. 2020 Jul;144:102776. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102776. Epub 2020 Jun 5.
Fossil hominin footprints provide a direct source of evidence of locomotor behavior and allow inference of other biological data such as anthropometrics. Many recent comparative analyses of hominin footprints have used 3D analytical methods to assess their morphological affinities, comparing tracks from different locations and/or time periods. However, environmental conditions can sometimes preclude 3D digital capture, as was the case at Happisburgh (England) in 2013. Consequently, we use here a 2D geometric morphometric approach to investigate the evolutionary context of the Happisburgh tracks. The comparative sample of hominin tracks comes from eight localities that span a broad temporal range from the Pliocene to Late Holocene. The results show disparity in the shapes of tracks ascribed to hominins from the Pliocene (presumably Australopithecus afarensis), Pleistocene (presumably Homo erectus and Homo antecessor), and Holocene (Homo sapiens). Three distinct morphological differences are apparent between time samples: changes in adduction of the hallux, changes in the shape and position of the medial longitudinal arch impression, and apparent changes in foot proportions. Linear dimensions classified the potential H. antecessor tracks from Happisburgh as being most similar to the presumed H. erectus prints from Ileret. We demonstrate using 2D geometric morphometric methods and linear dimensions that the Happisburgh tracks are morphologically similar to other presumed Homo tracks and differ from the Laetoli footprints. The probable functional implications of these results fit well with previous comparative analyses of hominin tracks at other sites.
化石人类足迹为运动行为提供了直接的证据来源，并允许推断其他生物学数据，如人体测量学。许多最近对人类足迹的比较分析都使用了 3D 分析方法来评估它们的形态相似性，比较来自不同地点和/或时间段的足迹。然而，环境条件有时会排除 3D 数字捕捉，2013 年在英国 Happisburgh 就是如此。因此，我们在这里使用 2D 几何形态测量方法来研究 Happisburgh 足迹的进化背景。人类足迹的比较样本来自八个地点，跨越了从上新世到全新世的广泛时间范围。结果表明，归因于上新世（推测为南方古猿阿法种）、更新世（推测为直立人和先驱人）和全新世（智人）的足迹形状存在差异。在时间样本之间有三个明显的形态差异：大脚趾的内收变化、内侧纵弓印象的形状和位置变化以及足部比例的明显变化。线性尺寸将来自 Happisburgh 的潜在 H.antecessor 足迹分类为与来自 Ileret 的假定 H.erectus 足迹最相似。我们使用 2D 几何形态测量方法和线性尺寸证明，Happisburgh 足迹在形态上与其他假定的 Homo 足迹相似，与 Laetoli 足迹不同。这些结果的可能功能含义与其他地点对人类足迹的先前比较分析非常吻合。
