Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY, USA.
Nat Commun. 2021 Apr 13;12(1):1939. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-22208-x.
The KNM-ER 2598 occipital is among the oldest fossils attributed to Homo erectus but questions have been raised about whether it may derive from a younger horizon. Here we report on efforts to relocate the KNM-ER 2598 locality and investigate its paleontological and geological context. Although located in a different East Turkana collection area (Area 13) than initially reported, the locality is stratigraphically positioned below the KBS Tuff and the outcrops show no evidence of deflation of a younger unit, supporting an age of >1.855 Ma. Newly recovered faunal material consists primarily of C grazers, further confirmed by enamel isotope data. A hominin proximal 3rd metatarsal and partial ilium were discovered <50 m from the reconstructed location where KNM-ER 2598 was originally found but these cannot be associated directly with the occipital. The postcrania are consistent with fossil Homo and may represent the earliest postcrania attributable to Homo erectus.
KNM-ER 2598 号枕骨是最早被归为直立人化石的一种，但关于它是否可能源自更年轻的地层，人们提出了一些疑问。在这里，我们报告了重新定位 KNM-ER 2598 地点并调查其古生物学和地质背景的努力。尽管该地点位于与最初报告不同的东图尔卡纳收藏区（第 13 区），但其地层位置低于 KBS 凝灰岩，露头没有显示出年轻单元吹蚀的证据，支持其年龄大于 1.855 Ma。新回收的动物群材料主要由 C 食草动物组成，这进一步得到了牙釉质同位素数据的证实。在距 KNM-ER 2598 最初发现地点重建位置<50 米处发现了一个人类近侧第 3 跖骨和部分髂骨，但这些无法直接与枕骨相关联。这些后肢骨骼与化石人类一致，可能代表最早可归因于直立人的后肢骨骼。
