Azrieli Faculty of Medicine, Bar Ilan University, POB 1589, 1311502, Safed, Israel.
The Department of Anthropology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK, 74104, USA.
Sci Rep. 2022 Feb 2;12(1):1721. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-05712-y.
The paucity of early Pleistocene hominin fossils in Eurasia hinders an in-depth discussion on their paleobiology and paleoecology. Here we report on the earliest large-bodied hominin remains from the Levantine corridor: a juvenile vertebra (UB 10749) from the early Pleistocene site of 'Ubeidiya, Israel, discovered during a reanalysis of the faunal remains. UB 10749 is a complete lower lumbar vertebral body, with morphological characteristics consistent with Homo sp. Our analysis indicates that UB-10749 was a 6- to 12-year-old child at death, displaying delayed ossification pattern compared with modern humans. Its predicted adult size is comparable to other early Pleistocene large-bodied hominins from Africa. Paleobiological differences between UB 10749 and other early Eurasian hominins supports at least two distinct out-of-Africa dispersal events. This observation corresponds with variants of lithic traditions (Oldowan; Acheulian) as well as various ecological niches across early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia.
在欧亚大陆，早更新世古人类化石的稀缺性阻碍了对其古生物学和古生态学的深入讨论。在这里，我们报告了在黎凡特走廊发现的最早的大型古人类遗骸：来自以色列乌贝迪亚早更新世遗址的一个幼年椎骨（UB 10749），这是在对动物群遗骸进行重新分析时发现的。UB 10749 是一个完整的下腰椎椎体，其形态特征与 Homo sp. 一致。我们的分析表明，UB-10749 在死亡时是一个 6 到 12 岁的儿童，与现代人相比，其骨化模式延迟。其预测的成年体型与来自非洲的其他早更新世大型古人类相当。UB 10749 与其他早期欧亚古人类之间的古生物学差异支持至少有两次不同的非洲外扩散事件。这一观察结果与不同的石器传统（奥杜威文化；阿舍利文化）以及欧亚大陆早更新世遗址的各种生态位相吻合。
