Affiliation:
1. Department of Archaeology University of Cambridge Cambridge UK
2. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg South Africa
3. Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona Sabadell, Cerdanyola del Vallès Barcelona Spain
Abstract
AbstractInterpreting morphological variation within the early hominin fossil record is particularly challenging. Apart from the fact that there is no absolute threshold for defining species boundaries in palaeontology, the degree of variation related to sexual dimorphism, temporal depth, geographic variation or ontogeny is difficult to appreciate in a fossil taxon mainly represented by fragmentary specimens, and such variation could easily be conflated with taxonomic diversity. One of the most emblematic examples in paleoanthropology is the Australopithecus assemblage from the Sterkfontein Caves in South Africa. Whereas some studies support the presence of multiple Australopithecus species at Sterkfontein, others explore alternative hypotheses to explain the morphological variation within the hominin assemblage. In this review, I briefly summarize the ongoing debates surrounding the interpretation of morphological variation at Sterkfontein Member 4 before exploring two promising avenues that would deserve specific attention in the future, that is, temporal depth and nonhuman primate diversity.
Subject
Anthropology,General Medicine
Cited by
2 articles.
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