Early hominids - Diversity or distortion?

Science

Volumn 299, Issue 5615, 2003, Pages 1994-1995+1997

  White, Tim ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

PRIMATE; SPECIES DIVERSITY;

EVOLUTION; FOSSIL; HOMINID; PALEOANTHROPOLOGY; PHYLOGENY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; REVIEW; SPECIES DIFFERENCE; SPECIES DIVERSITY; TAXONOMY; AFRICA; ANIMAL; ARTICLE; CLASSIFICATION; GENETIC SELECTION; GENETIC VARIABILITY; GENETICS; HISTOLOGY; HUMAN; NOMENCLATURE; PALEONTOLOGY; SKULL;

HOMINIDAE; PRIMATES; VERTEBRATA;

AFRICA; ANIMALS; EVOLUTION; FOSSILS; HOMINIDAE; HUMANS; PALEONTOLOGY; PHYLOGENY; SELECTION (GENETICS); SKULL; TERMINOLOGY; VARIATION (GENETICS);

EID: 0037470950     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.1078294     Document Type: Review

References (17)

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11. Even the linear transect across the comparatively well-preserved left maxillary region (bearing the largest bone fragments) contains about 24% matrix crack-fill versus original bone (measured across the canine jugum on four different photographs; see panel D, first figure).
12. Leakey et al.(8) reported mesiodistal and bucco[ingual measurements of 11.4 mm by 12.4 mm for the right upper second molar of KNM-ER 40000 but did not comment on how that measurement was derived. Even accepting the published estimates for the single distorted crown available, it is extremely unlikely that this tooth's size was significantly different from a small A. anamensis to A. afarensis sample.
13. For example, among the 60 oreodont crania examined (University of California Museum of Paleontology, John Day Formation), only two specimens showed stage 4 EMD, and only one reached stage 5 (n = 60, mean = 1.8, mode = 1).
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17. F. Spoor, M. Leakey, and the National Museums of Kenya granted permission to reprint the Nature cover photograph of KNM-WT 40000. I thank L. Jellema, L. Hlusko, Y. Haile-Selassie, O. Lovejoy, D. Brill, D. DeGusta, G. Suwa, B. Asfaw, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, and the University of California Museum of Paleontology for discussion and access to collections; F. Bibi for library, collections, and digital work; and H. Gilbert for comments and graphics.