Journal
JOURNAL OF HUMAN EVOLUTION
Volume 78, Issue -, Pages 114-121Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.08.007
Keywords
Phalanges; Homo; Postcranial evolution; Western Europe
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Funding
- 'Direccion General de Investigacion' of the Spanish Ministry of 'Economia y Competitividad' [CGL2012-38434-C03-01/02/03]
- AGAUR project [2014-SGR-899]
- Consejeria de Cultura y Turismo de la Junta de Castilla y Leon
- European Social Fund (Fondo Social Europeo)
- Fundacion Atapuerca
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In this study, a new Early Pleistocene proximal hand phalanx (ATE9-2) from the Sima del Elefante cave site (TE Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain), ascribed to Homo sp., is presented and comparatively described in the context of the evolution of the genus Homo. The ATE9-2 specimen is especially important because of the paucity of hand bones in the human fossil record during the Early Pleistocene. The morphological and metrical analyses of the phalanx ATE9-2 indicate that there are no essential differences between it and comparator fossil specimens for the genus Homo after 1.3 Ma (millions of years ago). Similar to Sima de los Huesos and Neandertal specimens, ATE9-2 is a robust proximal hand phalanx, probably reflecting greater overall body robusticity in these populations or a higher gracility in modern humans. The age of level TE9 from Sima del Elefante and morphological and metrical studies of ATE9-2 suggest that the morphology of the proximal hand phalanges and, thus, the morphology of the hand could have remained stable over the last 1.2-1.3 Ma. Taking into account the evidence recently provided by a metacarpal from Kaitio (Kenya) from around 1.42 Ma, we argue that modern hand morphology is present in the genus Homo subsequent to Homo habilis. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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