title: First early hominin from central Africa (Ishango, Democratic Republic of Congo).
abstract: Despite uncontested evidence for fossils belonging to the early hominin genus Australopithecus in East Africa from at least 4.2 million years ago (Ma), and from Chad by 3.5 Ma, thus far there has been no convincing evidence of Australopithecus, Paranthropus or early Homo from the western (Albertine) branch of the Rift Valley. Here we report the discovery of an isolated upper molar (#Ish25) from the Western Rift Valley site of Ishango in Central Africa in a derived context, overlying beds dated to between ca. 2.6 to 2.0 Ma. We used µCT imaging to compare its external and internal macro-morphology to upper molars of australopiths, and fossil and recent Homo. We show that the size and shape of the enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) surface discriminate between Plio-Pleistocene and post-Lower Pleistocene hominins, and that the Ishango molar clusters with australopiths and early Homo from East and southern Africa. A reassessment of the archaeological context of the specimen is consistent with the morphological evidence and suggest that early hominins were occupying this region by at least 2 Ma.
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Crevecoeur
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, United Kingdom ; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Matthew M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Skinner
authors.affiliation: Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, New York, United States of America ; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Shara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gunz
authors.affiliation: Laboratori di Antropologia, Dipartimento di Biologia Evoluzionistica "Leo Pardi", Università di Firenze, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bortoluzzi
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America.
authors.forename: Alison S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.affiliation: Geological Survey of Belgium, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Burlet
authors.affiliation: Section of Prehistory and Archaeology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium.
authors.forename: Els
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cornelissen
authors.affiliation: Microtomography CT Research Group, University of Antwerp, Wilrijk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Clerck
authors.affiliation: Unité Mixte de Recherche 5199, de la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie (UMR 5199 - PACEA), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Université de Bordeaux, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maureille
authors.affiliation: Anthropology and Prehistory, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Semal
authors.affiliation: Geological Survey of Belgium, Royal Belgian Institute for Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium.
authors.forename: Yves
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Vanbrabant
authors.affiliation: Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington DC, United States of America.
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D015023:Democratic Republic of the Congo; D005580:Fossils; D005843:Geography; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*