title: Metric and geometric morphometric analysis of new hominin fossils from Maba (Guangdong, China).
abstract: We present an analysis of a set of previously unreported hominin fossils from Maba (Guangdong, China), a cave site that is best known for the presence of a partial hominin cranium currently assigned as mid-Pleistocene Homo and that has been traditionally dated to around the Middle-Late Pleistocene transition. A more recent set of Uranium series dates indicate that the Maba travertine may date to >237 ka (thousands of years ago), as opposed to the original U-series date, which placed Maba at 135-129 ka. The fossils under study include five upper first and second molars and a partial left mandible with a socketed m3, all recovered from different parts of the site than the cranium or the dated sediments. The results of our metric and 2D geometric morphometric ('GM') study suggest that the upper first molars are likely from modern humans, suggesting a more recent origin. The upper second molars align more closely with modern humans, though the minimum spanning tree from the 2D GM analysis also connects Maba to Homo neanderthalensis. The patterning in the M2s is not as clear as with the M1s. The m3 and partial mandible are morphometrically intermediate between Holocene modern humans and older Homo sapiens. However, a minimum spanning tree indicates that both the partial mandible and m3 align most closely with Holocene modern humans, and they also may be substantially younger than the cranium. Because questions exist regarding the context and the relationship of the dated travertine with the hominin fossils, we suggest caution is warranted in interpreting the Maba specimens.
authors.affiliation: Site Museum of Maba Hominin, Qujiang District, Shaoguan City, Guangdong 512100, PR China.
authors.forename: Dongfang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 2424 Maile Way, Saunders Hall 346, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA. Electronic address: cjbae@hawaii.edu.
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: College of Geographical Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, PR China.
authors.forename: Guanjun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA; Department of Anthropology, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York and New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, USA. Electronic address: eric.delson@lehman.cuny.edu.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Delson
authors.affiliation: Central Identification Laboratory, Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, 310 Worchester Avenue, Hickam AFB, HI 96853, USA.
authors.forename: Jennie J H
authors.initials: JJH
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, Lehman College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York and New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Guangzhou 510075, PR China.
authors.forename: Licheng
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D002681:China; D002910:Chronology as Topic; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008334:Mandible / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008963:Molar / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D059125:Neanderthals / Q000033:anatomy & histology*
keywords: Asia; Dentition; Homo heidelbergensis; Mid-Pleistocene Homo (mPH); Middle-Late Pleistocene; ‘Archaic Homo sapiens’