Associated ilium and femur from Koobi Fora, Kenya, and postcranial diversity in early Homo.
During the evolution of hominins, it is generally accepted that there was a shift in postcranial morphology between Australopithecus and the genus Homo. Given the scarcity of associated remains of early Homo, however, relatively little is known about early Homo postcranial morphology. There are hints of postcranial diversity among species, but our knowledge of the nature and extent of potential differences is limited. Here we present a new associated partial ilium and femur from Koobi Fora, Kenya, dating to 1.9 Ma (millions of years ago) that is clearly attributable to the genus Homo but documents a pattern of morphology not seen in eastern African early Homo erectus. The ilium and proximal femur share distinctive anatomy found only in Homo. However, the geometry of the femoral midshaft and contour of the pelvic inlet do not resemble that of any specimens attributed to H. erectus from eastern Africa. This new fossil confirms the presence of at least two postcranial morphotypes within early Homo, and documents diversity in postcranial morphology among early Homo species that may reflect underlying body form and/or adaptive differences.
Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA. Electronic address: wardcv@missouri.edu.
Carol V
CV
Ward
Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA.
Craig S
CS
Feibel
Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, NY 11794, USA.
Ashley S
AS
Hammond
Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, NY 11794, USA; Turkana Basin Institute, P.O. Box 24926, Nairobi, Kenya.
Louise N
LN
Leakey
Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
Elizabeth A
EA
Moffett
Department of Anthropology, 330 Old Main, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
J Michael
JM
Plavcan
School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NZ, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
Matthew M
MM
Skinner
Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
Fred
F
Spoor
Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, NY 11794, USA; Turkana Basin Institute, P.O. Box 24926, Nairobi, Kenya.
Meave G
MG
Leakey
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005580:Fossils / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007085:Ilium / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D007630:Kenya
Early Pleistocene; Eastern Africa; Hominin; Pelvis; Postcrania