The Anterior Dentition Of Sivapithecus-parvada, With Comments On The Phylogenetic Significance Of Incisor Heteromorphy In Hominoidea
Anthropology; clade; dentition; east-africa; evolution; Evolutionary Biology; hominids; hominoid phylogenetics; incisors; kenya; middle miocene; miocene hominoid; orangutan; origin; pakistan; pongo; sivapithecus; specimens
A premaxillary fragment of Sivapithecus parvada preserving the germs of the right central and lateral incisors is described. The specimen was recovered in situ during excavation at locality Y311 in the upper Nagri Formation (ca. 9.2 m.y.a.) of the Siwalik Sequence, Potwar Plateau, Pakistan. The central incisor is approximately 35% larger than the next largest Sivapithecus incisor, in keeping with the very large size of S. parvada compared to other Sivapithecus species, and is exceptionally long mesiodistally in relation to its breadth. It is also morphologically distinct, having a sharply angled distal margin and a distinct lingual tubercle. However, previous descriptions of Sivapithecus upper central incisors as having a continuous lingual shelf are in some cases erroneous and ignore the morphological variation present in the sample. In several features of anterior tooth size, morphology and proportionality, S. parvada resembles Pongo more than do other species of Sivapithecus. The I1/I2 length ratio of the new specimen is 2.12, the largest size disparity reported for any fossil catarrhine, and greater than any single value in a large sample of Pongo pygmaeus. Very great size disparity between upper central and lateral incisors is widely considered to be a synapomorphy of the orang-utan lineage. We conclude, however, that descriptions of upper incisor size heteromorphy in Pongo have in general been exaggerated and have failed to recognize substantial differences in this character between Bornean and Sumatran orang-utans. We further conclude, based on examination of a variety of Miocene hominoids and other Miocene catarrhine primates, that the character of I1/I2 proportionality has little if any phylogenetic utility within Hominoidea.
Kelley J; Anwar M; McCollum M A; Ward S C
Journal of Human Evolution
1995
1995-06
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1995.1039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.1995.1039</a>
Earliest Homo
baringo; calibration; east; fossil hominids; kenya; pliocene; region; Science & Technology - Other Topics; turkana
THE origin of our own genus, Homo, has been tentatively correlated with worldwide climatic cooling documented at about 2.4 Myr (million years) (refs 1-5). It has also been conjectured that members of Homo made the first stone tools, currently dated at 2.6 - 2.4 Myr (refs 6-8). But fossil specimens clearly attributable to Homo before about 1.9 Myr have been lacking. In 1967 a fossil hominoid temporal bone (KNM-BC1) from the Chemeron Formation of Kenya was described as family Hominidae gen. et sp. indet. 9. Although a surface find, its provenance within site JM85 (BPRP site K002) was established and a stratigraphic section provided indicating the specimen's position 9. This evidence has been affirmed (see for example refs 10-12) but the exact age of the fossil was never determined, and the absence of suitable comparative hominid material has precluded a more definitive taxonomic assignment. Here we present Ar-40/Ar-39 age determinations on material from the hominid site indicating an age of 2.4 Myr. In addition, comparative studies allow us to assign KNM-BC1 to the genus Homo, making it the earliest securely known fossil of our own genus found so far.
Hill A; Ward S; Deino A; Curtis G; Drake R
Nature
1992
1992-02
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1038/355719a0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1038/355719a0</a>
Anatomy And Age Of The Lothagam Mandible
Anthropology; baringo; dating; east-africa; Evolutionary Biology; faunal change; fossil hominids; hominidae; kenya; late miocene; lothagam; mandible; pliocene; tanzania
Hill A; Ward S; Brown B
Journal of Human Evolution
1992
1992-06
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2484(92)90079-o" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/0047-2484(92)90079-o</a>
New Cercopithecoids And A Hominoid From 12 Center Dot 5 Ma In The Tugen Hills Succession, Kenya
Anthropology; calibration; Cercopithecoidea; Evolutionary Biology; forest; fort-ternan; Hominoidea; kenya; maboko island; middle miocene; Miocene; Ngorora; ngorora formation; old-world monkey; origins; site; Tugen Hills; victoriapithecus
Hill A; Leakey M; Kingston J D; Ward S
Journal of Human Evolution
2002
2002-01
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2001.0518" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.2001.0518</a>
SUBNASAL MORPHOLOGICAL VARIATION IN EXTANT HOMINOIDS AND FOSSIL HOMINIDS
Anthropology; Evolutionary Biology; patterns; lake turkana; swartkrans formation; kenya; Homo; australopithecus; australopithecus-boisei; paranthropus; specimens; systematics; west
McCollum M A; Grine F E; Ward S C; Kimbel W H
Journal of Human Evolution
1993
1993-02
Journal Article or Conference Abstract Publication
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1993.1009" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.1993.1009</a>
South Turkwel: A new Pliocene hominid site in Kenya
1974-1977 collections; Anthropology; australopithecus-afarensis; ethiopia; evolution; Evolutionary Biology; functional-morphology; hadar formation; hand; hand bones; hominids; Kenya; koobi fora region; metacarpal; olduvai gorge; Pliocene; South Turkwel
New fossils discovered south of the Turkwel River in northern Kenya include an associated metacarpal, capitate, hamate, lunate, pedal phalanx, mandibular fragment, and teeth. These fossils probably date to around 3.5 m.y.a. Faunal information suggests that the environment at South Turkwel was predominantly bushland. The mandibular and dental remains are fragmentary, but the postcranial fossils are informative. Comparisons with Australopithecus, modern human, chimpanzee and gorilla hand bones suggest that the Turkwel hominid was most like Australopithecus afarensis and A. africanus. Carpometacarpal articulations are intermediate between those of modern humans and African apes, suggesting enhanced gripping capabilities compared with extant apes. The hamulus was strikingly large, similar in proportion only to Neandertals and some gorillas, suggesting the presence of powerful forearms and hands. There are no indicators of adaptations to knuckle-walking or suspensory locomotion in the hand, and the pedal phalanx suggests that this hominid was habitually bipedal. (C) 1999 Academic Press.
Ward C V; Leakey M G; Brown B; Brown F; Harris J; Walker A
Journal of Human Evolution
1999
1999-01
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.1998.0262" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.1998.0262</a>
EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE ROBUST AUSTRALOPITHECINES - GRINE,FE
Anthropology; boisei; brain; east-africa; Evolutionary Biology; growth; hominids; Homo; Kenya; miocene; neogene
Ward S C
Journal of Human Evolution
1991
1991-12
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2484(91)90097-f" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1016/0047-2484(91)90097-f</a>
Preliminary description of the Equatorius africanus partial skeleton (KNM-TH 28860) from Kipsaramon, Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya
Anthropology; Equatorius africanus; evolution; Evolutionary Biology; genus; hominoid; Kenya; Kipsaramon; Middle Miocene; Middle Miocene; Muruyur; phylogenetic affinities; proconsul-nyanzae; rusinga-island; site
A partial skeleton was recovered from middle Miocene Muruyur sediments near Kipsaramon in the Tugen Hills, Baringo District, Kenya. The specimen, representing much of the upper skeleton, comes from locality BPRP#122 dated between 15(.)58 Ma and 15(.)36 Ma. It is referable to the middle Miocene hominoid taxon Equatorius africanus. Preliminary descriptions of the partial skeleton are provided. While the anatomy of the wrist, thorax and hindlimb in Equatorius is similar to that of Afropithecus and Proconsul, the morphology of the new skeleton confirms earlier interpretations of greater terrestriality in Equatorius. (C) 2002 Academic Press.
Sherwood R J; Ward S; Hill A; Duren D L; Brown B; Downs W
Journal of Human Evolution
2002
2002-01
Journal Article
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2001.0502" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.2001.0502</a>
Equatorius: a new hominoid genus from the Middle Miocene of Kenya.
*Fossils; Ancient; Animals; Bone and Bones/anatomy & histology; Dentition; History; Hominidae/anatomy & histology/*classification; Humans; Kenya; Mandible/anatomy & histology; Paleodontology; Skeleton; Terminology as Topic; Tooth/anatomy & histology
A partial hominoid skeleton just older than 15 million years from sediments in the Tugen Hills of north central Kenya mandates a revision of the hominoid genus Kenyapithecus, a possible early member of the great ape-human clade. The Tugen Hills specimen represents a new genus, which also incorporates all material previously referable to Kenyapithecus africanus. The new taxon is derived with respect to earlier Miocene hominoids but is primitive with respect to the younger species Kenyapithecus wickeri and therefore is a late member of the stem hominoid radiation in the East African Miocene.
Ward S; Brown B; Hill A; Kelley J; Downs W
Science (New York, N.Y.)
1999
1999-08
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.285.5432.1382" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1126/science.285.5432.1382</a>
New hominids from the Lake Turkana Basin, Kenya.
*Fossils; Animals; Femur/physiology; Geologic Sediments; Hominidae/*physiology; Humans; Kenya; Mandible/physiology; Tibia/*physiology
New hominid fossils from the Lake Turkana Basin range in age from ca. 3.35 to ca. 1.0 Ma. Those recovered from sediments stratigraphically just above the Tulu Bor Tuff in the Lomekwi Member of the Nachukui Formation are best attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. This species is rare in Kenya, probably because of the scarcity of sediments deposited during its time span. Younger specimens are referable either to the megadont A. boisei or early Homo. Collectively the new fossils promote further understanding of morphological variation in East African Plio-Pleistocene hominids.
Brown B; Brown F H; Walker A
Journal of human evolution
2001
2001-07
Article information provided for research and reference use only. All rights are retained by the journal listed under publisher and/or the creator(s).
<a href="http://doi.org/10.1006/jhev.2001.0476" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">10.1006/jhev.2001.0476</a>