Abstract
The skull ofHomo antiquus Ferguson, 1984, represented by cranial remains of a fossilized skeleton, A.L. 288-1, from the Plio/Pleistocene of Hadar in Ethiopia, is reconstructed and the procedure described. Re-evaluation of the skull shows that it is apparently the smallest, normal, unequivocal hominid skull known; and that its cranial morphology is not Australopithecine, but Hominine.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bass, W. M., 1971.Human Osteology: A Laboratory and Field Manual of the Human Skeleton. Missouri Archaeological Soc., Columbia.
Broom, R., 1938. The Pleistocene anthropoid apes of South Africa.Nature (London), 142: 377–379.
Brown, F. H., 1982. Tulu Bor Tuff at Koobi Fora correlated with the Sidi Hakoma Tuff at Hadar,Nature (London), 300: 631–633.
Drennan, M. R., 1931. Pedomorphism in the pre-Bushman skull.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 16: 203–210.
Enlow, D. H., 1982.Handbook of Facial Growth. Saunders, Philadelphia.
Ferguson, W. W., 1983. An alternative interpretation of “Australopithecus afarensis” fossil material,Primates, 24: 397–409.
, 1984. Revision of fossil hominid jaws from the Plio/Pleistocene of Hadar in Ethiopia, including a new species of the genusHomo (Hominoidea: Homininae).Primates, 25: 519–529.
Holloway, R. L., 1978. Problems of brain endocast interpretation and African hominid evolution. In:Early Hominids in Africa,C. Jolly (ed.), Duckworth, London, pp. 598.
Johanson, D. C., 1976. Ethiopia yields first “family” of man.Nat. Geograph., 150: 790–811.
, 1978. A new species of manAustralopithecus afarensis from eastern Africa stimulates major revisions in understanding human origins.Further Evidence, 1(2): 6–9.
&M. Edey, 1981.Lucy, the Beginnings of Humankind. Simon & Schuster, New York.
,C. O. Lovejoy, W. H. Kimbel, T. D. White, S. C. Ward, M. E. Bush, B. M. Latimer, &Y. Coppens, 1982. Morphology of the Pliocene partial hominid skeleton (A.L. 288-1) from the Hadar formation, Ethiopia.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 57: 403–451.
&T. D. White, 1979. A systematic assessment of early African hominids.Science, 203(4378): 321–330.
, &Y. Coppens, 1978. A new species of the genusAustralopithecus (Primates: Hominidae) from the Pliocene of eastern Africa.Kirtlandia, 28: 1–14.
Keith, A., 1914. The reconstruction of fossil human skulls.J. Roy. Anthropol. Inst., 44: 12–31.
Kimbel, W. H., 1981.The Story Behind the Skull. Odyssey, Boston.
,D. C. Johanson, &Y. Coppens, 1982. Pliocene hominid cranial remains from the Hadar Formation, Ethiopia.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 57: 435–499.
&T. D. White, 1980. A reconstruction of the adult cranium ofAustralopithecus afarensis.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 52: 244.
, &D. C. Johanson, 1984. Cranial morphology ofAustralopithecus afarensis: a comparative study based on a composite reconstruction of the adult skull.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 64: 337–388.
Leakey, M. D., R. L. Hay, G. H. Curtis, M. K. Drake, &T. D. White, 1976. Fossil hominids from the Laetoli Beds.Nature (London), 262: 460–466.
Le Gros Clark, W. E., 1955.The Fossil Evidence of Human Evolution: An Introduction to the Study of Palaeo-anthropology. Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Olson, T. R., 1985. Hadar formation hominids cranial morphology. In:Ancestors: The Hard Evidence,E. Delson (ed.), Alan R. Liss, New York, pp. 116–117.
Pilbeam, D., 1972.The Ascent of Man, an Introduction to Human Evolution. Macmillan, New York.
Rak, Y., 1983.The Australopithecine Face. Academic Press, New York.
Reader, J., 1981.Missing Links, the Hunt for Earliest Man. Little, Brown, & Co., Boston.
Roberts, D. F., 1953. Body weight, race and climate.Amer. J. Phys. Anthropol., 11: 533–558.
Schmid, P., 1983. Eine Rekonstruktion des Skelettes von A.L. 288-1 (Hadar) und deren Konsequenzen.Folia Primatol., 40: 283–306.
Scott, J. H., 1963. Factors determining skull form in primates.Symp. Zool. Soc. Lond., No. 10, pp. 17–34.
Straus, W. J., Jr., 1949. The riddle of man's ancestry. In:Ideas on Human Evolution. Selected Essays 1949–61,W. Howells (ed.), Atheneum, New York, pp. 69–104.
Tobias, P. V., 1980. “Australopithecus afarensis” andA. africanus: critique and an alternative hypothesis.Paleont. Afr., 23: 1–17.
, 1981. The emergence of man in Africa and beyond.Phil. Trans. R. Soc. London, B292, 43–56.
von Koenigswald, G. H. R., 1956.Meeting Prehistoric Man. Harper, New York.
Washburn, S. L. &R. Moore, 1974.Ape into Human, A Study of Human Evolution. Little, Brown, & Co., Boston.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Ferguson, W.W. Reconstruction and re-evaluation of the skull ofHomo antiquus (hominoidea: Homininae) from Hadar. Primates 28, 377–391 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381020
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02381020