Morphometric analysis of molars in a <scp>M</scp>iddle <scp>P</scp>leistocene population shows a mosaic of ‘modern’ and <scp>N</scp>eanderthal features

Martinón‐Torres, María; Spěváčková, Petra; Gracia-Téllez, Ana; Martı́nez, Ignacio; Bruner, Emiliano; Arsuaga, Juan Luís; Castro, José Marı́a Bermúdez de

doi:10.1111/joa.12090

Cited by 29 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 74 publications

(226 reference statements)

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“…The relative size of the hypocone has not increased to the size found in Neanderthals, but the ratio of occlusal polygon area to crown base area is low, as seen in Neanderthals. In addition, in both Atapuerca‐SH and Pontnewydd the protocone is relatively large (data for Atapuerca‐SH taken from Martinón‐Torres et al ., ).…”

Section: Metrical and Morphological Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The morphological affinities of the Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth from Pontnewydd Cave, Wales

Compton

Stringer

2015

J Quaternary Science

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Seventeen Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth were excavated at Pontnewydd Cave in North Wales between 1980 and 1995 with a probable age of ∼225 ka, associated with handaxe and levallois artefacts. Their Neanderthal characteristics and their affinities with other European Middle Pleistocene teeth and the major sites of Atapuerca‐SH in Spain and Krapina in Croatia are explored. The Pontnewydd teeth are shown to have a marked similarity to those of Atapuerca‐SH, more pronounced than similarities to teeth from other European Middle Pleistocene sites, and to belong in the pre‐Neanderthal stage of Neanderthal evolution. Distinct dental morphological differences between later European Middle Pleistocene specimens, together with those from Atapuerca‐SH, and European Middle Pleistocene Homo heidelbergensis specimens are identified, contradicting the view that both the Pontnewydd and the Atapuerca‐SH fossils belong in that species. Additionally, the similarities in dental morphology between European and non‐European H. heidelbergensis specimens are demonstrated. We argue that when sites are grouped together for comparative purposes this should be done on morphological grounds, and not by apparent date, in view of the possible contemporaneity of European Middle Pleistocene sites that exhibit different degrees of Neanderthal affinities.

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Section: Metrical and Morphological Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“… Homo erectus : Bailey () (Zhoukoudian L140, KNM‐WT15000, KNM‐ER 807); Atapuerca‐SH: Martinón‐Torres et al . (); Pontnewydd: Compton and Stringer (); Neanderthal: Bailey et al . () (sample includes Pontnewydd).…”

Section: Metrical and Morphological Comparisonsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The morphological affinities of the Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth from Pontnewydd Cave, Wales

Compton

Stringer

2015

J Quaternary Science

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“…The hypocone size tends to decrease throughout hominin evolution [41] , [72] . Generally speaking, Australopithecus and Early and Middle Pleistocene Homo tend to have large or very large hypocones ( [14] , [18] , [72] , [73] ; but see [74] ). The large hypocone exhibited by the Hexian M 1 fits within the typical morphologies of the Middle Pleistocene fossils in general and in particular of those from East Asia.…”

Section: Comparative Morphology (See Also S4 Table In S1 Tementioning

confidence: 99%

Middle Pleistocene Hominin Teeth from Longtan Cave, Hexian, China

et al. 2014

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Excavations at the Longtan Cave, Hexian, Anhui Province of Eastern China, have yielded several hominin fossils including crania, mandibular fragments, and teeth currently dated to 412±25 ka. While previous studies have focused on the cranial remains, there are no detailed analyses of the dental evidence. In this study, we provide metric and morphological descriptions and comparisons of ten teeth recovered from Hexian, including microcomputed tomography analyses. Our results indicate that the Hexian teeth are metrically and morphologically primitive and overlap with H. ergaster and East Asian Early and mid-Middle Pleistocene hominins in their large dimensions and occlusal complexities. However, the Hexian teeth differ from H. ergaster in features such as conspicuous vertical grooves on the labial/buccal surfaces of the central incisor and the upper premolar, the crown outline shapes of upper and lower molars and the numbers, shapes, and divergences of the roots. Despite their close geological ages, the Hexian teeth are also more primitive than Zhoukoudian specimens, and resemble Sangiran Early Pleistocene teeth. In addition, no typical Neanderthal features have been identified in the Hexian sample. Our study highlights the metrical and morphological primitive status of the Hexian sample in comparison to contemporaneous or even earlier populations of Asia. Based on this finding, we suggest that the primitive-derived gradients of the Asian hominins cannot be satisfactorily fitted along a chronological sequence, suggesting complex evolutionary scenarios with the coexistence and/or survival of different lineages in Eurasia. Hexian could represent the persistence in time of a H. erectus group that would have retained primitive features that were lost in other Asian populations such as Zhoukoudian or Panxian Dadong. Our study expands the metrical and morphological variations known for the East Asian hominins before the mid-Middle Pleistocene and warns about the possibility that the Asian hominin variability may have been taxonomically oversimplified.

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“…The remains from Fontana Ranuccio and Visogliano sample two human groups that lived in southwestern Europe during MIS 12, at a time approximately corresponding to the early appearance of the Neanderthal clade [ 19 – 22 ]. However, because of the degree of morphological diversity at the macro-regional scale displayed by the European Middle Pleistocene cranial and dental remains, discussions exist about the more likely anagenetic (linear) vs cladogenetic (splitting) evolutionary origin of this clade [ 19 , 22 – 26 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12) human dental remains from Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Italy. A comparative high resolution endostructural assessment

et al. 2018

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The penecontemporaneous Middle Pleistocene sites of Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), set c. 450 km apart in central and northeastern Italy, respectively, have yielded some among the oldest human fossil remains testifying to a peopling phase of the Italian Peninsula broadly during the glacial MIS 12, a stage associated with one among the harshest climatic conditions in the Northern hemisphere during the entire Quaternary period. Together with the large samples from Atapuerca Sima de los Huesos, Spain, and Caune de l’Arago at Tautavel, France, the remains from Fontana Ranuccio and Visogliano are among the few mid-Middle Pleistocene dental assemblages from Western Europe available for investigating the presence of an early Neanderthal signature in their inner structure. We applied two- three-dimensional techniques of virtual imaging and geometric morphometrics to the high-resolution X-ray microtomography record of the dental remains from these two Italian sites and compared the results to the evidence from a selected number of Pleistocene and extant human specimens/samples from Europe and North Africa. Depending on their preservation quality and on the degree of occlusal wear, we comparatively assessed: (i) the crown enamel and radicular dentine thickness topographic variation of a uniquely represented lower incisor; (ii) the lateral crown tissue proportions of premolars and molars; (iii) the enamel-dentine junction, and (iv) the pulp cavity morphology of all available specimens. Our analyses reveal in both samples a Neanderthal-like inner structural signal, for some aspects also resembling the condition shown by the contemporary assemblage from Atapuerca SH, and clearly distinct from the recent human figures. This study provides additional evidence indicating that an overall Neanderthal morphological dental template was preconfigured in Western Europe at least 430 to 450 ka ago.

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Morphometric analysis of molars in a Middle Pleistocene population shows a mosaic of ‘modern’ and Neanderthal features

Cited by 29 publications

References 74 publications

The morphological affinities of the Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth from Pontnewydd Cave, Wales

The morphological affinities of the Middle Pleistocene hominin teeth from Pontnewydd Cave, Wales

Middle Pleistocene Hominin Teeth from Longtan Cave, Hexian, China

The Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12) human dental remains from Fontana Ranuccio (Latium) and Visogliano (Friuli-Venezia Giulia), Italy. A comparative high resolution endostructural assessment

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