Showing papers in "Journal of Human Evolution in 1998"

TL;DR: If Toba caused the bottlenecks, then modern human races may have differentiated abruptly, only 70 thousand years ago, and high genetic diversity in modern Africans may reflect a less severe bottleneck rather than earlier population growth.

TL;DR: Data derived from the use of enamel microstructures in age estimation techniques and growth and development studies, are suggested to be valid, and statistically validate the uniformity hypothesis within the anterior dentition.

TL;DR: The interpretation of the palaeoenvironments is that the middle Bed-I faunas indicate a very rich closed woodland environment, richer than any part of the present-day savanna biome in Africa, changing to less rich woodland in upperBed-I with a trend towards more open and seasonal woodlands at the top of the series.

TL;DR: This work supports the model of Napier that identified morphological correlates of precision and power grasping in the hands of extant primates and in early hominid hand bones, and questions both the underlying rationale and attempts to identify more subtle aspects of precision grasping, based on present evidence.

TL;DR: New discoveries of A. africanus fossils from Member 4 Sterkfontein reveal a body form quite unlike earlier Australopithecus species, and postcranial material reveals an apparently primitive morphology of relatively large forelimb and small hindlimb joints resembling more the pongid than the human pattern.

TL;DR: The morphology and cephalometric analysis support the assignment of this specimen to a Stage 2 "pre-Neandertal" group (e.g., Steinheim, Swanscombe, and Atapuerca [SH site]).

TL;DR: This study supports the notion that species with more specialized genitalia evolved from less derived taxa, and in general is in agreement with the dispersal scenarios proposed by Fooden (1980) and Delson ( 1980) for the macaques.

TL;DR: The activity of the superficial masseter and anterior temporalis muscles in humans was quantified during high magnitude bite force production at points along the tooth row and indicate that there are substantial changes in muscle activity with bite point, and that the standard lever model is therefore an incomplete description of masticatory force production.

TL;DR: A large data set enables the adapid-anthropoid hypothesis to be rejected, and unites Tarsius, Anthropoidea and Omomyiformes within a clade, Haplorhini, however, relationships among these three taxa cannot be convincingly resolved at present.

TL;DR: P predictive dynamic modelling is used to assess the mechanical effectiveness of AL-288-1 under both hypotheses, on the basis of data on segment proportions from the literature, and finds AL-272-1's proportions are incompatible with the kinematics of chimpanzee bipedalism, but compatible with either erect or "bent-hip, bent-knee" human gait.

TL;DR: It seems that chimpanzee teeth have a greatly reduced time for root growth before emergence occurs and that the major differences between Homo sapiens and Pan lie in the first part of the root formation rather than in the total period of crown formation.

TL;DR: The onset of enamel formation and crown formation time have been established by histological analysis of the complete dentition in a medieval French individual by means of measured and accentuated striae to construct a chart of the chronology of tooth development.

TL;DR: The conclusion is that there is no reliable evidence for scavenging by Neandertals or early modern humans.

TL;DR: Qualitative and quantitative comparative analyses of Plio-Pleistocene through recent samples suggest that, of all modern populations, Sub-Saharan Africans are the least derived dentally from an ancestral hominid state; this conclusion, together with data on intra- and inter-population variability and divergence, may help provide new evidence in the search for modern human origins.

TL;DR: The geometry of the enamel growth tracks and their chronological significance are valuable tools in chronological mapping of dental development and for understanding temporal and spatial patterns in tooth morphogenesis, and the taxonomic significance of prism packing patterns, prism decussation and enamel thickness should be clarified through further systematic descriptive research.

TL;DR: This paper presented a preliminary predictive model of Oldowan stone artefact and scavenged larger mammal bone assemblages for 11 landscape facets modeled earlier to occur across a large portion of the paleo-Olduvai Basin during lowermost Bed II times.

TL;DR: Comparison of hominoid enamel thicknesses with that in anthropoids led to the conclusion that Hylobates has enamel of average thickness, Homo has thick enamel and Gorilla has thin enamel, while Pan and Pongo had average or thin Enamel, depending on tooth type.

TL;DR: A method for testing two competing hypotheses about the causes of bear mortality in hibernation contexts, suggesting that age-dependent deaths resulted from non-violent causes (principally starvation), and that bears' presence in a cave was not linked in time to human activities there.

TL;DR: Proconsul emerges overall as hominoid-like in its enamel and dentine microstructure and as most similar to Pongo but with some features shared with Pan and Homo.

TL;DR: Detailed description and comparative morphometric analysis of the australopithecine thoracolumbar vertebral series Stw-H8/H41 and examines spinal mechanics in early hominids confirm that the morphology of the lower spine in australipithecines has no modern analogue in its entirety.

TL;DR: Results of these analyses are used to argue that the combination of Middle and Upper Paleolithic elements in the upper G complex at Vindija is not necessarily the result of geological mixing but may well represent a natural cultural assemblage.

TL;DR: It is proposed that the more equal distributional pattern in the non-human hominoids and atelines reflects less stereotypical, more generalized loading orientations.

TL;DR: Results indicate that Tabun 2 is best seen as part of the Near Eastern late archaic human lineage with only the mentum osseum and incisure shape indicating any approach to the Qafzeh-Skhul humans within thenear Eastern Middle Paleolithic.

TL;DR: The results demonstrate that maxillary molars attributed to Australopithecus africanus possess larger Carabelli features and thinner enamel along the lingual wall of the protocone than do specimens attributed to Paranthropus robustus from Swartkrans and Kromdraai.

TL;DR: It may be important to consider the consequences of neonatal dimorphism for a variety of research questions related to maternal investment, life history, postnatal growth, and the relationship between neonatal size and adult female pelvic dimensions, both in extant and in extinct primates.

TL;DR: The results of this study suggest that any one of the methods outlined here may give equivalent estimates of cuspal enamel formation if suitable incremental markings exist in the region being studied.

TL;DR: A combined ESR/U-series age estimate of 412 +/- 25 ka pinpoints the deposition of the faunal remains to the time of the transition between oxygen isotope stages 12 and 11, which implies that the advanced Hexian Homo erectus occurred at a similar time as the less advanced Homo erectu specimens at Locality 1 at Zhoukoudian (LI-LIII).

TL;DR: It is postulated that the extension rate controls prism shape by influencing the morphology of the Tomes process pits during their initial formation, and enamel thickness is negatively correlated with extension rate among primates.

TL;DR: The elevated robusticity of the specimen indicates exceptional diaphyseal strength and/or cold adapted body proportions paralleling those of the Neanderthals, and can only definitely be assigned to non-modern Homo sp.

TL;DR: In this article, relative muscle mass data for the hindlimb of four prosimian leapers, representing indriids as well as the small-bodied tarsiers and galagos, were determined.