TY - JOUR
T1 - Dentognathic remains of Australopithecus afarensis from Nefuraytu (Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia)
T2 - Comparative description, geology, and paleoecological context
AU - Haile-Selassie, Yohannes
AU - Melillo, Stephanie M.
AU - Levin, Naomi E.
AU - Saylor, Beverly Z.
AU - Deino, Alan
AU - Mundil, Ronald
AU - Scott, Gary
AU - Alene, Mulugeta
AU - Gibert, Luis
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Ethiopian government and the Afar Regional State of Ethiopia for permission to conduct field and laboratory research; the Afar people of the Woranso-Mille area for their support in the field; Roger Mundry for statistical program; and William H. Kimbel for access to the original specimens of Au. afarensis . We would like to also thank Ahmed Elema for finding the Nefuraytu mandible and all those who were involved in its recovery. Comments from two anonymous reviewers and those of editor Dr. Mike Plavcan greatly improved the manuscript. This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation ( BCS-0234320 , BCS-0321893 , BCS-0542037 and BCS-1124705 ), L.S.B. Leakey Foundation , the National Geographic Society , and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History . AD would like to acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation (awards # 1322017 and 1125157 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2016/11/1
Y1 - 2016/11/1
N2 - Australopithecus afarensis is the best-known and most dimorphic species in the early hominin fossil record. Here, we present a comparative description of new fossil specimens of Au. afarensis from Nefuraytu, a 3.330–3.207 million-years-old fossil collection area in the Woranso-Mille study area, central Afar, Ethiopia. These specimens include NFR-VP-1/29, one of the most complete mandibles assigned to the species thus far and among the largest mandibles attributed to Au. afarensis, likely representing a male individual. NFR-VP-1/29 retains almost all of the distinctive archaic features documented for Au. afarensis. These features include a posteriorly sloping symphysis, a low and rounded basally set inferior transverse torus, anterosuperiorly opening mental foramen, a lateral corpus hollow bound anteriorly by the C/P3 jugae and posteriorly by the lateral prominence, and the ascending ramus arising high on the corpus. Dental morphology and metrics of the Nefuraytu specimens also falls within the range of Au. afarensis. The presence of this species at Woranso-Mille between 3.330 and 3.207 million years ago confirms the existence of this species in the area in close spatial and temporal proximity to other middle Pliocene hominin taxa such as the one represented by the Burtele foot (BRT-VP-2/73) and the recently named species Australopithecus deyiremeda. This has important implications for our understanding of middle Pliocene hominin diversity.
AB - Australopithecus afarensis is the best-known and most dimorphic species in the early hominin fossil record. Here, we present a comparative description of new fossil specimens of Au. afarensis from Nefuraytu, a 3.330–3.207 million-years-old fossil collection area in the Woranso-Mille study area, central Afar, Ethiopia. These specimens include NFR-VP-1/29, one of the most complete mandibles assigned to the species thus far and among the largest mandibles attributed to Au. afarensis, likely representing a male individual. NFR-VP-1/29 retains almost all of the distinctive archaic features documented for Au. afarensis. These features include a posteriorly sloping symphysis, a low and rounded basally set inferior transverse torus, anterosuperiorly opening mental foramen, a lateral corpus hollow bound anteriorly by the C/P3 jugae and posteriorly by the lateral prominence, and the ascending ramus arising high on the corpus. Dental morphology and metrics of the Nefuraytu specimens also falls within the range of Au. afarensis. The presence of this species at Woranso-Mille between 3.330 and 3.207 million years ago confirms the existence of this species in the area in close spatial and temporal proximity to other middle Pliocene hominin taxa such as the one represented by the Burtele foot (BRT-VP-2/73) and the recently named species Australopithecus deyiremeda. This has important implications for our understanding of middle Pliocene hominin diversity.
KW - Australopithecus afarensis
KW - Ethiopia
KW - Hominin diversity
KW - Nefuraytu
KW - Woranso-Mille
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84989220540&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84989220540&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.08.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.08.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 27765148
AN - SCOPUS:84989220540
SN - 0047-2484
VL - 100
SP - 35
EP - 53
JO - Journal of human evolution
JF - Journal of human evolution
ER -