An enlarged postcranial sample confirms Australopithecus afarensis dimorphism was similar to modern humans

In a previous study, we introduced the template method as a means of enlarging the Australopithecus afarensis postcranial sample to more accurately estimate its skeletal dimorphism. Results indicated dimorphism to be largely comparable to that of Homo sapiens. Some have since argued that our results...

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Published inPhilosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B. Biological sciences Vol. 365; no. 1556; pp. 3355 - 3363
Main Authors Reno, Philip L., McCollum, Melanie A., Meindl, Richard S., Lovejoy, C. Owen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England The Royal Society 27.10.2010
Subjects
A.L. 333
Animals
Australopithecus
Bone and Bones - anatomy & histology
Chimpanzees
Computer Simulation
Estimation methods
Female
Fossils
Gorilla gorilla - anatomy & histology
Hominidae - anatomy & histology
Humans
Male
Male animals
Modelling
Monogamy
Pan troglodytes - anatomy & histology
Sex Characteristics
Sexual dimorphism
Skeletal Dimorphism
Skeleton
Specimens
Taphonomy
Taxa
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Summary:In a previous study, we introduced the template method as a means of enlarging the Australopithecus afarensis postcranial sample to more accurately estimate its skeletal dimorphism. Results indicated dimorphism to be largely comparable to that of Homo sapiens. Some have since argued that our results were biased by artificial homogeneity in our Au. afarensis sample. Here we report the results from inclusion of 12 additional, newly reported, specimens. The results are consistent with those of our original study and with the hypothesis that early hominid demographic success derived from a reproductive strategy involving male provisioning of pair-bonded females.
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Discussion Meeting issue 'The first four million years of human evolution' organized and edited by Alan Walker and Chris Stringer
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ISSN:0962-8436
1471-2970
DOI:10.1098/rstb.2010.0086