Discovery of a Homo sp. tooth associated with a mammalian cave fauna of Late Middle Pleistocene age, Northern Thailand

• Published in: Journal of human evolution Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 47 - 54
• Main Authors: TOUGARD, C, JAEGER, J.-J, CHAIMANEE, Y, SUTEETHORN, V, TRIAMWICHANON, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier 01.07.1998
• Subjects: Animals; Asia; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Dentition; Earth Sciences; Far East; Fauna; Fossils; Hominidae - anatomy & histology; Human evolution; Humans; Life Sciences; Palaeolithic and mesolithic; Paleodontology; Paleontology; Physical anthropology; Populations and Evolution; Prehistory and protohistory; Sciences of the Universe; Thailand; Tooth - anatomy & histology; Thailand; Asia; Human palaeontology; Anthropology; Tooth; Hominid; Middle Pleistocene; Homo sp; Homo sapiens; Southeast Asia; Homo erectus; Thailand
• ISSN: 0047-2484; 1095-8606
• DOI: 10.1006/jhev.1998.0221

In the context of a Thai-French paleontological project, a single human tooth, a right upper fourth premolar, has been discovered in Northern Thailand among mammalian fossil remains excavated from the "Thum Wiman Nakin" cave. Based on the fauna associated with the human tooth and the Uranium/Thorium datings from the overlying calcite beds, we attribute this site to the Late Middle Pleistocene. The human tooth was compared with teeth of Chinese and Javanese Homo erectus, Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens sapiens as well as teeth of apes (Orang-utan). The tooth has archaic features of the crown which are similar to Homo erectus. It also has derived features of the root which makes it aligns with Neanderthals and modern humans. Consequently, it has been tentatively attributed to Homo sp. Homo remains have not been previously reported from Thailand, and the specimen described here is therefore the first and oldest fossil human remain from this country.