Abstract
This paper attempts to quantify the morphological difference between fossil and living species of hominoids. The comparison is based upon a balanced list of craniodental characters corrected for size (Wood & Chamberlain, 1986). The conclusions are: craniodentally the australopithecine species are a unique and rather uniform group, much nearer to the great apes than to humans; overall, their skull and dentition do not resemble the human more than the chimpanzee’s do.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bown T.M., Holroyd P.A. and Rose K.D., 1994. Mammal extinctions, body size, and paleotemperature.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 91: 10403–6.
Du Brul, E.L., 1977. Early hominid feeding mechanisms.American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 47: 305–320.
Edelstein S.J., 1987. An alternative paradigm for hominoid evolution.Human Evolution, 2: 169–174.
Ferguson W.W., 1989. A new species of the genusAustralopithecus Primates-Hominidae from the Plio/ Pleistocene deposits West of Lake Turkana in Kenya.Primates, 30: 223–232.
Gibbs, H.L. and Grant P.R., 1987. Oscillating selection on Darwin’s finches.Nature, 327: 511–513.
Goodman M., 1982. Biomolecular evidence on human origins from the standpoint of Darwinian theory.Human Biology, 54: 247–264.
Gribbin J. and Cherfas J., 1983.The Monkey Puzzle. London: Triad.
Hasegawa M., Kishino H. and Yano T., 1985. Dating of the human-ape splitting by a molecular clock of mitochondrial DNA.Journal of Molecular Evolution, 2: 160–174.
Horai S., Hayasaka K., Kondo R., Tsugane K. and Takahata N., 1995. Recent African origin of modern humans revealed by complete sequences of hominoid mitochondrial DNAs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 92: 532–536.
Kleindienst M.R., 1975. On new perspectives on ape and human evolution.Current Anthropology, 16: 644–646.
Oxnard C.E., 1984.The Order of Man. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Puech P.-F., 1992. Microwear studies of early African hominid teeth.Scanning Microscopy, 6: 1083–1088.
Seger J., 1987. El Niño and Darwin’s finches.Nature, 327: 461.
Silson R.G., 1988.Additive Genes in Evolution and Selection. Tring: Greenfield Pubblications
Verhaegen M., 1990. African ape ancestry.Human Evolution, 5: 295–297.
Verhaegen M., 1992. Did robust australopithecines partly feed on hard parts of Gramineae?Human Evolution, 7: 63–64.
Verhaegen M., 1993. Aquaticversus savanna: comparative and paleo-environmental evidence.Nutrition and Health, 9: 165–191.
Verhaegen M., 1994. Australopithecines: ancestors of the African apes?Human Evolution, 9: 121–139.
White T.D. and Harris J.M., 1977. Suid evolution and correlation of African hominid localities.Science, 198: 13–21.
Wood B.A. and Chamberlain A.T., 1986.Australopithecus: grade or clade? In (B.A. Wood, L. Martin and P. Andrews, eds).Major Topics in Primate and Human Evolution, pp. 220–248, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Verhaegen, M. Morphological distance between australopithecine, human and ape skulls. Hum. Evol. 11, 35–41 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456987
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02456987