| Title: |
A female Homo erectus pelvis from Gona, Ethiopia |
| Authors: |
Simpson, Scott W.; Quade, Jay; Levin, Naomi E.; Butler, Robert; Dupont-Nivet, Guillaume; Everett, Melanie; Semaw, Sileshi |
| Source: |
Science, 322(5904), 1089-1092, (2008-11-14) |
| Publisher Information: |
American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Publication Year: |
2008 |
| Subject Terms: |
archeo; hist |
| Description: |
Analyses of the KNM-WT 15000 Homo erectus juvenile male partial skeleton from Kenya concluded that this species had a tall thin body shape due to specialized locomotor and climatic adaptations. Moreover, it was concluded that H. erectus pelves were obstetrically restricted to birthing a small-brained altricial neonate. Here we describe a nearly complete early Pleistocene adult female H. erectus pelvis from the Busidima Formation of Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. This obstetrically capacious pelvis demonstrates that pelvic shape in H. erectus was evolving in response to increasing fetal brain size. This pelvis indicates that neither adaptations to tropical environments nor endurance running were primary selective factors in determining pelvis morphology in H. erectus during the early Pleistocene. ; © 2008 American Association for the Advancement of Science. 22 July 2008; accepted 14 October 2008. The Gona Project thanks the Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the National Museum of Ethiopia, for research permits and support. Support for this research was provided by the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation, National Geographic Society, Wenner-Gren Foundation, and NSF. We are grateful for the overall support of K. Shick and N. Toth (co-directors of CRAFT). We appreciate the hospitality of the Afar administration at Semera and our Afar colleagues from Eloha. We thank Y. Haile-Selassie and L. Jellema (Cleveland Museum of Natural History) for allowing us to examine materials in their care. Discussions with and comments by C. O. Lovejoy, R. G. Tague, Y. Haile-Selassie, G. Suwa, T. White, G. WoldeGabriel, B. Latimer, B. Asfaw, S. Standen, R. Byrne, and anonymous reviewers were helpful. A. Admasu's help at the National Museum of Ethiopia is appreciated. |
| Document Type: |
article in journal/newspaper |
| Language: |
unknown |
| Relation: |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163592 |
| DOI: |
10.1126/science.1163592 |
| Availability: |
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1163592 |
| Rights: |
undefined |
| Accession Number: |
edsbas.3807DCFC |
| Database: |
BASE |