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Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Yokley, TR; Churchill, SE
Published in: Journal of human evolution
December 2006

The morphology of the proximal ulna has been shown to effectively differentiate archaic or premodern humans (such as Homo heidelbergensis and H. neanderthalensis) from modern humans (H. sapiens). Accordingly, the morphology of adjacent, articulating elements should be able to distinguish these two broad groups as well. Here we test the taxonomic utility of another portion of the elbow, the distal humerus, as a discriminator of archaic and modern humans. Principal components analysis was employed on a suite of log-raw and log-shape distal humeral measures to examine differences between Neandertal and modern human distal humeri. In addition, the morphological affinities of Broken Hill (Kabwe) E.898, an archaic human distal humeral fragment from the middle Pleistocene of Zambia, and five Pliocene and early Pleistocene australopith humeri were assessed. The morphometric analyses effectively differentiated the Neandertals from the other groups, while the Broken Hill humerus appears morphologically similar to modern human distal humeri. Thus, an archaic/modern human dichotomy-as previously reported for proximal ulnar morphology-is not supported with respect to distal humeral morphology. Relative to australopiths and modern humans, Neandertal humeri are characterized by large olecranon fossae and small distodorsal medial and lateral pillars. The seeming disparity in morphological affinities of proximal ulnae (in which all archaic human groups appear distinct from modern humans) and distal humeri (in which Neandertals appear distinct from modern humans, but other archaic humans do not) is probably indicative of a highly variable, possibly transitional population of which our knowledge is hampered by sample-size limitations imposed by the scarcity of middle-to-late Pleistocene premodern human fossils outside of Europe.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of human evolution

DOI

EISSN

1095-8606

ISSN

0047-2484

Publication Date

December 2006

Volume

51

Issue

6

Start / End Page

603 / 616

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Species Specificity
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Paleontology
  • Male
  • Humerus
  • Humans
  • Hominidae
  • History, Ancient
  • Fossils
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Yokley, T. R., & Churchill, S. E. (2006). Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology. Journal of Human Evolution, 51(6), 603–616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.07.006
Yokley, Todd R., and Steven E. Churchill. “Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology.Journal of Human Evolution 51, no. 6 (December 2006): 603–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.07.006.
Yokley TR, Churchill SE. Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology. Journal of human evolution. 2006 Dec;51(6):603–16.
Yokley, Todd R., and Steven E. Churchill. “Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology.Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 51, no. 6, Dec. 2006, pp. 603–16. Epmc, doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.07.006.
Yokley TR, Churchill SE. Archaic and modern human distal humeral morphology. Journal of human evolution. 2006 Dec;51(6):603–616.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of human evolution

DOI

EISSN

1095-8606

ISSN

0047-2484

Publication Date

December 2006

Volume

51

Issue

6

Start / End Page

603 / 616

Related Subject Headings

  • White People
  • Species Specificity
  • Principal Component Analysis
  • Paleontology
  • Male
  • Humerus
  • Humans
  • Hominidae
  • History, Ancient
  • Fossils