Clément Zanolli1, Frederick E Grine2,3, Ottmar Kullmer4, Friedemann Schrenk4,5, Roberto Macchiarelli6,7. 1. Multidisciplinary Laboratory, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy. 2. Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY. 3. Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY. 4. Department of Palaeoanthropology, Senckenberg Research Institute, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany. 5. Department of Vertebrate Paleontology, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany. 6. Département De Préhistoire, UMR 7194, Muséum National D'histoire Naturelle, Paris, France. 7. Département Géosciences, Université De Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Among the ten fossil hominid deciduous teeth reported so far from the Pleistocene sediments of the Sangiran Dome of Java are two isolated lower second molars: specimens PCG.2 from the Kabuh Formation and FS-72 from the Pucangan Formation. While PCG.2 appears to be certainly attributable to Homo erectus, FS-72 is somewhat more problematic, even though it is commonly listed within the Indonesian H. erectus hypodigm. Largely because of its large size, it was originally attributed to Meganthropus paleojavanicus. Subsequent study highlighted a set of metric and nonmetric crown features also found in Australopith and African early Homo (notably H. habilis) homologues. An additional problem with the taxonomic assignment of isolated teeth from the Pleistocene of Java is the presence of Pongo in these same deposits. METHODS: To assess the taxonomic affinity of FS-72, we investigated its inner structure (tissue proportions and enamel-dentine junction morphology) by using techniques of 2-3D virtual imaging coupled with geometric morphometric analyses. RESULTS: The results show that FS-72 has thinner enamel compared to fossil and recent humans and that its topographic repartition more closely follows the pongine pattern. It also exhibits a Pongo-like elongated morphology of the enamel-dentine junction, with proportionally lower and mesiodistally spaced dentine horns. CONCLUSIONS: Given the morphological and metric similarities between fossil orangutan and H. erectus molars, we tested the hypothesis that its internal morphology more closely resembles the patterns evinced by PCG.2 and modern humans than Pongo. Accordingly, we consider that FS-72 more likely represents a dm2 of Pongo rather than Homo.
OBJECTIVES: Among the ten fossil hominid deciduous teeth reported so far from the Pleistocene sediments of the Sangiran Dome of Java are two isolated lower second molars: specimens PCG.2 from the Kabuh Formation and FS-72 from the Pucangan Formation. While PCG.2 appears to be certainly attributable to Homo erectus, FS-72 is somewhat more problematic, even though it is commonly listed within the Indonesian H. erectus hypodigm. Largely because of its large size, it was originally attributed to Meganthropus paleojavanicus. Subsequent study highlighted a set of metric and nonmetric crown features also found in Australopith and African early Homo (notably H. habilis) homologues. An additional problem with the taxonomic assignment of isolated teeth from the Pleistocene of Java is the presence of Pongo in these same deposits. METHODS: To assess the taxonomic affinity of FS-72, we investigated its inner structure (tissue proportions and enamel-dentine junction morphology) by using techniques of 2-3D virtual imaging coupled with geometric morphometric analyses. RESULTS: The results show that FS-72 has thinner enamel compared to fossil and recent humans and that its topographic repartition more closely follows the pongine pattern. It also exhibits a Pongo-like elongated morphology of the enamel-dentine junction, with proportionally lower and mesiodistally spaced dentine horns. CONCLUSIONS: Given the morphological and metric similarities between fossil orangutan and H. erectus molars, we tested the hypothesis that its internal morphology more closely resembles the patterns evinced by PCG.2 and modern humans than Pongo. Accordingly, we consider that FS-72 more likely represents a dm2 of Pongo rather than Homo.
Authors: Christopher Woods; Christianne Fernee; Martin Browne; Sonia Zakrzewski; Alexander Dickinson Journal: PLoS One Date: 2017-12-07 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Laura Martín-Francés; María Martinón-Torres; Marina Martínez de Pinillos; Cecilia García-Campos; Mario Modesto-Mata; Clément Zanolli; Laura Rodríguez; José María Bermúdez de Castro Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-10-03 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Tanya M Smith; Alexandra Houssaye; Ottmar Kullmer; Adeline Le Cabec; Anthony J Olejniczak; Friedemann Schrenk; John de Vos; Paul Tafforeau Journal: PLoS One Date: 2018-11-01 Impact factor: 3.240