scholarly journals Muscles of Facial Expression in Extinct Species of the Genus Homo

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arturo Tozzi
Keyword(s):  
Facial Expression ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Anatomical Variation ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Genus Homo ◽  
Levator Labii Superioris ◽  
Mimetic Muscles

ABSTRACTWe display a detailed description of mimetic muscles in extinct human species, framed in comparative and phylogenetic contexts. Using known facial landmarks, we assessed the arrangement of muscles of facial expression in Homo sapiens, neanderthalensis, erectus, heidelbergensis and ergaster. In modern humans, several perioral muscles are proportionally smaller in size (levator labii superioris, zygomaticus minor, zygomaticus major and triangularis) and/or located more medially (levator labii superioris, zygomaticus minor and quadratus labii inferioris) than in other human species. As mimetic musculature is examined in the most ancient specimens up to the most recent, there is a general trend towards an increase in size of corrugator supercillii and triangularis. Homo ergaster’s mimetic musculature closely resembles modern Homo, both in size and in location; furthermore, Homo erectus and Homo neanderthalensis share many muscular features. The extinct human species had an elaborate and highly graded facial communication system, but it remained qualitatively different from that reported in modern Homo. Compared with other human species, Homo sapiens clearly exhibits a lower degree of facial expression, possibly correlated with more sophisticated social behaviours and with enhanced speech capabilities. The presence of anatomical variation among species of the genus Homo raises important questions about the possible taxonomic value of mimetic muscles.

scholarly journals Arguments that Prehistorical and Modern Humans Belong to the Same Species

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Kühne
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Out Of Africa

I argue that the evidence of the Out-of-Africa hypothesis and the evidence of multiregional evolution of prehistorical humans can be understood if there has been interbreeding between Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens at least during the preceding 700,000 years. These interbreedings require descendants who are capable of reproduction and therefore parents who belong to the same species. I suggest that a number of prehistorical humans who are at present regarded as belonging to different species belong in fact to one single species.  

Birth and Death of the Holocene

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Zalasiewicz ◽  
Mark Williams
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Quaternary Period ◽  
Climate Oscillations ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Droughts And Floods ◽  
Major Shift ◽  
Place Of Origin ◽  
The Many

It is just the latest of many climate phases of the Quaternary Period. The 103rd major shift in climate-driven global oxygen isotope values, to be precise, since the official-designated beginning of the Quaternary Period, 2.58 million years ago. And, many of those major phases, as we have seen, include dozens of climate oscillations far greater in scale than humans have witnessed since written records began. Nevertheless, it is our warm phase, that within which our civilization has grown, and hence it has been separated as a distinct epoch, the Holocene, a little over 0.01 of a million years long. Its counterpart is the Pleistocene Epoch, in which reside those other 2.57 million years of Quaternary time, and those other 102 major climate oscillations. Thus, we live—at least as far as formal geological nomenclature goes—in a privileged time. When this epoch began, Homo sapiens had already existed for some 150,000 years. As a species its prospects might not have seemed bright: this creature lacked anything terribly impressive in the way of claws or teeth or thick fur or armour. But by being ingenious at developing what one might describe as artificial claws and teeth—axes and spears and arrows—it could kill and eat mammals considerably larger than itself. In those early days, it might not have prospered, exactly, but it clung to existence, seemingly weathering at least one very bad patch, several tens of thousands of years ago, when its numbers dropped almost to extinction levels. It survived the climate oscillations of the late Pleistocene—the droughts and floods and episodes of bitter cold and killing heat—by adapting its behaviour or migrating as best it could. Its migrations from its place of origin, Africa, were on an epic scale. The many thousands of individual and collective stories of hope, fear, endurance, courage, tragedy, and (less commonly) triumph are all lost. What remains is the evidence that humans, by the beginning of the Holocene, had spread widely over Europe and Asia, ousting (it seems) their kindred hominin species, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus.

scholarly journals The challenge of the abstract mind: symbols, signs and notational systems in European prehistory

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 221-232 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harald Haarmann
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
Writing System ◽  
Southeastern Europe ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Symbiotic Interaction ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Cave Paintings ◽  
Naturalistic Pictures

Since the earliest manifestations of symbolic activity in modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) in the Upper Palaeolithic, there is evidence for two independent cognitive procedures, for the production of representational images (naturalistic pictures or sculptures) and of abstract signs. The use of signs and symbols is attested for archaic humans (Homo neanderthalensis) and for Homo erectus while art in naturalistic style is an innovation among modern humans. The symbiotic interaction of the two symbolic capacities is illustrated for the visual heritage of Palaeolithic cave paintings in Southwestern Europe, for rock engravings in the Italian Alps (Val Camonica) and for the vivid use of signs and symbols in Southeastern Europe during the Neolithic. Around 5500 BC, sign use in Southeastern Europe reached a sophisticated stage of organization as to produce the earliest writing system of mankind. Since abstractness is the main theme in the visual heritage of the region, this script, not surprisingly, is composed of predominantly abstract signs.

Evolution of Cranial and Endocranial Profiles inHomoSpecies: a Study in 2D Geometric Morphometrics

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 118-131
Author(s):  
L. Albessard ◽  
D. Grimaud-Hervé ◽  
A. Balzeau
Keyword(s):  
Geometric Morphometrics ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Brain Structures ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Human Cognition ◽  
Cranial Bone ◽  
Cranial Morphology ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Object Of Study

Cranial anatomical features play a prominent part in the definition of extinctHomotaxa and in species identification in fossils. Thus, knowledge of cranial morphology considered within its geochronological framework is essential to the understanding of the evolution, chronology, and dispersal of the genusHomo. The brain is also a valuable object of study for research on human evolution, because of features such as its large size and a high encephalization quotient in someHomospecies, as well as the complexity of human cognition. However, the joint evolution of endo- and ectocranial anatomies is still little studied, and landmarks representing cerebral anatomy rather than inner cranial bone anatomy are still rarely used. This exploratory piece of research examines endo- and ectocranial profiles in samples representing 3Homotaxa:Homo sapiens(fossil and recent specimens),Homo erectus, andHomo neanderthalensis. We used 2D geometric morphometrics to analyze the shape of the endo- and ectocranial vaults, as well as the relationships between selected anatomical features such as the extension of lobes and bones. The shapes of the vaults were computed using both fixed landmarks and sliding semi-landmarks. The fixed landmarks used for the endocranium were chosen in order to represent cerebral anatomy, in that they are defined by the imprints left by brain structures on the inner bone surface of the skull, and not by bony structures such as the inferior side of cranial sutures. Among other results, we have shown or confirmed specific features in the shape of the endocranium inHomo sapiens, as well as a few differences in the patterns of interplay between lobes and bones. These data, and any further results obtained with larger samples, may provide new insights into the development of the endocranial anatomical pattern inHomo sapiensand of its variability.

scholarly journals Arguments that Prehistorical and Modern Humans Belong to the Same Species

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rainer Walter Kühne
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Modern Humans ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Out Of Africa

I argue that the evidence of the Out-of-Africa hypothesis and the evidence of multiregional evolution of prehistorical humans can be understood if there has been interbreeding between Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis, and Homo sapiens at least during the preceding 700,000 years. These interbreedings require descendants who are capable of reproduction and therefore parents who belong to the same species. I suggest that a number of prehistorical humans who are at present regarded as belonging to different species belong in fact to one single species.

scholarly journals Endostructural assessment of a hominin maxillary molar (StW 669) from Milner Hall, Sterkfontein, South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 115 (9/10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bontle Mataboge ◽  
Amélie Beaudet ◽  
Jason L. Heaton ◽  
Travis R. Pickering ◽  
Dominic Stratford
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Thickness Distribution ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Dental Tissue ◽  
Enamel Thickness ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Morphometric Analyses ◽  
Maxillary Molar

The site of the Sterkfontein Caves, South Africa, is one of the richest early hominin fossil-bearing sites in Africa. Recent excavations in the Milner Hall locality have contributed to the discovery of new hominin specimens, including StW 669, a right permanent maxillary first molar (M1). StW 669 was excavated from the T1 deposits, which consist of a mixture of sediments from Members 2 and 5 of the Sterkfontein Formation. Accordingly, the deposits have the potential to contain remains of Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo. In this study, we employed micro-focus X-ray tomography in order to assess dental tissue proportions, enamel thickness distribution and enamel-dentine junction morphology as approaches to investigate the taxonomy of StW 669. We compare our results to those generated on the teeth of Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus, Homo erectus, Homo antecessor, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. Our results suggest that StW 669 shares quantitative and qualitative affinities with M1s of Homo in terms of tissue proportions (i.e. two- and three-dimensional average and relative enamel thickness of 1.2–1.3 mm and 18.4, respectively) and enamel thickness distribution (i.e. thickest enamel on the lingual aspect of the protocone). However, data on the enamel-dentine junction morphology of StW 669 are inconclusive as to the tooth’s taxonomic affinities. Pending additional morphometric analyses, our studies of inner morphology of the crown of StW 669 support its attribution to Homo.

scholarly journals W sprawie konieczności zachowania przedludzkich systemów komunikacyjnych (bezjęzykowych) w kontekście zachowania bioróżnorodności

2021 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-136
Author(s):  
Stanisław Puppel
Keyword(s):  
Communication Systems ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Tree Of Life ◽  
Paper Briefly ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Genus Homo ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Rich Diversity ◽  
Communication Modes

On the basis of the existing and unquestioned linguistic stance, a division of all the living creatures inhabiting the Earth into those which do not have language (i.e. prehuman and languageless) and those who have language (i.e. the genus Homo sapiens) is postulated. The paper briefly discusses a rich diversity of communication modes occurring in the domain of the prehuman communication systems, such as the auditory, visual, tactile, olfactory, electric, thermal, and seismic ones, with appropriate graphic illustrations. Furthermore, on the basis of the phenomenon of the observable shrinking of this diversity and the key position of the human species, it postulates the necessity of preserving this diversity in the context of biodiversity. This major postulate is in accord with the need to intensify attempts to preserve biodiversity as well as preserve the remaining diversity on the level of the prehuman communication systems as a major challenge of modern humanity. In this context, the human species is considered here as the species of the ‘overseers’ and ‘archivers’ of all the existing communication systems existing on the Earth as the carrier of the tree of life.

scholarly journals Human species and mating systems: Neandertal-Homo sapiens reproductive isolation and the archaeological and fossil records

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karenleigh A. Overmann ◽  
Frederick L. Coolidge
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Hybrid Sterility ◽  
Mate Recognition ◽  
Human Species ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Provisioning Behavior ◽  
Survival And Reproduction ◽  
Parallel Case ◽  
Fossil Records

The present paper examined the assumption of strong reproductive isolation (RI) between Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens, as well as the question of what form it might have taken, using insights from the parallel case of chimpanzee–bonobo hybridization. RI from hybrid sterility or inviability was thought unlikely based on the short separation-to-introgression timeline. The forms of RI that typically develop in primates have relatively short timelines (especially for partial implementation); they generally preclude mating or influence hybrid survival and reproduction in certain contexts, and they have the potential to skew introgression directionality. These RI barriers are also consistent with some interpretations of the archaeological and fossil records, especially when behavioral, cognitive, morphological, and genetic differences between the two human species are taken into consideration. Differences potentially influencing patterns of survival and reproduction include interspecies violence, Neandertal xenophobia, provisioning behavior, and ontogenetic, morphological, and behavioral differences affecting matters such as kin and mate recognition, infanticide, and sexual selection. These factors may have skewed the occurrence of interbreeding or the survival and reproduction of hybrids in a way that might at least partially explain the pattern of introgression.

Taxonomic differences in deciduous upper second molar crown outlines of Homo sapiens, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo erectus

2014 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shara E. Bailey ◽  
Stefano Benazzi ◽  
Caroline Souday ◽  
Claudia Astorino ◽  
Kathleen Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Homo Erectus ◽  
Second Molar ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis

Homo Neanderthalensis in Light of Modern Paleoanthropology: a Natural Science and Biblical/Theological Conception

2019 ◽  
pp. 97-126
Author(s):  
Олег Мумриков ◽  
Илья Алексеевич Беломытцев
Keyword(s):  
Homo Sapiens ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Human Species ◽  
East Central ◽  
Homo Neanderthalensis ◽  
Dead End ◽  
The Status ◽  
Long Time

Homo neanderthalensis (человек неандертальский) - название ископаемой группы гоминид, населявшей значительную часть Евразии в период от 28 до 300 тысяч лет назад. Согласно данным современной науки, неандертальцы не были непосредственными предшественниками современных людей, а сосуществовали длительное время одновременно с homo sapiens. При этом результаты ряда исследований свидетельствуют о том, что неандертальцы могли быть полноценными людьми, мало в чём уступавшими человеку современного анатомического типа. Вопрос о том, являются ли неандертальцы тупиковой ветвью эволюции, животным-гоминидом, альтернативным видом человека или кем-либо ещё остаётся в настоящее время открытым и подразумевает всестороннее, междисциплинарное обсуждение. В настоящей статье рассмотрен вопрос о статусе неандертальца в контексте библейско-святоотеческого учения о происхождении человека: изложены основные данные об антропогенезе, рассмотрены их различные интерпретации, предложены оценки с точки зрения православной антропологии. Homo neanderthalensis is the name of a fossil hominid group that inhabited a significant part of Eurasia (Europe, Middle East, Central Asia), and North Africa from 28 to 300 thousand years ago. The name of the group comes from the discovery of a skull in 1856 in West Germany (Neandertal Gorge, near Düsseldorf and Erkrath). In 1858 German anthropologist H. Schaaffhausen (Hermann Schaaffhausen) introduced the term “Neanderthal”. According to the data of modern science, Neanderthals were not the immediate predecessors of modern people, but coexisted for a long time simultaneously with homo sapiens. At the same time, the results of a number of studies indicate that Neanderthals could be full-fledged people who were not inferior to humans of a modern anatomical type. The question of whether Neanderthals are a dead-end branch of evolution, a hominid animal, an alternative human species, or something else entirely is currently open and implies a comprehensive, interdisciplinary discussion. This article addresses the issue of the status of a Neanderthal in the context of biblical/ patristic doctrine of human origins: the main data on anthropogenesis are presented, various interpretations are considered, and evaluations are made from the point of view of Orthodox anthropology.

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