Most interpretations of early hominin phylogeny recognize a single early to middle Pliocene ancestral lineage, best represented by Australopithecus afarensis, which gave rise to a radiation of taxa in the late Pliocene. Here we report on new fossils discovered west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, which differ markedly from those of contemporary A. afarensis, indicating that hominin taxonomic diversity extended back, well into the middle Pliocene. A 3.5 Myr-old cranium, showing a unique combination of derived facial and primitive neurocranial features, is assigned to a new genus of hominin. These findings point to an early diet-driven adaptive radiation, provide new insight on the association of hominin craniodental features, and have implications for our understanding of Plio-Pleistocene hominin phylogeny.
%0 Journal Article
%1 citeulike:73813
%A Leakey, M. G.
%A Spoor, F.
%A Brown, F. H.
%A Gathogo, P. N.
%A Kiarie, C.
%A Leakey, L. N.
%A McDougall, I.
%C Division of Palaeontology, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya. meave@swiftkenya.com
%D 2001
%J Nature
%K genus hominin new
%N 6827
%P 433--440
%R 10.1038/35068500
%T New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages.
%U http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35068500
%V 410
%X Most interpretations of early hominin phylogeny recognize a single early to middle Pliocene ancestral lineage, best represented by Australopithecus afarensis, which gave rise to a radiation of taxa in the late Pliocene. Here we report on new fossils discovered west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, which differ markedly from those of contemporary A. afarensis, indicating that hominin taxonomic diversity extended back, well into the middle Pliocene. A 3.5 Myr-old cranium, showing a unique combination of derived facial and primitive neurocranial features, is assigned to a new genus of hominin. These findings point to an early diet-driven adaptive radiation, provide new insight on the association of hominin craniodental features, and have implications for our understanding of Plio-Pleistocene hominin phylogeny.
@article{citeulike:73813,
abstract = {Most interpretations of early hominin phylogeny recognize a single early to middle Pliocene ancestral lineage, best represented by Australopithecus afarensis, which gave rise to a radiation of taxa in the late Pliocene. Here we report on new fossils discovered west of Lake Turkana, Kenya, which differ markedly from those of contemporary A. afarensis, indicating that hominin taxonomic diversity extended back, well into the middle Pliocene. A 3.5 Myr-old cranium, showing a unique combination of derived facial and primitive neurocranial features, is assigned to a new genus of hominin. These findings point to an early diet-driven adaptive radiation, provide new insight on the association of hominin craniodental features, and have implications for our understanding of Plio-Pleistocene hominin phylogeny.},
added-at = {2007-08-18T13:22:24.000+0200},
address = {Division of Palaeontology, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya. meave@swiftkenya.com},
author = {Leakey, M. G. and Spoor, F. and Brown, F. H. and Gathogo, P. N. and Kiarie, C. and Leakey, L. N. and McDougall, I.},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2d21c910ca631272bd85bc69a09f99510/a_olympia},
citeulike-article-id = {73813},
description = {citeulike},
doi = {10.1038/35068500},
interhash = {1cde268b769f20a0e0e4b42ada861d8c},
intrahash = {d21c910ca631272bd85bc69a09f99510},
issn = {0028-0836},
journal = {Nature},
keywords = {genus hominin new},
month = {March},
number = 6827,
pages = {433--440},
timestamp = {2007-08-18T13:22:55.000+0200},
title = {New hominin genus from eastern Africa shows diverse middle Pliocene lineages.},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/35068500},
volume = 410,
year = 2001
}