AI Article Synopsis
- The ARA-VP-6/500 skull represents an early hominid with a fragmented structure that retains key facial features and dentition.
- The analysis highlights Ardipithecus ramidus as having a small brain size, considerable midfacial projection, and differences in cranial base shape compared to modern African apes.
- These characteristics suggest that early hominids like Ardipithecus and Sahelanthropus had distinct craniofacial anatomy that set them apart from both modern apes and later Australopithecus species.
Article Abstract
The highly fragmented and distorted skull of the adult skeleton ARA-VP-6/500 includes most of the dentition and preserves substantial parts of the face, vault, and base. Anatomical comparisons and micro-computed tomography-based analysis of this and other remains reveal pre-Australopithecus hominid craniofacial morphology and structure. The Ardipithecus ramidus skull exhibits a small endocranial capacity (300 to 350 cubic centimeters), small cranial size relative to body size, considerable midfacial projection, and a lack of modern African ape-like extreme lower facial prognathism. Its short posterior cranial base differs from that of both Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus. Ar. ramidus lacks the broad, anteriorly situated zygomaxillary facial skeleton developed in later Australopithecus. This combination of features is apparently shared by Sahelanthropus, showing that the Mio-Pliocene hominid cranium differed substantially from those of both extant apes and Australopithecus.
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