Background: The Drimolen Palaeocave site is situated within the UNESCO Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa World Heritage Area and has yielded numerous hominin fossils since its discovery in 1992. Most of these fossils are represented by isolated dental elements, which have been attributed to either of two distinct hominin genera, and
Aim: This paper provides morphological descriptions for a further 19 specimens that have been recovered from the ∼2.04-1.95 Ma Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ) deposits since 2008. This paper also discusses the two primary hypotheses used to explain variation: sexual dimorphism, and micro-evolution within a lineage.
Subjects And Methods: These 19 fossils are represented by 47 dental elements and expand the sample of DMQ early from 13 to 15, and the sample of from 69 to 84.
Results: The evidence presented in this paper was found to be inconsistent with the sexual dimorphism hypothesis.
Conclusion: Some support was found for the micro-evolution hypothesis.
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The DNH 7 endocast of Paranthropus robustus from Drimolen, South Africa: Reconsidering the functional significance of an enlarged occipital-marginal (O/M) sinus system in robust australopithecines.
Am J Biol Anthropol
October 2024
Department of Neuroscience, The Farkas Family Center for Anatomical Research and Education, Ruth and Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
This paper presents a detailed analysis of the endocast of one of the most complete Paranthropus robustus crania known, DNH 7, from the Drimolen site (South Africa), and compares it with the morphology of other australopithecine endocasts. We focus on endocranial volume, the impressions of cortical sulci, cranial sutures, and the pattern of cranial venous sinuses on the endocast. A noteworthy observation is the estimated endocranial capacity of 403 cm, which is small for an adult Paranthropus.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew craniodental fossils of Paranthropus robustus from Kromdraai, South Africa (2014-2017 excavations).
J Hum Evol
March 2024
Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Since the initial discovery of Paranthropus robustus at the site of Kromdraai in 1938, the hypodigm of this species has been expanded by subsequent work at the localities of Swartkrans and Drimolen, with a few fossils also known from Cooper's D, Gondolin and Sterkfontein Member 5. Beginning in 2014, systematic excavations at Kromdraai uncovered a large and previously unknown fossiliferous area, shedding light on Units O and P in the earliest part of the site's stratigraphic sequence. The aim of this paper is to provide detailed descriptions and illustrations of 30 P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew hominin dental remains from the ∼2.04-1.95 Ma Drimolen Main Quarry, South Africa.
Ann Hum Biol
February 2023
Palaeoscience, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
Background: The Drimolen Palaeocave site is situated within the UNESCO Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa World Heritage Area and has yielded numerous hominin fossils since its discovery in 1992. Most of these fossils are represented by isolated dental elements, which have been attributed to either of two distinct hominin genera, and
Aim: This paper provides morphological descriptions for a further 19 specimens that have been recovered from the ∼2.04-1.
Reply to Rak et al. (2021) "The DNH 7 skull of Australopithecus robustus from Drimolen (Main Quarry), South Africa" [J. Hum. Evol. 151 (2021), 102913].
J Hum Evol
August 2023
Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, House 10, Bunting Road Campus, Auckland Park, Gauteng 2092, South Africa; Palaeoscience, Dept. of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Corner of Plenty Road and Kingsbury Drive, Bundoora, 3086 VIC, Australia.
Hominin fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen inform craniofacial ontogeny.
Sci Adv
May 2023
Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA.
Ontogeny provides critical information about the evolutionary history of early hominin adult morphology. We describe fossils from the southern African sites of Kromdraai and Drimolen that provide insights into early craniofacial development in the Pleistocene robust australopith . We show that while most distinctive robust craniofacial features appear relatively late in ontogeny, a few do not.
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