Research Letters

DNH 109: A fragmentary hominin near-proximal ulna from Drimolen, South Africa

Andrew Gallagher, Colin G. Menter
South African Journal of Science | Vol 107, No 5/6 | a456 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/sajs.v107i5/6.456 | © 2011 Andrew Gallagher, Colin G. Menter | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 05 October 2010 | Published: 12 May 2011

About the author(s)

Andrew Gallagher, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Colin G. Menter, Department of Anthropology and Development Studies, University of Johannesburg, South Africa

Abstract

We describe a fragmentary, yet significant, diminutive proximal ulna (DNH 109) from the Lower Pleistocene deposits of Drimolen, Republic of South Africa. On the basis of observable morphology and available comparative metrics, DNH 109 is definitively hominin and is the smallest African Plio-Pleistocene australopith ulna yet recovered. Mediolateral and anteroposterior dimensions of the proximal diaphysis immediately distal to the m. brachialis sulcus in DNH 109 yield an elliptical area (π/4 *m-l*a-p) that is smaller than the A.L. 333-38 Australopithecus afarensis subadult from Hadar. Given the unusually broad mediolateral/anteroposterior diaphyseal proportions distal to the brachialis sulcus, the osseous development of the medial and lateral borders of the sulcus, and the overall size of the specimen relative to comparative infant, juvenile, subadult and adult comparative hominid ulnae (Gorilla, Pan and Homo), it is probable that DNH 109 samples an australopith of probable juvenile age at death. As a result of the fragmentary state of preservation and absence of association with taxonomically diagnostic craniodental remains, DNH 109 cannot be provisionally assigned to any particular hominin genus (Paranthropus or Homo) at present. Nonetheless, DNH 109 increases our known sample of available Plio-Pleistocene subadult early hominin postcrania.

Keywords

Drimolen; P. robustus; Plio-Pleistocene hominins; proximal ulna; postcranial

Metrics

Total abstract views: 1348
Total article views: 2244

References


Keyser A. The Drimolen skull: The most complete australopithecine cranium and mandible to date. S Afr J Sci. 2000;96:189–193.

Keyser A, Menter CG, Moggi-Cecchi J, Pickering TR, Berger LR. Drimolen: A new hominid-bearing site in Gauteng, South Africa. S Afr J Sci. 2000;96:193–197.

Herries AIR, Curnoe DC, Adams JW. A multi-disciplinary seriation of early Homo and Paranthropus bearing palaeocaves in southern Africa. Quart Internat. 2009;202:14–28. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2008.05.017

Moggi-Cecchi J, Menter C, Boccone S, Keyser A. Early hominin dental remains from the Plio-Pleistocene site of Drimolen, South Africa. J Hum Evol. 2010; 58:374–405. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.01.006, PMid:20362324

Broom R, Robinson JT, Schepers GWH. Sterkfontein ape men. Mem Transv Mus. 1950; No. 4.

Clarke RJ. Early Acheulian with H. habilis at Sterkfontein. In: Tobias PV, editor. Hominid evolution: Past, present and future. New York: Alan R Liss, 1985; p. 287–298.

Clarke RJ. Australopithecus and early Homo in southern Africa. In: Delson E, editor. Ancestors: The hard evidence. New York: Alan R Liss, 1985; p. 171–177.

Lockwood CA, Tobias PV. Morphology and affinities of new hominin cranial remains from member 4 of the Sterkfontein formation, Gauteng province, South Africa. J Hum Evol. 2002;42:389–450. doi:10.1006/jhev.2001.0532, PMid:11908955

Moggi-Cecchi J, Grine FE, Tobias PV. Early hominid dental remains from members 4 and 5 of the Sterkfontein formation (1966–1996 excavations): Catalogue, individual associations, morphological descriptions and initial metrical analyses. J Hum Evol. 2006;50:239–328. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.08.012, PMid:16309732

Robinson JT. Early hominid posture and locomotion. Chicago: Chicago University Press; 1972.

Clarke RJ, Howell FC, Brain CK. More evidence of an advanced hominid at Swartkrans. Nature. 1970;225:1219–1222. doi:10.1038/2251219a0, PMid:5435352

Day MH. A guide to fossil man. London: Cassell; 1986.

Wood B, Richmond BG. Human evolution: Taxonomy and paleobiology. J Anat. 2000;196:19–60. doi:10.1046/j.1469-7580.2000.19710019.x, PMid:10999270, PMid:1468107

Wood B, Lonergan N. The hominin fossil record: Taxa, grades and clades. J Anat. 2008;212:354–376. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7580.2008.00871.x, PMid:18380861, PMid:2409102

Day MH. Locomotor features of the lower limb in hominids. In: Zuckerman S, editor. The concepts of human evolution. Symp Zool Soc Lond. 1973;33:29–51.

Day MH. Bipedalism: Pressures, origins and modes. In: Wood BA, Martin LB, Andrews PA, editors. Major topics in primate and human evolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986; p. 188–202.

Day MH, Wood BA. Functional affinities of the Olduvai hominid 8 talus. Man, Second Series. 1968;3:440–455.

Oxnard CE. Some African fossil foot bones: A note on the interpolation of fossils into a matrix of extant species. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1972;37:3–12. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330370103, PMid:5064732

Oxnard CE. Uniqueness and diversity in human evolution: Morphometric studies of the australopithecines. Chicago: Chicago University Press; 1975.

Lisowski FP, Albrecht GH, Oxnard CE. African fossil tali: Further multivariate studies. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1974;45:5–18. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330450103, PMid:961834

McHenry HM, Corruccini RS. Distal humerus in hominoid evolution. Folia Primatol. 1975;23:227–244. doi:10.1159/000155673

Lague MR, Jungers WL. Morphometric variation in Plio-Pleistocene hominid distal humeri. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1996;101:401–427. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199611)101:3<401::AID-AJPA8>3.0.CO;2-0

Bacon A-M. Principal components analysis of distal humerus shape from Pliocene to recent African hominids: The contribution of geometric morphometrics. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2000;111:479–488. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(200004)111:4<479::AID-AJPA4>3.3.CO;2-R

Menter CG. Hominid distal humeri, proximal radii and proximal ulnae from Sterkfontein, in comparison with the elbow bones of other Plio-Pleistocene fossil hominids. PhD thesis, Johannesburg, University of the Witwatersrand, 2003.

McHenry HM, Corruccini RS, Howell FC. Analysis of an early hominid ulna from the Omo basin, Ethiopia. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1976;44:295–304. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330440212, PMid:816207

McHenry HM, Brown CC, McHenry LJ. Fossil hominin ulnae and the forelimb of Paranthropus. Am J Phys Anthropol. 2007;134:209–218. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20656, PMid:17596856

Pearson OM. Postcranial morphology and the origins of modern humans. PhD thesis, New York, Stony Brook State University of New York, 1997.

Howell FC, Wood BA. Early hominid ulna from the Omo basin, Ethiopia. Nature. 1974;249:174–176. doi:10.1038/249174a0, PMid:4833521

Day MH. Functional interpretations of the morphology of postcranial remains of early African hominids. In: Jolly CJ, editor. Early hominids of Africa. London: Duckworth, 1978; p. 311–345.

Aiello LC, Wood BA, Key C, Lewis M. Morphological and taxonomic affinities of the Olduvai ulna (OH 36). Am J Phys Anthropol. 1999;109:89–110. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199905)109:1<89::AID-AJPA8>3.0.CO;2-4

Drapeau MSM, Ward CV, Kimbel WH, Johanson DC, Rak Y. Associated cranial and forelimb remains attributed to Australopithecus afarensis from Hadar, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol. 2005;48:593–642. doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.02.005, PMid:15927662

Lovejoy CO, Johanson DC, Coppens Y. Hominid upper limb bones recovered from the Hadar formation: 1974–1977 collections. Am J Phys Anthropol. 1982;57:637–649. doi:10.1002/ajpa.1330570409

Alemseged Z, Spoor F, Kimbel WH, et al. A juvenile early hominin skeleton from Dikika, Ethiopia. Nature. 2006;443:296–301. doi:10.1038/nature05047, PMid:16988704

Berger LR, de Ruiter DJ, Churchill SE, et al. Australopithecus sediba: A new species of Homo-like australopith from South Africa. Science. 2010;328:195–204. doi:10.1126/science.1184944, PMid:20378811



Reader Comments

Before posting a comment, read our privacy policy.

Post a comment (login required)

 

Crossref Citations

1. Macromammalian faunas, biochronology and palaeoecology of the early Pleistocene Main Quarry hominin-bearing deposits of the Drimolen Palaeocave System, South Africa
Justin W. Adams, Douglass S. Rovinsky, Andy I.R. Herries, Colin G. Menter
PeerJ  vol: 4  first page: e1941  year: 2016  
doi: 10.7717/peerj.1941