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Orangutans (Pongo) are the only great ape genus with a substantial Pleistocene and Holocene fossil record, demonstrating a much larger geographic range than extant populations. In addition to having an extensive fossil record, Pongo shows several convergent morphological similarities with Homo, including a trend of dental reduction during the past million years. While studies have documented variation in dental tissue proportions among species of Homo, little is known about variation in enamel thickness within fossil orangutans. Here we assess dental tissue proportions, including conventional enamel thickness indices, in a large sample of fossil orangutan postcanine teeth from mainland Asia and Indonesia. We find few differences between regions, except for significantly lower average enamel thickness (AET) values in Indonesian mandibular first molars. Differences between fossil and extant orangutans are more marked, with fossil Pongo showing higher AET in most postcanine teeth. These differences are significant for maxillary and mandibular first molars. Fossil orangutans show higher AET than extant Pongo due to greater enamel cap areas, which exceed increases in enamel-dentine junction length (due to geometric scaling of areas and lengths for the AET index calculation). We also find greater dentine areas in fossil orangutans, but relative enamel thickness indices do not differ between fossil and extant taxa. When changes in dental tissue proportions between fossil and extant orangutans are compared with fossil and recent Homo sapiens, Pongo appears to show isometric reduction in enamel and dentine, while crown reduction in H. sapiens appears to be due to preferential loss of dentine. Disparate selective pressures or developmental constraints may underlie these patterns. Finally, the finding of moderately thick molar enamel in fossil orangutans may represent an additional convergent dental similarity with Homo erectus, complicating attempts to distinguish these taxa in mixed Asian faunas.
Background: Mammalian fossils from the Eppelsheim Formation (Dinotheriensande) have been a benchmark for Neogene vertebrate palaeontology since 200 years. Worldwide famous sites like Eppelsheim serve as key localities for biochronologic, palaeobiologic, environmental, and mammal community studies. So far the formation is considered to be of early Late Miocene age (~9.5 Ma, Vallesian), representing the oldest sediments of the Rhine River. The stratigraphic unity of the formation and of its fossil content was disputed at times, but persists unresolved.
Principal Findings: Here we investigate a new fossil sample from Sprendlingen, composed by over 300 mammalian specimens and silicified wood. The mammals comprise entirely Middle Miocene species, like cervids Dicrocerus elegans, Paradicrocerus elegantulus, and deinotheres Deinotherium bavaricum and D. levius. A stratigraphic evaluation of Miocene Central European deer and deinothere species proof the stratigraphic inhomogenity of the sample, and suggest late Middle Miocene (~12.5 Ma) reworking of early Middle Miocene (~15 Ma) sediments. This results agree with taxonomic and palaeoclimatic analysis of plant fossils from above and within the mammalian assemblage. Based on the new fossil sample and published data three biochronologic levels within the Dinotheriensand fauna can be differentiated, corresponding to early Middle Miocene (late Orleanian to early Astaracian), late Middle Miocene (late Astaracian), and early Late Miocene (Vallesian) ages.
Conclusions/Significance: This study documents complex faunal mixing of classical Dinotheriensand fauna, covering at least six million years, during a time of low subsidence in the Mainz Basin and shifts back the origination of the Rhine River by some five million years. Our results have severe implications for biostratigraphy and palaeobiology of the Middle to Late Miocene. They suggest that turnover events may be obliterated and challenge the proposed ‘supersaturated’ biodiversity, caused by Middle Miocene superstites, of Vallesian ecosystems in Central Europe.
Prehistoric dental treatments were extremely rare, and the few documented cases are known from the Neolithic, when the adoption of early farming culture caused an increase of carious lesions. Here we report the earliest evidence of dental caries intervention on a Late Upper Palaeolithic modern human specimen (Villabruna) from a burial in Northern Italy. Using Scanning Electron Microscopy we show the presence of striations deriving from the manipulation of a large occlusal carious cavity of the lower right third molar. The striations have a "V"-shaped transverse section and several parallel micro-scratches at their base, as typically displayed by cutmarks on teeth. Based on in vitro experimental replication and a complete functional reconstruction of the Villabruna dental arches, we confirm that the identified striations and the associated extensive enamel chipping on the mesial wall of the cavity were produced ante-mortem by pointed flint tools during scratching and levering activities. The Villabruna specimen is therefore the oldest known evidence of dental caries intervention, suggesting at least some knowledge of disease treatment well before the Neolithic. This study suggests that primitive forms of carious treatment in human evolution entail an adaptation of the well-known toothpicking for levering and scratching rather than drilling practices.
Over the last century, humans from industrialized societies have witnessed a radical increase in some dental diseases. A severe problem concerns the loss of dental materials (enamel and dentine) at the buccal cervical region of the tooth. This “modern-day” pathology, called non-carious cervical lesions (NCCLs), is ubiquitous and worldwide spread, but is very sporadic in modern humans from pre-industrialized societies. Scholars believe that several factors are involved, but the real dynamics behind this pathology are far from being understood. Here we use an engineering approach, finite element analysis (FEA), to suggest that the lack of dental wear, characteristic of industrialized societies, might be a major factor leading to NCCLs. Occlusal loads were applied to high resolution finite element models of lower second premolars (P2) to demonstrate that slightly worn P2s envisage high tensile stresses in the buccal cervical region, but when worn down artificially in the laboratory the pattern of stress distribution changes and the tensile stresses decrease, matching the results obtained in naturally worn P2s. In the modern industrialized world, individuals at advanced ages show very moderate dental wear when compared to past societies, and teeth are exposed to high tensile stresses at the buccal cervical region for decades longer. This is the most likely mechanism explaining enamel loss in the cervical region, and may favor the activity of other disruptive processes such as biocorrosion. Because of the lack of dental abrasion, our masticatory apparatus faces new challenges that can only be understood in an evolutionary perspective.
Size and shape variation of molar crowns in primates plays an important role in understanding how species adapted to their environment. Gorillas are commonly considered to be folivorous primates because they possess sharp cusped molars which are adapted to process fibrous leafy foods. However, the proportion of fruit in their diet can vary significantly depending on their habitats. While tooth morphology can tell us what a tooth is capable of processing, tooth wear can help us to understand how teeth have been used during mastication. The objective of this study is to explore if differences in diet at the subspecies level can be detected by the analysis of molar macrowear. We analysed a large sample of second lower molars of Grauer’s, mountain and western lowland gorilla by combining the Occlusal Fingerprint Analysis method with other dental measurements. We found that Grauer’s and western lowland gorillas are characterised by a macrowear pattern indicating a larger intake of fruit in their diet, while mountain gorilla’s macrowear is associated with the consumption of more folivorous foods. We also found that the consumption of herbaceous foods is generally associated with an increase in dentine and enamel wear, confirming the results of previous studies.
Background: Dental biomechanics based on finite element (FE) analysis is attracting enormous interest in dentistry, biology, anthropology and palaeontology. Nonetheless, several shortcomings in FE modeling exist, mainly due to unrealistic loading conditions. In this contribution we used kinematics information recorded in a virtual environment derived from occlusal contact detection between high resolution models of an upper and lower human first molar pair (M1 and M1, respectively) to run a non-linear dynamic FE crash colliding test.
Methodology: MicroCT image data of a modern human skull were segmented to reconstruct digital models of the antagonistic right M1 and M1 and the dental supporting structures. We used the Occlusal Fingerprint Analyser software to reconstruct the individual occlusal pathway trajectory during the power stroke of the chewing cycle, which was applied in a FE simulation to guide the M1 3D-path for the crash colliding test.
Results: FE analysis results showed that the stress pattern changes considerably during the power stroke, demonstrating that knowledge about chewing kinematics in conjunction with a morphologically detailed FE model is crucial for understanding tooth form and function under physiological conditions.
Conclusions/Significance: Results from such advanced dynamic approaches will be applicable to evaluate and avoid mechanical failure in prosthodontics/endodontic treatments, and to test material behavior for modern tooth restoration in dentistry. This approach will also allow us to improve our knowledge in chewing-related biomechanics for functional diagnosis and therapy, and it will help paleoanthropologists to illuminate dental adaptive processes and morphological modifications in human evolution.
Most of the morphological features recognized in hominin teeth, particularly the topography of the occlusal surface, are generally interpreted as an evolutionary functional adaptation for mechanical food processing. In this respect, we can also expect that the general architecture of a tooth reflects a response to withstand the high stresses produced during masticatory loadings. Here we use an engineering approach, finite element analysis (FEA), with an advanced loading concept derived from individual occlusal wear information to evaluate whether some dental traits usually found in hominin and extant great ape molars, such as the trigonid crest, the entoconid-hypoconulid crest and the protostylid have important biomechanical implications. For this purpose, FEA was applied to 3D digital models of three Gorilla gorilla lower second molars (M2) differing in wear stages. Our results show that in unworn and slightly worn M2s tensile stresses concentrate in the grooves of the occlusal surface. In such condition, the trigonid and the entoconid-hypoconulid crests act to reinforce the crown locally against stresses produced along the mesiodistal groove. Similarly, the protostylid is shaped like a buttress to suffer the high tensile stresses concentrated in the deep buccal groove. These dental traits are less functional in the worn M2, because tensile stresses decrease physiologically in the crown with progressing wear due to the enlargement of antagonistic contact areas and changes in loading direction from oblique to nearly parallel direction to the dental axis. This suggests that the wear process might have a crucial influence in the evolution and structural adaptation of molars enabling to endure bite stresses and reduce tooth failure throughout the lifetime of an individual.
Scholars have debated the taxonomic identity of isolated primate teeth from the Asian Pleistocene for over a century, which is complicated by morphological and metric convergence between orangutan (Pongo) and hominin (Homo) molariform teeth. Like Homo erectus, Pongo once showed considerable dental variation and a wide distribution throughout mainland and insular Asia. In order to clarify the utility of isolated dental remains to document the presence of hominins during Asian prehistory, we examined enamel thickness, enamel-dentine junction shape, and crown development in 33 molars from G. H. R. von Koenigswald's Chinese Apothecary collection (11 Sinanthropus officinalis [= Homo erectus], 21 “Hemanthropus peii,” and 1 “Hemanthropus peii” or Pongo) and 7 molars from Sangiran dome (either Homo erectus or Pongo). All fossil teeth were imaged with non-destructive conventional and/or synchrotron micro-computed tomography. These were compared to H. erectus teeth from Zhoukoudian, Sangiran and Trinil, and a large comparative sample of fossil Pongo, recent Pongo, and recent human teeth. We find that Homo and Pongo molars overlap substantially in relative enamel thickness; molar enamel-dentine junction shape is more distinctive, with Pongo showing relatively shorter dentine horns and wider crowns than Homo. Long-period line periodicity values are significantly greater in Pongo than in H. erectus, leading to longer crown formation times in the former. Most of the sample originally assigned to S. officinalis and H. erectus shows greater affinity to Pongo than to the hominin comparative sample. Moreover, enamel thickness, enamel-dentine junction shape, and a long-period line periodicity value in the “Hemanthropus peii” sample are indistinguishable from fossil Pongo. These results underscore the need for additional recovery and study of associated dentitions prior to erecting new taxa from isolated teeth.
Biominerals fossilisation: fish bone diagenesis in plio–pleistocene african hominid sites of Malawi
(2020)
Fish fossilisation is relatively poorly known, and skeletal element modifications resulting from predation, burial and diagenesis need to be better investigated. In this article, we aim to provide new results about surface, structural and chemical changes in modern and fossil fish bone. Fossil samples come from two distinct localities of roughly the same age in the Pliocene–Pleistocene Chiwondo Beds adjacent to Lake Malawi. Optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analyses and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry were carried out on three categories of fish bones: (i) fresh modern samples collected in the lake, (ii) extracted from modern fish eagle regurgitation pellets, and (iii) fossils from Malema and Mwenirondo localities. A comparison of these data allowed us to detect various modifications of bone surfaces and structure as well as composition changes. Some differences are observed between fresh bones and modern pellets, and between pellets and fossils. Moreover, fossil fish bone surface modifications, crystallinity, and chemical composition from Malema and Mwenirondo differ despite their chronological and spatial proximities (2.5–2.4 Ma, 500 m). In both sites, the post-predation modifications are strong and may hide alterations due to the predation by bird of prey such as the fish eagle. The combination of the used methods is relevant to analyses of diagenetic alterations in fish bones.
Bioapatite in mammalian teeth is readily preserved in continental sediments and represents a very important archive for reconstructions of environment and climate evolution. This project provides a comprehensive data base of major, minor and trace element and isotope tracers for tooth apatite using a variety of microanalytical techniques. The aim is to identify specific sedimentary environments and to improve our understanding on the interaction between internal metabolic processes during tooth formation and external nutritional control and secondary alteration effects. Here, we use the electron microprobe to determine the major and minor element contents of fossil and modern molar enamel, cement and dentin from Hippopotamids. Most of the studied specimens are from different ecosystems in Eastern Africa, representing modern and fossil lacustrine (Lake Kikorongo, Lake Albert, and Lake Malawi) and modern fluvial environments of the Nile River system. Secondary alteration effects - in particular FeO, MnO, SO3 and F concentrations – are 2 to 10 times higher in fossil than in modern enamel; the secondary enrichment of these components in fossil dentin and cement is even higher. In modern and fossil enamel, along sections perpendicular to the enamel-dentin junction (EDJ) or along cervix-apex profiles, P2O5 and CaO contents and the CaO/P2O5 ratios are very constant (StdDev ∼1%). Linear regression analysis reveals tight control of the MgO (R2∼0.6), Na2O and Cl variation (for both R2>0.84) along EDJ-outer enamel rim profiles, despite large concentration variations (40% to 300%) across the enamel. These minor elements show well defined distribution patterns in enamel, similar in all specimens regardless of their age and origin, as the concentration of MgO and Na2O decrease from the enamel-dentin junction (EDJ) towards the outer rim, whereas Cl displays the opposite trend. Fossil enamel from Hippopotamids which lived in the saline Lake Kikorongo have a much higher MgO/Na2O ratio (∼1.11) than those from the Neogene fossils of Lake Albert (MgO/Na2O∼0.4), which was a large fresh water lake like those in the western Branch of the East African Rift System today. Similarly, the MgO/Na2O ratio in modern enamel from the White Nile River (∼0.36), which has a Precambrian catchment of dominantly granites and gneisses and passes through several saline zones, is higher than that from the Blue Nile River, whose catchment is the Neogene volcanic Ethiopian Highland (MgO/Na2O∼0.22). Thus, particularly MgO/Na2O might be a sensitive fingerprint for environments where river and lake water have suffered strong evaporation. Enamel formation in mammals takes place at successive mineralization fronts within a confined chamber where ion and molecule transport is controlled by the surrounding enamel organ. During the secretion and maturation phases the epithelium generates different fluid composition, which in principle, should determine the final composition of enamel apatite. This is supported by co-linear relationships between MgO, Cl and Na2O which can be interpreted as binary mixing lines. However, if maturation starts after secretion is completed, the observed element distribution can only be explained by equilibration of existing and addition of new apatite during maturation. It appears the initial enamel crystallites precipitating during secretion and the newly formed bioapatite crystals during maturation equilibrate with a continuously evolving fluid. During crystallization of bioapatite the enamel fluid becomes continuously depleted in MgO and Na2O, but enriched in Cl which results in the formation of MgO, and Na2O-rich, but Cl-poor bioapatite near the EDJ and MgO- and Na2O-poor, but Cl-rich bioapatite at the outer enamel rim. The linkage between lake and river water compositions, bioavailability of elements for plants, animal nutrition and tooth formation is complex and multifaceted. The quality and limits of the MgO/Na2O and other proxies have to be established with systematic investigations relating chemical distribution patterns to sedimentary environment and to growth structures developing as secretion and maturation proceed during tooth formation.
Bioapatite in mammalian teeth is readily preserved in continental sediments and represents a very important archive for reconstructions of environment and climate evolution. This project intends to provide a detailed data base of major, minor and trace element and isotope tracers for tooth apatite using a variety of microanalytical techniques. The aim is to identify specific sedimentary environments and to improve our understanding on the interaction between internal metabolic processes during tooth formation and external nutritional control and secondary alteration effects. Here, we use the electron microprobe, to determine the major and minor element contents of fossil and modern molar enamel, cement and dentin from hippopotamids. Most of the studied specimens are from different ecosystems in Eastern Africa, representing modern and fossil lakustrine (Lake Kikorongo, Lake Albert, and Lake Malawi) and modern fluvial environments of the Nile River system.
Secondary alteration effects in particular FeO, MnO, SO3 and F concentrations, which are 2 to 10 times higher in fossil than in modern enamel; secondary enrichments in fossil dentin and cement are even higher. In modern and fossil enamel, along sections perpendicular to the enamel-dentin junction (EDJ) or along cervix-apex profiles, P2O5 and CaO contents and the CaO/P2O5 ratios are very constant (StdDev ~1 %). Linear regression analysis reveals very tight control of the MgO (R2∼0.6), Na2O and Cl variation (for both R2>0.84) along EDJ-outer enamel rim profiles, despite large concentration variations (40 % to 300 %) across the enamel. These minor elements show well defined distribution patterns in enamel, similar in all specimens regardless of their age and origin, as the concentration of MgO and Na2O decrease from the enamel-dentin junction (EDJ) towards the outer rim, whereas Cl displays the opposite variation.
Fossil enamel from hippopotamids which lived in the saline Lake Kikorongo have a much higher MgO/Na2O ratio (∼1.11) than those from the Neogene fossils of Lake Albert (MgO/Na2O∼0.4), which was a large fresh water lake like those in the western Branch of the East African Rift System today. Similarly, the MgO/Na2O ratio in modern enamel from the White Nile River (∼0.36), which has a Precambrian catchment of dominantly granite and gneisses and passes through several saline zones, is higher than that from the Blue Nile River, whose catchment is the Neogene volcanic Ethiopian Highland (MgO/Na2O∼0.22). Thus, particularly MgO/Na2O might be a sensitive fingerprint for environments where river and lake water have suffered strong evaporation.
Enamel formation in mammals takes place at successive mineralization fronts within a confined chamber where ion and molecule transport is controlled by the surrounding enamel organ. During the secretion and maturation phases the epithelium generates different fluid composition, which in principle, should determine the final composition of enamel apatite. This is supported by co-linear relationships between MgO, Cl and Na2O which can be interpreted as binary mixing lines. However, if maturation starts after secretion is completed the observed element distribution can only be explained by recrystallization of existing and addition of new apatite during maturation. Perhaps the initial enamel crystallites precipitating during secretion and the newly formed bioapatite crystals during maturation equilibrate with a continuously evolving fluid. During crystallization of bioapatite the enamel fluid becomes continuously depleted in MgO and Na2O, but enriched in Cl which results in the formation of MgO, and Na2O-rich, but Cl-poor bioapatite near the EDJ and MgO- and Na2O-poor, but Cl-rich bioapatite at the outer enamel rim.
The linkage between lake and river water composition, bioavailability of elements for plants, animal nutrition and tooth formation is complex and multifaceted. The quality and limits of the MgO/Na2O and other proxies have to be established with systematic investigations relating chemical distribution patterns to sedimentary environment and to growth structures developing as secretion and maturation proceed during tooth formation.
Neanderthal diets are reported to be based mainly on the consumption of large and medium sized herbivores, while the exploitation of other food types including plants has also been demonstrated. Though some studies conclude that early Homo sapiens were active hunters, the analyses of faunal assemblages, stone tool technologies and stable isotopic studies indicate that they exploited broader dietary resources than Neanderthals. Whereas previous studies assume taxon-specific dietary specializations, we suggest here that the diet of both Neanderthals and early Homo sapiens is determined by ecological conditions. We analyzed molar wear patterns using occlusal fingerprint analysis derived from optical 3D topometry. Molar macrowear accumulates during the lifespan of an individual and thus reflects diet over long periods. Neanderthal and early Homo sapiens maxillary molar macrowear indicates strong eco-geographic dietary variation independent of taxonomic affinities. Based on comparisons with modern hunter-gatherer populations with known diets, Neanderthals as well as early Homo sapiens show high dietary variability in Mediterranean evergreen habitats but a more restricted diet in upper latitude steppe/coniferous forest environments, suggesting a significant consumption of high protein meat resources.
Carbon-13 and oxygen-18 abundances were measured in large mammal skeletal remains (tooth enamel, dentine and bone) from the Chiwondo Beds in Malawi, which were dated by biostratigraphic correlation to ca. 2.5 million years ago. The biologic isotopic patterns, in particular the difference in carbon-13 abundances between grazers and browsers and the difference in oxygen-18 abundances between semi-aquatic and terrestrial herbivores, were preserved in enamel, but not in dentine and bone. The isotopic results obtained from the skeletal remains from the Chiwondo Beds indicate a dominance of savannah habitats with some trees and shrubs. This environment was more arid than the contemporaneous Ndolanya Beds in Tanzania. The present study confirms that robust australopithecines were able to live in relatively arid environments and were not confined to more mesic environments elsewhere in southern Africa.
For reconstructing environmental change in terrestrial realms the geochemistry of fossil bioapatite in bones and teeth is among the most promising applications. This study demonstrates that alkaline earth elements in enamel of Hippopotamids, in particular Ba and Sr are tracers for water provenance and hydrochemistry. The studied specimens are molar teeth from Hippopotamids found in modern and fossil lacustrine settings of the Western Branch of the East African Rift system (Lake Kikorongo, Lake Albert, and Lake Malawi) and from modern fluvial environments of the Nile River.
Concentrations in enamel vary by ca. two orders of magnitude for Ba (120–9336 μg g−1) as well as for Sr (9–2150 μg g−1). Concentration variations in enamel are partly induced during post-mortem alteration and during amelogenesis, but the major contribution originates from the variable water chemistry in the habitats of the Hippopotamids which is dominated by the lithologies and weathering processes in the watershed areas. Amelogenesis causes a distinct distribution of Ba and Sr in modern and fossil enamel, in that element concentrations increase along profiles from the outer rim towards the enamel-dentin junction by a factor of 1.3–1.5. These elements are well correlated with MgO and Na2O in single specimens, thus suggesting that their distribution is determined by a common, single process. Presuming that the shape of the tooth is established at the end of the secretion process and apatite composition is in equilibrium with the enamel fluid, the maturation process can be modeled by closed system Rayleigh crystallization.
Enamel from many Hippopotamid specimens has Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca which are typical for herbivores, but the compositions extend well into the levels of plants and carnivores. Within enamel from single specimens these element ratios covary and provide a specific fingerprint of the Hippopotamid habitat. All specimens together, however, define subparallel trends with different Ba/Sr ranging from 0.1 to 3. This ratio varies on spatial and temporal scales and traces provenance signals as well as the fractionation of the elements in the hydrological cycle. Thus, Sr concentrations and Ba/Sr in enamel differentiate between habitats having basaltic or Archean crustal rocks as the ultimate sources of Sr and Ba. The provenance signal is modulated by climate change. In Miocene to Pleistocene enamel from the Lake Albert region, Ba/Sr decreases systematically with time from about 2 to 0.5. This trend can be correlated with changes in climate from humid to arid in vegetation from C3 to C4 biomass as well as with increasing evaporation of the lake water. The most plausible explanation is that with time, Ba mobility decreased relative to that of Sr. This can arise if preferential adsorption of Ba to clay and Fe-oxide-hydroxide is related to increasing aridification. Additionally, weathering solutions and lake water can become increasingly alkaline and barite becomes stable. In this case, Ba will be preferentially deposited on the watershed of Lake Albert and rivers with low Ba/Sr will feed the habitats of the Hippopotamids.
This study demonstrates that alkaline earth elements in enamel of hippopotamids, in particular Ba and Sr, are tracers for water provenance and hydrochemistry in terrestrial settings. The studied specimens are permanent premolar and molar teeth found in modern and fossil lacustrine sediments of the Western Branch of the East African Rift system (Lake Kikorongo, Lake Albert, and Lake Malawi) and from modern fluvial environments of the Nile River.
Concentrations in enamel vary by two orders of magnitude for Ba (120–9336 μg g−1) as well as for Sr (9–2150 μg g−1). The variations are partially induced during post-mortem alteration and during amelogenesis, but the major contribution originates ultimately from the variable water chemistry in the habitats of the hippopotamids which is controlled by the lithologies and weathering processes in the watershed areas. Amelogenesis causes a distinct distribution of MgO, Ba and Sr in modern and fossil enamel, in that element concentrations increase along profiles from the outer rim towards the enamel–dentin junction by a factor of 1.3–1.9. These elements are well correlated in single specimens, thus suggesting that their distribution is determined by a common, single process, which can be described by closed system Rayleigh crystallization of bioapatite in vivo.
Enamel from most hippopotamid specimens has Sr/Ca and Ba/Ca which are typical for herbivores. However, Ba/Sr ranges from 0.1 to 3 and varies on spatial and temporal scales. Thus, Sr concentrations and Ba/Sr in enamel differentiate between habitats having basaltic mantle rocks or Archean crustal rocks as the ultimate sources of Sr and Ba. This provenance signal is modulated by climate change. In Miocene to Pleistocene enamel from the Lake Albert region, Ba/Sr decreases systematically with time from 2 to 0.5. This trend can be correlated with changes in climate from humid to arid, in vegetation from C3 to C4 biomass as well as with increasing evaporation of the lake water. The most plausible explanation is that Ba mobility decreased with increasing aridification due to preferential deposition with clay and Fe-oxide-hydroxide or barite on the watershed of Lake Albert.
Neanderthal diet has been on the spotlight of paleoanthropological research for many years. The majority of studies that tried to reconstruct the diet of Neanderthals were based on the analysis of zooarchaeological remains, stable isotopes, dental calculus and dental microwear patterns. In the past few years, there have been a few studies that linked dental macrowear patterns of Neanderthals and modern humans to diet and cultural habits. However, they mostly focused on maxillary molars. Although mandibular molars have been widely used in microwear dietary research, little is known about their usage at the macroscopic scale to detect information about human subsistence strategies. In this study, we compare the macrowear patterns of Neanderthal (NEA), fossil Homo sapiens (FHS), modern hunter-gatherers (MHG), pastoralists, early farmers and Australian Aborigines from Yuendumu mandibular molars in order to assess their utility in collecting any possible information about dietary and cultural habits among diverse human groups. We use the occlusal fingerprint analysis method, a quantitative digital approach that has been successfully employed to reconstruct the diet of living non-human primates and past human populations. Our results show macrowear pattern differences between meat-eater MHG and EF groups. Moreover, while we did not find eco-geographical differences in the macrowear patterns of the fossil sample, we found statistically significant differences between NEA and FHS inhabiting steppe/coniferous forest. This latter result could be associated with the use of distinct technological complexes in these two species, which ultimately could have allowed modern humans to exploit natural resources in a different way compared to NEA.
Significance
Identifying the earliest members of the genus Homo is crucial for understanding when and where selective pressures resulted in its emergence from a Plio-Pleistocene hominin taxon. Our revision of a large part of the dental fossil record from southern Africa provides evidence suggesting a paucity of Homo remains and indicates increased levels of dental variation in australopith taxa. Results of the Ba/Ca, Sr/Ca, and elemental mapping of enamel and dentine also indicate that some of the purported Homo specimens show a paleoecological signal similar to that of the australopiths.
Abstract
The origins of Homo, as well as the diversity and biogeographic distribution of early Homo species, remain critical outstanding issues in paleoanthropology. Debates about the recognition of early Homo, first appearance dates, and taxonomic diversity within Homo are particularly important for determining the role that southern African taxa may have played in the origins of the genus. The correct identification of Homo remains also has implications for reconstructing phylogenetic relationships between species of Australopithecus and Paranthropus, and the links between early Homo species and Homo erectus. We use microcomputed tomography and landmark-free deformation-based three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to extract taxonomically informative data from the internal structure of postcanine teeth attributed to Early Pleistocene Homo in the southern African hominin-bearing sites of Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Drimolen, and Kromdraai B. Our results indicate that, from our sample of 23 specimens, only 4 are unambiguously attributed to Homo, 3 of them coming from Swartkrans member 1 (SK 27, SK 847, and SKX 21204) and 1 from Sterkfontein (Sts 9). Three other specimens from Sterkfontein (StW 80 and 81, SE 1508, and StW 669) approximate the Homo condition in terms of overall enamel–dentine junction shape, but retain Australopithecus-like dental traits, and their generic status remains unclear. The other specimens, including SK 15, present a dominant australopith dental signature. In light of these results, previous dietary and ecological interpretations can be reevaluated, showing that the geochemical signal of one tooth from Kromdraai (KB 5223) and two from Swartkrans (SK 96 and SKX 268) is consistent with that of australopiths.
Fossil dental remains are an archive of unique information for paleobiological studies. Computed microtomography based on X-ray microfocus sources (X-μCT) and Synchrotron Radiation (SR-μCT) allow subtle quantification at the micron and sub-micron scale of the meso- and microstructural signature imprinted in the mineralized tissues, such as enamel and dentine, through high-resolution “virtual histology”. Nonetheless, depending on the degree of alterations undergone during fossilization, X-ray analyses of tooth tissues do not always provide distinct imaging contrasts, thus preventing the extraction of essential morphological and anatomical details. We illustrate here by three examples the successful application of neutron microtomography (n-μCT) in cases where X-rays have previously failed to deliver contrasts between dental tissues of fossilized specimen.
New geochemical data from the Malawi Rift (Chiwondo Beds, Karonga Basin) fill a major spatial gap in our knowledge of hominin adaptations on a continental scale. Oxygen (δ18O), carbon (δ13C), and clumped (Δ47) isotope data on paleosols, hominins, and selected fauna elucidate an unexpected diversity in the Pleistocene hominin diet in the various habitats of the East African Rift System (EARS). Food sources of early Homo and Paranthropus thriving in relatively cool and wet wooded savanna ecosystems along the western shore of paleolake Malawi contained a large fraction of C3 plant material. Complementary water consumption reconstructions suggest that ca. 2.4 Ma, early Homo (Homo rudolfensis) and Paranthropus (Paranthropus boisei) remained rather stationary near freshwater sources along the lake margins. Time-equivalent Paranthropus aethiopicus from the Eastern Rift further north in the EARS consumed a higher fraction of C4 resources, an adaptation that grew more pronounced with increasing openness of the savanna setting after 2 Ma, while Homo maintained a high versatility. However, southern African Paranthropus robustus had, similar to the Malawi Rift individuals, C3-dominated feeding strategies throughout the Early Pleistocene. Collectively, the stable isotope and faunal data presented here document that early Homo and Paranthropus were dietary opportunists and able to cope with a wide range of paleohabitats, which clearly demonstrates their high behavioral flexibility in the African Early Pleistocene.