Project 3730: Mongle C.S., Strait D.S., Grine F.E. 2023. An updated analysis of hominin phylogeny with an emphasis on re-evaluating the phylogenetic relationships of Australopithecus sediba. Journal of Human Evolution. 175:103311.
Abstract
The discovery and description of Australopithecus sediba has reignited the debate over the evolutionary history of the australopiths and the genus Homo. It has been suggested that A. sediba may be an ancestor of Homo because it possesses a mosaic of derived Homo-like and primitive australopith-like traits. However, an alternative hypothesis proposes that the majority of the purported Homo-like craniodental characters can be attributed to the juvenile status of the type specimen, MH1. We conducted an independent character assessment of the craniodental morphology of A. sediba, with particular emphasis on evaluating whether the ontogenetic status of MH1 may have affected its purported Homo-like characteristics. In doing so, we have also expanded fossil hypodigms to incorporate the new Australopithecus anamensis cranium from Woranso Mille (MRD-VP-1/1), as well as recently described Paranthropus robustus cranial remains from Drimolen (DNH 7, DNH 155). Morphological character data were analyzed using both standard parsimony and Bayesian techniques. In addition, we conducted a series of Bayesian analyses constrained to evaluate the hypothesis that Australopithecus africanus and A. sediba are sister taxa. Based on the results of the parsimony and Bayesian analyses, we could not reject the hypothesis that A. sediba shares its closest phylogenetic affinities with the genus Homo. Therefore, based on currently available craniodental evidence, we conclude that A. sediba is plausibly the terminal end of a lineage that shared a common ancestor with the earliest representatives of Homo. We caution, however, that the discovery of new A. sediba fossils preserving adult cranial morphology, or the inclusion of postcranial characters may ultimately necessitate a reevaluation of this hypothesis.Read the article »
Article DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103311
Project DOI: 10.7934/P3730, http://dx.doi.org/10.7934/P3730
This project contains | Matrices |
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Download Project SDD File | Total scored cells: 1849 Total media associated with cells: 0 Total labels associated with cell media: 0 |
Characters | |
Total characters: 107 Total characters with associated media: 0 Total characters with media with labels: 0 Total character states: 326 Total character states with associated media: 0 Total character states with media with labels:0 Total unordered/ordered characters:12/95 |
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MorphoBank Project 3730
MorphoBank Project 3730
- Creation Date:
12 May 2020 - Publication Date:
25 January 2023 - Project views: 3202
- Matrix downloads: 31
This research
supported by
Authors' Institutions
- University of Johannesburg
- Washington University - Saint Louis (WUSTL)
- American Museum of Natural History
- Stony Brook University
Members
member name | taxa | specimens | media | chars | character
| cell scorings (scored, NPA, "-") | cell
| rules | ||||||||
Carrie Mongle Project Administrator | 21 | 1 | 1 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 1849 (1849, 0, 0) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Taxonomic Overview for Matrix 'M28777' (21 Taxa)
taxon | unscored cells |
scored cells |
no cell support |
NPA cells |
"-" cells | cell images | labels on cell images |
member access |
[1] Colobus guereza Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 4 | 103 | 103 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[2] Papio Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 2 | 105 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[3] Hylobates Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 1 | 106 | 106 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[4] Pongo pygmaeus Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 0 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[5] Gorilla gorilla Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 0 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[6] Pan troglodytes Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 0 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[7] Sahelanthropus tchadensis Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 57 | 50 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[8] Ardipithecus ramidus Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 24 | 83 | 83 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[9] Australopithecus anamensis Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 35 | 72 | 72 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[10] Australopithecus afarensis Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 4 | 103 | 103 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[11] Kenyanthropus platyops Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 79 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[12] Australopithecus garhi Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 77 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[13] Australopithecus africanus Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 0 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[14] Australopithecus sediba Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 44 | 63 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[15] Paranthropus aethiopicus Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 26 | 81 | 81 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[16] Paranthropus robustus Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 2 | 106 | 105 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[17] Paranthropus boisei Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 1 | 106 | 106 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[18] Homo habilis Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 5 | 102 | 102 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[19] Homo rudolfensis Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 29 | 79 | 78 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[20] Homo ergaster Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 10 | 97 | 97 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
[21] Homo sapiens Last Modified in 05/20/22 | 0 | 107 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Project views
type | number of views | Individual items viewed (where applicable) |
Total project views | 3202 | |
Project overview | 390 | |
Matrix views | 324 | Matrix landing page (293 views); Craniodental character matrix (31 views); |
Media views | 764 | Media search (648 views); M688002 (116 views); |
Taxon list | 957 | |
Views for media list | 221 | |
Specimen list | 404 | |
Bibliography | 140 | |
Documents list | 2 |
Project downloads
type | number of downloads | Individual items downloaded (where applicable) |
Total downloads from project | 54 | |
Project downloads | 23 | |
Matrix downloads | 31 | Craniodental character matrix (31 downloads); |