H.J. Birx ed. Encyclopedia of Anthropology. 3. SAGE Publications. 2006.

. ,group of hominids, which includes both and their prehuman ancestors through to a common ancestor also related to the apes. . In the old system, hominid refers solely to the bipedal ape lineage. The hominid in curren!: . understanding indudes both the lineages of the ~1 apes back to a common ancestor and the lineages of hum.ans backto a common ancestor. ·;s -Andrew J. Waskey

fo1~!~ ANTECESSOR

Hamo antecessor is the designation given a fossil Source: Photo by Eustoquio Molina. hominid from the Lower of Atapuerca, , defined in 1997 by Bermúdez de Castro, The extramolar sulcus is narrow. The lateral promi­ Arsuaga, Carbonell, Rosas, Martínez, and Mosquera, nentia is smooth and restricted to the level of M2. in Science magazine. The name antecessor is the Latin The design of the inner aspect of the corpus is similar word meaning "explorer," "pioneer;' or "early settler." to that of European Middle Pleistocene fossil;. Assigning this name, they emphasized that these Mandibular are buccolingually expanded hominids belong to the first population as yet known with respect to H. habilis s.s., but postcanine teeth are in the European continent. The fully modern mid­ smaller and within the range of H. ergaster, Horno facial morphology of the fossils antedates other evi­ erectus, and Hamo heidelbergensis. The maxillary dence of this by about 650,000 . The incisors are shovel-shaped. The mandibular canine midfacial and subnasal morphology of modern is mesiodistally short. humans may be a retention of a juvenile pattern that The holotype is a fragment of right mandibular was not yet present in Hamo ergaster. Consequently, bodywith Ml, M2, and M3 (ATD6-5) andan associ­ Hamo antecessor may represent the last common ated set of teeth from the same individual. Holtjtype ancestor for Neandertals and modern humans. and paratypes are provisionally housed in the Museo From 1994 to 1996, nearly 80 fossil remains Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain. The were recovered from level six (Aurora stratum) of the final repository of the fossils is the Museo de Burgos, Rleistocene site of Gran Dolina (TD), Sierra de Spain. Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain. These remains were found in sediments located about 1 m below the Matuyama­ - Eustaquio Malina Brunhes boundary. In 1997, Bermúdez de Castro and See also Atapuerca; Arsuaga, L.; Bermúdez De Castro, his colleagues described the TD6 fossils and defined J. a new , which exhibits a unique combination J. M.; Hominoids of cranial, mandibular, and dental traits. Midfacial topography shows a modern pattern and infraorbital •, Further Readings surface with true canine fossa. The supraorbital torus Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Arsuaga, J. L., Carbonen, is double~arched. The superior border of the tem­ E., Rosas, A., Martínez, I., & Mosquera, M .. ( 1997). poral squama is convex, and there is the presence of A hominid from the Lower Pleistocene of l a styloid process. The mylohyoid groove extends Atapuerca, Spain: Possible ancestor to Neander~als anteriorly nearly horizontal and courses into the and modern humans. Science, 276, 1392-1395. J mandibular body, the thickness of which is clearly less Carbonell, E., Bermúdez de Castro, J. M., Arsuaga, ! than that of H. ergaster and Horno habilis s.s. There is J. L., Díez, J. C., Rosas, A., Cuenca-Bescós, G., ' an absence of alveolar prominence at the M 1 level. -;.--·-..--.-...,~-~~,-·----~

skull, face, and dentition. In genéral, the skull is long, Sala, R., et al. (1995). Lower Pleistocene hominids and the forehead is low in profile. The face has and artifacts from Atapuerca-TD6 (Spain). Science, marked brow ddges, and the back of the skull has a 269, 826-830. marked projection for attachment of strong neck Fernández-Jalvo, Y., Diez, J. C., Bermódez de Castro, muscles. The skull bones are thick compared with J. M., Carbonell, E., & Arsuaga, J. L. (1996). Evidence modern humans. Many of the Asian specimens (in of early cannibalism. Science, 271, 277-278. particular) exhibit a sagittal keel, a ridge running ~ along the top of the skull. All specimens "ii lack the projecting chin of modern humans. Their robusticity notwithstanding, below the neck HOMO ERECTUS Hamo erectus looked very much like modern humans. Much of what we know about their postcranial skele­ ton (below the skull) comes from a nearly complete Horno erectus (literally "upright man") is an extinct skeleton from Lake Turkana, known as "WT 15000" hominin that lived between 1.8 million and 50,000 years or "Nariokotome Boy:' Nariokotome Boy would have ago. The first fossil found of this species (the type speci­ been quite tall if he had reached adulthood (perhaps men) was a skullcap discovered in 1891 by Eugene 180 cm, or 6') but the average height of Hamo erectus Dubois. However, the species was not named until 1894, was about 170 cm (5'7"). This size represents adra­ after a (thigh bone) was discovered not far from matic increase in stature compared with earlier the skullcap. The femur was nearly identical to that of Horno. Postcranial remains establish that Homo erec­ a modern human, prompting Dubois to name a new tus was a committed biped with none of the adapta­ species: Pithecanthropus erectus (literally "upright ape­ tions to tree climbing observed in earlier hominins. lt rnan"). Both fossils were found in Trinil, Java. The type has been sµggested that their somewhat narrower specimen was named "Trinil 2" and the femur "Trinil 3:' hips indicate that there were more efficient bipeds They are more commonly known as "." than the average modern human. In 1927, Davidson Black named a new species Compared with earlier hominins, Horno erectus Sinanthropus erectus (literally "Northern updght exhibited greater control over its environment. This man"), based on a tooth discovered at Zhoukoudian species developed a more sophisticated tool kit and near Bejing (Peking), China. The later discovery of may have mastered how to control fire. In addition, 14 calvada (skull caps), limb bones, and many more it was very likely the first hominin to move outside teeth strengthened his claim. One of these calvada Africa. Homo erectus is known for developing became better known as "." As more fos­ tools. These tools are found in high densi­ sils of erectus-like hominins were discovered, paleo­ ties in Africa, , and western/south Asia and are anth,ropologists began to recognize the similarities rare in East Asia. Like the tools used by between Pithecanthropus/ Sinanthropus and speci­ Horno habilis, Acheulean tools did not have special­ mens that had been assigned to the genus Homo. ized purposes. The Acheulean hand (a pear­ Eventually, both Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus shaped tool with sharp edges on all sides and a fossils were subsumed into the species Horno erectus. picklike point) was likely a kind of"Swiss Army " .., The morphology of Homo erectus changed very used to cut, scrape, pound, and dig. In addition to little over its 1.8 million years of existence. Compared hand , the Acheulean tool kit included cleavers, .,,, with and earlier Horno, Horno erec­ scrapers, and notched tools. The greater diversity óf tus had smaller teeth, a shorter face, and a humanlike tools likely indicates greater reliance on them. projecting nose. The numerous skulls that have been Where and when hominins first began to use an¡d discovered show a significant increase in brain size control fire is the topic of much disagreement.' Sorne compared with earlier hominins. On average, the paleoanthropologists attribute this innovation to Honlo cranial capacity of Homo erectus was about 900 ce, erectus. The earliest, although highly questionablk. although its range (750 cc-1,250 ce) overlaps that of claim comes from East Africa (Koobi Fora) and datJs modern humans (1,000 cc-:-2,000 ce). to about 1.5 million years ago. Other, also dubious evf­ Compared with modern humans, Horno erectus dence comes from South Africa (Swartkrans), dating t~ · possessed a robust and somewhat primitive-looking 1 million years ago. Until recently, the best-supportekl