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New Australopithecine Endocast, SK 1585, from Swartkrans, South Africa

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New Australopithecine Endocast, SK 1585, from Swartkrans, South Africa New Australopithecine Endocast, SK 1585, from Swartkrans, South Africa RALPH L. HOLLOWAY Deprrrtmrnt of Anthropology, Colttinbin University, New York, New York 10027 KEY WORDS Brain . Primates . Endocasts . Australopithecines. ABSTRACT The new SK 1585 endocast, found by Dr. Brain at Swartkrans, 1966, is that of a robust australopithecine, matching the endocast of the Olduvai Hominid 5 in volume, and being almost identical to it in morphology. Aside from Olduvai Hominid 5 it is the only robust australopithecine endocast com- plete enough to permit easy reconstruction, as only a small portion of the frontal lobe is missing. While the gyral and sulcal patterns are not clear, there are a number of features indicating that the brain is not that of a pongid, but that is has been reorganized to a hominid pattern, particularly the occipital, parietal, and temporal lobes. A new undistorted endocast, presuma- of visual inspection, after the surface of bly that of a robust australopithecine, the cast had been lightly rubbed with was discovered in January, 1966, by carbon shavings to enhance the surface Dr. C. K. Brain in the hillside dump rub- detail. Various combinations of lighting ble at Swartkrans (Brain, '70, '67). At the were employed to bring out features of kmd suggestion of Dr. Brain, I was in- cerebral morphology. vited to describe this endocast while visit- The volumetric determinations by water ing in Johannesburg during the early part displacement were carried out on plasti- of 1969. I am greatly indebted to Dr. cine reconstructed plaster copy, first Brain and Prof. P. V. Tobias for this checked for its accuracy against the orig- opportunity. inal endocast. A fuller discussion of the This report will be limited to the de- methods used, particularly on the Taung scription of the endocast, and its quanti- endocast, have been given by Holloway tative comparison with the Olduvai Hom- ('70). The volume of 530 cc is based on inid 5 endocast described by Tobias ('67), an average of five readings. as the research for a comprehensive com- The SK 1585 and Olduvai Hominid 5 parison of all australopithecine endocast endocasts were photographed together to specimens from both East and South emphasize their similarity. Hemi-endocasts Africa is still in progress. of each were prepared by selecting three points along the midsagittal plane of each MATERIALS ANE METHOES endocast. Using these three points to de- Plaster endocasts of the earlier discov- fine a plane parallel to a flat table sur- ered australopithecines, STS 5, STS 60, face, a thin scribe was used to mark the Taung, and Olduvai hominid 5 were used midsagittal plane along the entire cir- for comparison. Latex rubber endocasts cumference of each cast. These were next of one adult male gorilla and one chim- sawn close to the line, and then smoothed panzee filled with plaster were also used exactly to the line with a belt sander. as a basis for comparison for the various The left portion of Olduvai Hominid 5 was cerebral indices. Both the original and then placed against the right half of plaster copies of the SK 1585 were uti- SK 1585, ,using both frontal and occipital lised, the latter measuring the same as poles for alignment. Once aligned, the the original. two halves were secured tightly with a The description of the morphology of the rubber band, and the whole was then SK 1585 endocast was made on the basis photographed. AM. J. PHYS. ANTHROP., 37: 173-186. 173 174 RALPH L. HOLLOWAY Fig. 1 Photograph of endocast with bone matrix, kindly provided by fir. C. K. Brain. Note openness of sutures. All chord measurements were taken must have rested on its right side, with with either sliding or spreading calipers the posterior portion inclined downward, to the nearest millimeter, and all arc mea- as only the frontal portion and left side surements were made with an anthro- are missing, and both occipital lobes and pometric flexible metal tape. The direct cerebelli are present. This fact allowed measurements for the Taung endocast for accurate determination of the mid- were not included with the SK 1585 skull, sagittal plane, so that a complete hemi- since the former is that of a child, but endocast could be reconstructed. the indices, based on ratios of measure- When first examined, the endocast was ments, were used in table 2. still partially covered with a highly fran- gible, eroded bone layer (see fig. 1); with Description Dr. Brain’s permission, this covering, plus part of the petrosal-filled matrix, was SK 1585 is a natural endocast of the carefully removed with a vibrator tool, right side of the cranium, formed by the and saved for future analysis. infiltration of very fine-grained sediments Clearing away this bone disclosed two through the foramen magnum into the important facts: (1) the sutures of the braincase, and subsequently hardened in skull were still patent, indicating a sub- situ by calcium carbonate. The skull adult individual; (2) there were three AUSTRALOPITHECINE ENDOCAST 175 areas in the frontal region just anterior endocast. The only areas requiring plas- to the coronal suture (see figs. 2, 4), sug- ticine additions were the tip and rostrum gesting that the bone had been fractured, of the frontal lobe, the inferior portion of probably at death, and that one fracture the medulla to the level of the foramen was produced by a sharp point. magnum, the hypophysial region, the re- The endocast is almost totally undis- mainder of the sigmoid vein, and a few torted and complete, and thus a mini- minor pits and depressions in the f'rac; mum of plasticine reconstruction was tured zone anterior and posterior to the necessary to prepare a complete hemi- coronal suture (see fig. 3). Fig. 2 Lateral view of cleaned endocast. Arrows show locations of fracture zones, the middle one being that of a conical point. Gyri and sulci are approximate only. P.T., pars triangularis; C, coronal suture; S.F., sylviaii fissure, C.S., central sulcus; S.Q.. squamous suture; S.T., superior temporal sulcus, M.T., medial temporal sulcus; H.F., great horizontal fissure of cerebellum; L.O., lateral occipital or prelunate; S.M.. supramarginal gyrus; S.P.L., superior parietal lobule. 176 RALPH L. HOLLOWAY Fig. 3 Lateral view of reconstructed endocast - gray areas are plasticine. This reconstruction permitted very ac- Because of the extremely fine-grained curate water displacement measures de- sediments which entered the cranial cav- scribed elsewhere (Holloway, ’70), giving ity to produce the endocast, and lack of a hemi-endocast capacity of 265 cc, there- any evidence for disturbance during its by a total volume of 530 cc, which is filling, the surface detail of this endocast exactly the same as that for the Olduvai is truly remarkable with respect to men- Hominid 5 (‘Zinj”) as given by Tobias ingeal patterns. Compared with all the C67). It is possible that this value is remaining australopithecine endocasts, slightly on the low side, as the imprint even the superb original Taung specimen, of the squamosal suture suggests a very SK 1585 has the greatest detail. How- slight degree of movement of the temporal ever this detail does not apply to the bone upward over the inferior margin of cerebral gyri and sulci, for on this endo- the parietal, running from the sylvian cast, most of them are not suitable for region to the posterior part of the tem- cortical reconstruction . poral lobe. This slight displacement was The occipital lobes, posterior to the surely postmortem, and would not sig- lambdoid suture, are “puckered’ and nificantly affect the final volume. While asymmetrical, the left being displaced the openness of the lambdoid, sagittal, downward relative to the right. The gyral coronal, and squamous sutures suggests configuration immediately anterior to the a subadult individual, it does not seem lambdoid suture does not provide an un- likely that any further significant growth equivocal lunate sulcus which in primate of the brain would have been realised if brains separates the visual sensory cortex the individual had lived longer. (areas 17, 18, 19) from the posterior pari- AUSTRALOPITHECINE ENDOCAS’I 177 Fig. 4 Enlargement of frontal portion of original endocast, showing fracture regions with dark arrows. eta1 “association” cortex. The constriction area appears larger and more rounded caused by the lambdoid suture probably than in pongid brain endocasts. The sur- occurs over the lunate sulcus, for an- face detail is not strong enough to differ- teriorly there is no indication of a sulcus entiate safely the orbital, opercular, and which could be interpreted as the lunate. triangular gyri of this region, however. Indeed, the gyri anterior to the suture all Similarly, the gyral and sulcal configura- appear to bend and retroflex somewhat tion of the parietal lobe is not strong anterior to the suture, and immediately enough to delineate clearly angular and behind the suture in the upper portion supramarginal gyri, but this endocast of the occipital lobe is a small lipping, the gives the strong impression that the pari- most superior ridge of which may repre- etal lobe was well developed in this regard, sent the lunate. In any event, the lunate and that the inferior parietal lobule is sulcus must be placed well posterior to certainly more expanded than in any pon- the position found on pongid endocasts gid brain. Again, this conclusion is based (see Connolly, ’50). Similarly, both the only on visual examination, and the high- expanded posterior and inferior aspect of er degree of curvature in this region. the temporal lobe, and its anterior tip, The cerebellar lobe, most complete on show a hominid rather than pongid con- the right side, is well-developed, well un- formation (see fig.
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