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Affinités Morphologiques Du Crâne De Sahelanthropus Tchadensis Document generated on 09/28/2021 1:30 p.m. M/S : médecine sciences Affinités morphologiques du crâne de Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Toumaï » Le plus ancien représentant de la famille humaine Morphological affinities of the Sahelanthropus tchadensis cranium: oldest representing of the human family Franck Guy, Daniel Lieberman, David Pilbeam, Marcia Ponce de Leon, Andossa Likius, Hassane Mackaye, Patrick Vignaud, Christoph Zollikofer and Michel Brunet Vieillissement Volume 22, Number 3, mars 2006 URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/012777ar See table of contents Publisher(s) SRMS: Société de la revue médecine/sciences Éditions EDK ISSN 0767-0974 (print) 1958-5381 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Guy, F., Lieberman, D., Pilbeam, D., de Leon, M. P., Likius, A., Mackaye, H., Vignaud, P., Zollikofer, C. & Brunet, M. (2006). Affinités morphologiques du crâne de Sahelanthropus tchadensis, Toumaï » : le plus ancien représentant de la famille humaine. M/S : médecine sciences, 22(3), 250–251. Tous droits réservés © M/S : médecine sciences, 2006 This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ NOUVELLE F. Guy, M. Brunet, P. Vignaud : Affinités­ Laboratoire de Géobiologie, morphologiques­du­crâne­ Biochronologie et Paléontologie Humaine, de­Sahelanthropus tchadensis,­ UMR CNRS 6046, Université de Poitiers, 40, avenue du Recteur Pineau, BP633, «­Toumaï­» 86022 Poitiers Cedex, France. Le­plus­ancien­représentant­ [email protected] de­la­famille­humaine [email protected] Franck Guy, Daniel Lieberman, David Pilbeam, D. Pilbeam, D. Lieberman : Marcia Ponce de Leon, Andossa Likius, Hassane Mackaye, Department of Anthropology, Patrick Vignaud, Christoph Zollikofer, Michel Brunet Peabody Museum, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138 États-Unis. [email protected] > Une équipe scientifique internatio- ges africains actuels (chimpanzés et M. Ponce de Leon, C. Zollikofer : nale a dévoilé récemment les résultats gorilles) et d’hommes modernes. Les Anthropologisches Institut, 8057 Zurich, Suisse. d’une étude détaillée du crâne de Tou- résultats obtenus confirment non seule- A. Likius, H.T. Mackaye : maï (Sahelanthropus tchadensis), le ment l’attribution de Toumaï à la famille Département de paléontologie, plus ancien représentant de la famille des hominidés - il est distinctement plus N’Djamena, Tchad. humaine. Cette étude, publiée aux Etats- proche de la morphologie des hominidés Unis par l’Académie Nationale des Scien- anciens que de celle des grands singes ces [1] s’inscrit dans les recherches africains - mais révèlent également une données quantitatives standard (mesu- menées au Tchad par la MPFT (Mission mosaïque unique de caractères anato- res linéaires, ratios…) complétée par des paléoanthropologique franco-tcha- miques primitifs et dérivés. Morphologi- méthodes d’analyses mathématiques de dienne)1 sur l’origine et l’évolution des quement, Toumaï se distingue clairement la forme. En effet, l’utilisation de dis- hominidés anciens ; elle fait suite à une des gorilles et des chimpanzés actuels et tances ou d’angles, bien qu’indispensa- série d’articles publiés dans la revue se positionne comme le groupe frère de ble, ne fournit qu’une vue fragmentée de Nature en 2002 et 2005 [2-5] qui décri- l’ensemble des hominidés plus récents la morphologie d’un fossile. Pour en avoir vent et analysent les restes de l’hominidé incluant l’homme moderne. une vue globale et pouvoir le comparer, tchadien âgé d’environ 7 millions d’an- Lorsque l’on étudie un fossile, on pro- d’un point de vue quantitatif, à d’autres nées, son environnement et la recons- cède généralement en deux étapes spécimens, les paléontologues disposent truction tridimensionnelle du crâne. principales : la caractérisation de sa de méthodes regroupées sous le nom de Une nouvelle étape vient d’être franchie morphologie et, sur cette base, sa com- « morphométrie géométrique ». Celles- dans la caractérisation et l’interpré- paraison avec un ensemble de spé- ci reposent aussi sur l’identification de tation de la morphologie de l’homi- cimens déterminants pour le groupe points anatomiques précis, mais cette nidé tchadien. Les auteurs, un groupe concerné. Les méthodes employées vont fois c’est leur position que l’on étudie. de neuf chercheurs français, américains, de la description anatomique détaillée, Le crâne est ainsi décrit par un ensemble suisses et tchadiens, s’appuyant sur la où l’on nomme et où l’on décrit les de points repères, appelés points homo- reconstruction tridimensionnelle récente structures identifiables, à l’acquisition logues, dont on acquiert les coordonnées de Toumaï [3] ont pu mesurer le degré de données chiffrées plus ou moins dans un plan ou dans l’espace, et c’est de similarité morphologique entre le complexes. La reconstruction virtuelle sur ces coordonnées que s’effectuent les crâne type de l’espèce Sahelanthropus du crâne de Toumaï a permis d’acqué- analyses. tchadensis, et des crânes d’hominidés rir davantage de données chiffrées en Les méthodes de morphométrie géomé- fossiles plus récents, de grands sin- supprimant les incertitudes liées aux trique fournissent de nombreuses infor- outrages du temps, c’est-à-dire un mations moins aisément accessibles à 1 La MPFT (Directeur Michel Brunet, Professeur à l’Université ensemble de déformations plastiques et partir de mesures linéaires. L’avantage de Poitiers) est une collaboration scientifique entre l’Uni- versité de Poitiers, le CNRS (Département des Sciences de la de fractures affectant sa morphologie. est notable dans le cas des comparaisons vie [SDV] et programme ECLIPSE), l’Université de N’Djaména L’étude du crâne de Toumaï présentée par entre différents spécimens. En effet, nous et le Centre National d’Appui à la Recherche (CNAR) de N’Djaména. Guy et al. [1] s’appuie sur une série de pouvons comparer un ensemble de crâ- ­250 M/S n° 3, vol. 22, mars 2006 229-251.indd 250 15/03/06 13:36:35 nes, par exemple des chimpanzés et des sur les autres, par translation, rotation chimpanzés et gorilles. L’appartenance de gorilles, en repérant sur chacun d’entre et mise à l’échelle, afin de minimiser Toumaï au rameau humain est donc bien eux des structures anatomiques homo- les distances entre les points de repères confirmée. logues à l’aide de points repères. Bien équivalents, désignant une même struc- L’analyse plus avancée des données mor- que l’ensemble de ces crânes présente ture anatomique. Les variations obser- phométriques a également permis de fondamentalement les mêmes structures vées entre les différentes configurations, préciser les caractères morphologiques osseuses (tous montrent une mâchoire, après alignement, sont interprétées via partagés entre Toumaï et les hominidés MAGAZINE deux orbites…), ils diffèrent par la taille des méthodes analytiques spécifiques fossiles plus récents et de révéler des et par la position relative de ces structu- en termes de similitudes et de diffé- caractères originaux de ce spécimen. res. En comparant les configurations de rences. Les résultats s’expriment le plus Ainsi, le crâne type de l’espèce S. tcha- points qui décrivent chaque crâne, nous généralement sous forme de graphes où densis montre, par exemple, une mor- obtenons une image globale de leurs simi- les spécimens comparés se dispersent phologie faciale singulière, très éloignée litudes et de leurs différences en termes en fonction de leur affinité morphologi- de celle des grands singes africains, de placement relatif des structures osseu- que : plus les configurations se ressem- combinant une face inférieure (région ses composant leur morphologie. Nous blent, plus les spé cimens sont proches subnasale) raccourcie et une face supé- NOUVELLES pouvons aussi estimer quelles structures sur le graphique. En comparant la posi- rieure (entre le nez et le sommet des sont principalement impliquées dans les tion relative des points repères localisés orbites) projetée en avant de la capsule variations morphologiques observées (la sur chacun des crânes, les auteurs ont cérébrale. face, l’arrière crâne, la zone frontale…), pu mettre en évidence différents types La mosaïque de caractères anatomi- comme si nous mesurions une à une cha- morphologiques avec trois groupes dis- ques primitifs et dérivés présentée par que structure pour reporter ensuite ces tincts : le premier comprenant exclusive- Toumaï pose de nombreuses questions mesures sur l’ensemble des crânes com- ment l’homme moderne, le second groupe quant aux relations de parenté au parés. La morphométrie géométrique offre comprenant les chimpanzés et les gorilles sein des hominidés anciens. À ce jour, en outre la possibilité de ne prendre en et le troisième les hominidés fossiles. Le considérer S. tchadensis comme le compte que les variations de forme, sans crâne de Toumaï se place sans ambiguïté seul représentant connu d’un groupe tenir compte de la taille : on peut, par dans ce dernier groupe des hominidés d’hominidés primitifs ancestral à tous exemple, estimer ce que seraient les dif- fossiles avec Australopithecus (A. africa- les hominidés plus récents apparaît férences entre un crâne de chimpanzé et nus, A. afarensis), Paranthropus (P. boi- comme l’hypothèse la plus probable. un crâne de gorille si ces deux animaux sei) et Homo (H. habilis). Ainsi, l’analyse Néanmoins, d’autres études, incluant avaient la même taille. La reconstruction du crâne reconstruit de Sahelanthropus notamment les genres Ardipithecus virtuelle du crâne de Toumaï, en éliminant tchadensis démontre qu’il était bien plus et Orrorin (Éthiopie et Kenya, Afrique les déformations affectant le spécimen proche morphologiquement des hominidés de l’Est), sont nécessaires pour tester original, permet donc l’application de ces plus récents, tels que les australopithè- cette hypothèse.
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