ArticlePloS one2014
Characterizing the evolutionary path(s) to early Homo.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed.
- Natural selection, genetic drift, and trait correlation shaped hominin midfoot evolution.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Is the human chin a spandrel? Insights from an evolutionary analysis of ape craniomandibular form.PloS one · 2026Article
- Evolving a Field: Can Evolutionary Theory Provide What the Study of Human Evolution Requires?American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Review
- Accelerated evolution increased craniofacial divergence between humans and great apes.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2025Article
- Rules of teeth development align microevolution with macroevolution in extant and extinct primates.Nature ecology & evolution · 2023Article
- From fossils to mind.Communications biology · 2023Review
- Skull variation in Afro-Eurasian monkeys results from both adaptive and non-adaptive evolutionary processes.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Drimolen cranium DNH 155 documents microevolution in an early hominin species.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Article
- Intense natural selection preceded the invasion of new adaptive zones during the radiation of New World leaf-nosed bats.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Article
- Brain enlargement and dental reduction were not linked in hominin evolution.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Numerous studies suggest that the transition from Australopithecus to Homo was characterized by evolutionary innovation, resulting in the emergence and coexistence of a diversity of forms. However, the evolutionary processes necessary to drive such a transition have not been examined. Here, we apply statistical tests developed from quantitative evolutionary theory to assess whether morphological differences among late australopith and early Homo species in Africa have been shaped by natural selection. Where selection is demonstrated, we identify aspects of morphology that were most likely under selective pressure, and determine the nature (type, rate) of that selection. Results demonstrate that selection must be invoked to explain an Au. africanus-Au. sediba-Homo transition, while transitions from late australopiths to various early Homo species that exclude Au. sediba can be achieved through drift alone. Rate tests indicate that selection is largely directional, acting to rapidly differentiate these taxa. Reconstructions of patterns of directional selection needed to drive the Au. africanus-Au. sediba-Homo transition suggest that selection would have affected all regions of the skull. These results may indicate that an evolutionary path to Homo without Au. sediba is the simpler path and/or provide evidence that this pathway involved more reliance on cultural adaptations to cope with environmental change.
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