ArticleNature ecology & evolution2021
Drimolen cranium DNH 155 documents microevolution in an early hominin species.
Article in Nature ecology & evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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14 citing papers in PubMed.
- Dietary Adaptation in Paranthropus robustus Postcanine Teeth.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Article
- Clades, Grades, and the Genus Problem: A Case for Revising Hominin Taxonomy.American journal of biological anthropology · 2026Review
- Evaluating the Evolvability of Paranthropus Cranial Morphology in Relation to Feeding Biomechanics.American journal of biological anthropology · 2025Article
- Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern AfricanScience (New York, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Review
- Why the geosciences are becoming increasingly vital to the interpretation of the human evolutionary record.Nature ecology & evolution · 2023Review
- Hominin fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen informScience advances · 2023Article
- Interspecific interactions between sympatric apes.iScience · 2022Article
- New fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen, South Africa, and their distinctiveness among Paranthropus robustus.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Dental data challenge the ubiquitous presence ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2022Article
- Mechanical compensation in the evolution of the early hominin feeding apparatus.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2022Article
- Molar biomechanical function in South African homininsInterface focus · 2021Article
- Cochlear shape distinguishes southern African early hominin taxa with unique auditory ecologies.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Divergence-time estimates for hominins provide insight into encephalization and body mass trends in human evolution.Nature ecology & evolution · 2021Article
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11 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Paranthropus robustus is a small-brained extinct hominin from South Africa characterized by derived, robust craniodental morphology. The most complete known skull of this species is DNH 7 from Drimolen Main Quarry, which differs from P. robustus specimens recovered elsewhere in ways attributed to sexual dimorphism. Here, we describe a new fossil specimen from Drimolen Main Quarry, dated from approximately 2.04-1.95 million years ago, that challenges this view. DNH 155 is a well-preserved adult male cranium that shares with DNH 7 a suite of primitive and derived features unlike those seen in adult P. robustus specimens from other chronologically younger deposits. This refutes existing hypotheses linking sexual dimorphism, ontogeny and social behaviour within this taxon, and clarifies hypotheses concerning hominin phylogeny. We document small-scale morphological changes in P. robustus associated with ecological change within a short time frame and restricted geography. This represents the most highly resolved evidence yet of microevolutionary change within an early hominin species.
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