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On the Variability of the Dmanisi Mandibles

José Marı́a Bermúdez de Castro · María Martinón‐Torres · Mark Jan Sier · Laura Martín‐Francés

33 citations1/1 files storedPLoS ONE

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Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies Morphological variations and asymmetry

Abstract

The description of a new skull (D4500) from the Dmanisi site (Republic of Georgia) has reopened the debate about the morphological variability within the genus Homo. The new skull fits with a mandible (D2600) often referred as 'big' or 'enigmatic' because of its differences with the other Dmanisi mandibles (D211 and D2735). In this report we present a comparative study of the variability of the Dmanisi mandibles under a different perspective, as we focus in morphological aspects related to growth and development. We have followed the notion of modularity and phenotypic integration in order to understand the architectural differences observed within the sample. Our study reveals remarkable shape differences between D2600 and the other two mandibles, that are established early in the ontogeny (during childhood or even before) and that do not depend on size or sexual dimorphism. In addition, D2600 exhibits a mosaic of primitive and derived features regarding the Homo clade, which is absent in D211 and D2735. This mosaic expression is related to the location of the features and can be explained under the concept of modularity. Our study would support the possibility of two different paleodemes represented at the Dmanisi site. This hypothesis has been previously rejected on the basis that all the individuals were constrained in the same stratigraphic and taphonomic settings. However, our revision of the complex Dmanisi stratigraphy suggests that the accumulation could cover an undetermined period of time. Even if "short" in geological terms, the hominin accumulation was not necessarily synchronic. In the same line we discard that the differences between D2600 and the small mandibles are consequence of wear-related dentoalveolar remodeling. In addition, dental wear pattern of D2600 could suggest an adaptation to a different ecological niche than the other Dmanisi individuals.

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References

1964A New Species of The Genus Homo From Olduvai Gorge 2000Earliest Pleistocene Hominid Cranial Remains from Dmanisi, Republic of Georgia: Taxonomy, Geological Setting, and Age 2007Postcranial evidence from early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia 1995New four-million-year-old hominid species from Kanapoi and Allia Bay, Kenya 2013A Complete Skull from Dmanisi, Georgia, and the Evolutionary Biology of Early Homo 1979The functional significance of primate mandibular form 2002A New Skull of Early Homo from Dmanisi, Georgia 1995A Plio-Pleistocene hominid from Dmanisi, East Georgia, Caucasus

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2019Mandibular molar root and pulp cavity morphology in Homo naledi and other Plio-Pleistocene hominins 2023Making meaning from fragmentary fossils: Early Homo in the Early to early Middle Pleistocene 2018Variation among the Dmanisi hominins: Multiple taxa or one species?

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