Body size is a central determinant of a species' biology and adaptive strategy, but the number of reliable estimates of hominin body mass and stature have been insufficient to determine long-term patterns and subtle interactions in these size components within our lineage. Here, we analyse 254 body mass and 204 stature estimates from a total of 311 hominin specimens dating from 4.4 Ma to the Holocene using multi-level chronological and taxonomic analytical categories. The results demonstrate complex temporal patterns of body size variation with phases of relative stasis intermitted by periods of rapid increases. The observed trajectories could result from punctuated increases at speciation events, but also differential proliferation of large-bodied taxa or the extinction of small-bodied populations. Combined taxonomic and temporal analyses show that in relation to australopithecines, earlyHomois characterized by significantly larger average body mass and stature but retains considerable diversity, including small body sizes. Within laterHomo, stature and body mass evolution follow different trajectories: average modern stature is maintained fromca1.6 Ma, while consistently higher body masses are not established until the Middle Pleistocene atca0.5–0.4 Ma, likely caused by directional selection related to colonizing higher latitudes. Selection against small-bodied individuals (less than 40 kg; less than 140 cm) after 1.4 Ma is associated with a decrease in relative size variability in laterHomospecies compared with earlierHomoand australopithecines. The isolated small-bodied individuals ofHomo naledi(ca0.3 Ma) andHomo floresiensis(ca100–60 ka) constitute important exceptions to these general patterns, adding further layers of complexity to the evolution of body size within the genusHomo. At the end of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene, body size inHomo sapiensdeclines on average, but also extends to lower limits not seen in comparable frequency since earlyHomo.
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