Work

Body size, body proportions, and encephalization in a Middle Pleistocene archaic human from northern China

Year: 2006

Type: article

Abstract: The unusual discovery of associated cranial and postcranial elements from a single Middle Pleistocene fossil human allows us to calculate body proportions and relative cranial capacity (encephalization quotient) for that individual rather than rely on estimates based on sample means from unassociated specimens. The individual analyzed here (Jinniushan) from northeastern China at 260,000 years ago is the largest female specimen yet known in the human fossil record and has body proportions (body height relative to body breadth and relative limb length) typical of cold-adapted populations elsewhere in the world. Her encephalization quotient of 4.15 is similar to estimates for late Middle Pleistocene humans that are based on mean body size and mean brain size from unassociated specimens.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0508681103

Authors: Karen R. Rosenberg, Lü Zuné, Christopher B. Ruff

Institutions: University of Delaware, Peking University, Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Language: English

Topic: Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

Subfield: Anthropology

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2094917871

FWCI: 25.68

Cites: 37

Cited by: 153

Related to: 10