Year: 2015
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: In this chapter we explore the possibility of subspecific divergence in Plio-Pleistocene hominins.The fossil record is patchy and hence it is notoriously difficult to assess adequately whether structured variation, required to assign subspecies, is present.We therefore use a referential models to investigate the likelihood of tropical hominin subspecies in the context of knowledge about modern African catarrhines, emphasising the relationship between subspecies occurrence and species range.Hominin species ranges are reconstructed on the basis of known fossil localities and with GIS tools designed to model distributions of living organisms.Palaeontological and palaeobiological evidence is then used within these models to make predictions about subspecies occurrence.We argue that two Plio-Pleistocene hominins, Australopithecus afarensis and Paranthropus boisei, may have included subspecies.Finally, we discuss how the behaviours of individuals and groups could provide the raw material for subspecific differentiation in hominins, using Wright's adaptive landscape as a framework.
Authors: Sarah Elton, Jason Dunn
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2489070319