Friday, September 22, 2006

The Nature Article About the Child

The Nature article about the new Australopithecus afarensis child (which is behind a subscription wall) gives more details. The endocranial volume is estimated because the head is not quite complete and it overlaps with both ape and human ranges. Other things:

• craniodental characteristics place it with A. afarensis
• post crania clearly indicates bipedality
• scapular border is more ape-like than human

This is a really interesting mix of traits and lends more credence to the idea that A. afarensis was a transitional form in the truest sense of the phrase.

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