IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v6y2015i1d10.1038_ncomms8987.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Earliest modern human-like hand bone from a new >1.84-million-year-old site at Olduvai in Tanzania

Author

Listed:
  • Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo

    (IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes
    Complutense University)

  • Travis Rayne Pickering

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison
    Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS
    Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum))

  • Sergio Almécija

    (Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University
    Stony Brook University
    Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

  • Jason L. Heaton

    (Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS
    Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum)
    Birmingham-Southern College)

  • Enrique Baquedano

    (IDEA (Instituto de Evolución en África), Museo de los Orígenes
    Museo Arqueológico Regional, Plaza de las Bernardas s/n)

  • Audax Mabulla

    (Archaeology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam)

  • David Uribelarrea

    (Complutense University)

Abstract

Modern humans are characterized by specialized hand morphology that is associated with advanced manipulative skills. Thus, there is important debate in paleoanthropology about the possible cause–effect relationship of this modern human-like (MHL) hand anatomy, its associated grips and the invention and use of stone tools by early hominins. Here we describe and analyse Olduvai Hominin (OH) 86, a manual proximal phalanx from the recently discovered >1.84-million-year-old (Ma) Philip Tobias Korongo (PTK) site at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). OH 86 represents the earliest MHL hand bone in the fossil record, of a size and shape that differs not only from all australopiths, but also from the phalangeal bones of the penecontemporaneous and geographically proximate OH 7 partial hand skeleton (part of the Homo habilis holotype). The discovery of OH 86 suggests that a hominin with a more MHL postcranium co-existed with Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis at Olduvai during Bed I times.

Suggested Citation

  • Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo & Travis Rayne Pickering & Sergio Almécija & Jason L. Heaton & Enrique Baquedano & Audax Mabulla & David Uribelarrea, 2015. "Earliest modern human-like hand bone from a new >1.84-million-year-old site at Olduvai in Tanzania," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-8, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8987
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8987
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms8987
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms8987?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms8987. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.