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| Homo bodoensis Roksandic, Radović, Wu & Bae, 2021 |
Abstract
Recent developments in the field of palaeoanthropology necessitate the suppression of two hominin taxa and the introduction of a new species of hominins to help resolve the current nebulous state of Middle Pleistocene (Chibanian) hominin taxonomy. In particular, the poorly defined and variably understood hominin taxa Homo heidelbergensis (both sensu stricto and sensu lato) and Homo rhodesiensis need to be abandoned as they fail to reflect the full range of hominin variability in the Middle Pleistocene. Instead, we propose: (1) introduction of a new taxon, Homo bodoensis sp. nov., as an early Middle Pleistocene ancestor of the Homo sapiens lineage, with a pan-African distribution that extends into the eastern Mediterranean (Southeast Europe and the Levant); (2) that many of the fossils from Western Europe (e.g. Sima de los Huesos) currently assigned to H. heidelbergensis s.s. be reassigned to Homo neanderthalensis to reflect the early appearance of Neanderthal derived traits in the Middle Pleistocene in the region; and (3) that the Middle Pleistocene Asian fossils, particularly from China, likely represent a different lineage altogether.
Keywords: hominin taxonomy, Homo bodoensis, Homo heidelbergensis, Homo rhodesiensis, Middle Pleistocene
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| Homo bodoensis sp. nov. holotype partial cranium Bodo 1 (Middle Awash, Ethiopia). Frontal (a), left lateral (b), superior (c) inferior (d) views. Scale bar: 5 cm. |
Order Primates Linnaeus 1758.
Suborder Anthropoidea Mivart 1864.
Superfamily Hominoidea Gray 1825.
Family Hominidae Gray 1825.
Tribe Hominini Gray 1825.
Genus Homo Linnaeus 1758.
Homo bodoensis sp. nov.
Etymology: The name bodoensis refers to the site of Bodo D'ar where the fossil specimen Bodo 1 was discovered.
Holotype: Bodo 1, a partial cranium of an adult (presumably male) individual, preserving the face and the anterior braincase, found in autumn 1976 by Alemayehu Asfaw, Paul Whitehead and other members of the Rift Valley Research Mission in Ethiopia headed by Jon Kalb.123, 124 The specimen is currently curated in the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Type locality: Bodo D'ar, the Middle Awash research area, Afar Depression, the northwestern part of the former Hararghe Province, Ethiopia.
Geological age and stratigraphic position: Upper Bodo Sand Unit.123 Dated to ca. 600 ka by laser-fusion 40Ar/39Ar technique (0.64 ± 0.03 Ma), biostratigraphy and tephrochronology.127
Archaeological context: The specimen is associated with an Acheulean stone tool assemblage.
Species diagnosis: The species is diagnosed by a unique combination of cranial traits. The Bodo specimen has already been described as showing a mix of H. erectus-like and H. sapiens-like features. The species is similar to H. erectus in having: a robustly built midface; total facial prognathism128; projecting tori and a flattened low frontal squama; sagittal keeling; a low vault profile; a prominent parietal angular torus; thick vault bones; no foramen lacerum is observable—it is presented as a narrow crevice.20, 128 These traits can be linked to the retention of the general cranial structure from H. erectus. Traits similar to other Middle Pleistocene and later hominin taxa include: increased cranial capacity and associated traits (broader frontal and mid-vault, reduced postorbital constriction, signs of parietal bossing, high and arched temporal squama), a vertical (rather than forward sloping) nasal margin, and the position of the incisive canal in front of the hard palate. Excessively thick and projecting, but segmented brow ridges, with the incipient division of the brow at mid-orbit and attenuated laterally may be considered a distinctive trait of the species.
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| A simplified model for the evolution of the genus Homo over the last 2 million years, with Homo bodoensis sp. nov. positioned as the ancestral (mostly African) form of Homo sapiens |
Mirjana Roksandic, Predrag Radović, Xiu-Jie Wu and Christopher J. Bae. 2021. Resolving the “Muddle in the Middle”: The Case for Homo bodoensis sp. nov. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. DOI: 10.1002/evan.21929
