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. 2006 Mar 7;103(10):3552-6.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0508681103. Epub 2006 Feb 27.

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

Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. krr@udel.edu

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

Karen R Rosenberg et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .
. 2006 Mar 7;103(10):3552-6.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.0508681103. Epub 2006 Feb 27.

Affiliation

  • 1 Department of Anthropology, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. krr@udel.edu

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.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: No conflicts declared.

Figures

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1.

The cranium, left os coxae,…

Fig. 1.

The cranium, left os coxae, and left ulna of the Jinniushan specimen. Note…

Fig. 1.
The cranium, left os coxae, and left ulna of the Jinniushan specimen. Note that the different skeletal elements are not reproduced to the same scale.
Fig. 2.

Fig. 2.

The cast of the Jinniushan…

Fig. 2.

The cast of the Jinniushan os coxae in position for measurement of total…

Fig. 2.
The cast of the Jinniushan os coxae in position for measurement of total pelvic breadth (biiliac breadth) as described in the text. The sacrum is an unassociated modern human sacrum that allowed us to visually determine the position of the midline. Maximum perpendicular distance from the lateral edge of the iliac crest to the midline was taken and then doubled to estimate biiliac breadth. Note that, because of parallax and foreshortening in the photograph, exact dimensions cannot be measured on the figure.
Fig. 3.

Fig. 3.

The relationship between ulna length…

Fig. 3.

The relationship between ulna length and biiliac breadth in modern humans. Open symbols…

Fig. 3.
The relationship between ulna length and biiliac breadth in modern humans. Open symbols represent modern East Africans, and filled symbols represent modern Inupiats/Aleuts. Open stars represent KNM-WT 15000 and Sahaba 16, and filled stars represent Atapuerca, Kebara, La Chapelle-aux-Saints 1, and Jinniushan (circled). The vertical bar shows the 95% confidence interval of the estimate of Jinniushan’s biiliac breadth.

References

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