RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 A reassessment of the Montmaurin-La Niche mandible (Haute Garonne, France) in the context of European Pleistocene human evolution
A1 Vialet, Amélie .
A1 Modesto Mata, Mario
A1 Martinón Torres, María
A1 Martínez de Pinillos, Marina .
A1 Bermúdez de Castro, José María
K1 Paleontology
K1 Paleontología
AB We here present a comparative study of the Montmaurin-LN Middle Pleistocene mandible(Haute-Garonne, France). This mandible, of which its right and left molar series are preservedin situ, was found in La Niche cave (Montmaurin's karst system) in 1949, and wasfirst attributed to the `Mindel-Riss' interglacial (= MIS 9 to 11) based on its geological context.Later studies based on geological and faunal evidence have attributed the Montmaurin-LNmandible to MIS 7. Following a detailed morphological and metric comparative study of themandible in the 1970s, it was interpreted in the light of a still limited fossil record and the prevailingparadigm back then. Waiting for geochronological studies in the forthcoming years,here we review the main morphological and metrical features of this mandible and itsmolars, which have been reassessed in the framework of a remarkably enlarged Pleistocenefossil record since the mandible was first described, and our current, more in-depthunderstanding of human evolution in Europe. Using a selection of mandibular features withpotential taxonomic signal we have found that the Montmaurin-LN mandible shares only afew derived traits with Neandertals. Our analyses reveal that this mandible is more closelyrelated to the ancient specimens from the African and Eurasian Early and Middle Pleistocene,particularly due to the presence of primitive features of the Homo clade. In contrast,the external morphology of the molars is clearly similar to that of Neandertals. The resultsare assessed in the light of the present competing hypotheses used to explain the Europeanhominin fossil record.
PB Public Library of Science
SN 1932-6203
YR 2018
FD 2018-01
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10259/4728
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10259/4728
LA eng
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO), project CGL2015-65387-C3-1.
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos
RD 23-nov-2024