Postcranium to inform hominin phylogeny: Asian paleoanthropology as a case study
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1Phylogenetic relationships of most hominin taxa are hotly debated. Traditionally, for analyses using morphology, those phylogenetic relationships have been studied thanks to craniodental anatomy. The postcranial skeleton has been withdrawn from these analyses because its morphology is considered as changing too quickly through time, especially in relation to locomotory constraints. However, this premise has never been formally evaluated. Taking advantage of decades of research on hominin postcranium, more than 200 qualitative and quantitative characters are described here in what is, to our knowledge, the first thorough phylogenetic analysis dedicated to these anatomical elements. All postcranial elements are included: spine, pelvis and upper and lower limbs. The most parsimonious tree obtained brings major insights into the phylogenetic relationships of hominins, especially for Asian taxa. Homo longi, known by the partial skeleton from Jinniushan, appear as a sister-taxon to the neanderthal lineage. While this relationship argues against previous analyses dedicated to this species carried out by other authors, it favors the hypothesis stating that H. longi and Denisovans (whose postcranium anatomy is virtually unknown so far) are synonyms. H. floresiensis, an insular species of which the postcranium was described as plesiomorphic for a recent member of the genus Homo, is in a derived position compared to H. erectus sensu lato. This position further arguments in favor of H. floresiensis being an island form of H. erectus not phylogenetically related to earlier Homo species or to australopiths. The general topology of the tree is congruent with previous phylogenies obtained through craniodental data. These findings point out that hominin postcranium carries a phylogenetic signal, not incompatible with the functional signal already well documented. In our view, the results advocate for future analyses aiming at using all available morphological evidence (i.e. including postcranial evidence) to rebuild phylogenetic relationships of hominins.
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Pierre Gousset, Jérémie Bardin et Florent Détroit, « Postcranium to inform hominin phylogeny: Asian paleoanthropology as a case study », Bulletins et mémoires de la Société d’Anthropologie de Paris [En ligne], 37(S) | 2025, mis en ligne le 16 janvier 2025, consulté le 13 février 2025. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/bmsap/14938 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/133ok
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