Abstract
The paucity of early Pleistocene hominin fossils in Eurasia hinders an in-depth discussion on their paleobiology and paleoecology. Here we report on the earliest large-bodied hominin remains from the Levantine corridor: a juvenile vertebra (UB 10749) from the early Pleistocene site of ‘Ubeidiya, Israel, discovered during a reanalysis of the faunal remains. UB 10749 is a complete lower lumbar vertebral body, with morphological characteristics consistent with Homo sp. Our analysis indicates that UB-10749 was a 6- to 12-year-old child at death, displaying delayed ossification pattern compared with modern humans. Its predicted adult size is comparable to other early Pleistocene large-bodied hominins from Africa. Paleobiological differences between UB 10749 and other early Eurasian hominins supports at least two distinct out-of-Africa dispersal events. This observation corresponds with variants of lithic traditions (Oldowan; Acheulian) as well as various ecological niches across early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 1721 |
| Journal | Scientific Reports |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2 Feb 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022, The Author(s).
Funding
We would like to dedicate this paper to the late Ofer Bar Yosef and Eitan Tchernov which were engaged with the ‘Ubeidiya excavations for over 30 years and contributed to our discussions on the topic of out of Africa and the paleobiology of early Homo. We thank Rivka Rabinovich from the National Natural History Collections, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for providing access to UB 10749 and the mammalian fauna from ‘Ubeidiya; Tamar Dayan and Amos Belmaker from the Steinhart Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University for providing access to comparative mammalian sample; the National Museums of Kenya, Emma Mbua, Fredrick Kyalo Manthi, and Fred Spoor for providing the CT scans of KNM-WT 15000. This study was funded the National Science Foundation to Miriam Belmaker (grant number 1851613) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to Markus Bastir (CGL2015-63648-P; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, and PID2020-115854GB-I00; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation), and by The University of Tulsa Faculty Research Grant Program. Maps in Fig. a, b were created by Emil Aladjem, and Israel Antiquities Authority. Aerial photograph of the site of Ubeidiya in Fig. c was taken by Alex Wiegmann, Israel Antiquities Authority, as part of this ongoing project. We would like to dedicate this paper to the late Ofer Bar Yosef and Eitan Tchernov which were engaged with the ?Ubeidiya excavations for over 30 years and contributed to our discussions on the topic of out of Africa and the paleobiology of early Homo. We thank Rivka Rabinovich from the National Natural History Collections, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for providing access to UB 10749 and the mammalian fauna from ?Ubeidiya; Tamar Dayan and Amos Belmaker from the Steinhart Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University for providing access to comparative mammalian sample; the National Museums of Kenya, Emma Mbua, Fredrick Kyalo Manthi, and Fred Spoor for providing the CT scans of KNM-WT 15000. This study was funded the National Science Foundation to Miriam Belmaker (grant number 1851613) and by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to Markus Bastir (CGL2015-63648-P; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity, and PID2020-115854GB-I00; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation), and by The University of Tulsa Faculty Research Grant Program. Maps in Fig. 1 a, b were created by Emil Aladjem, and Israel Antiquities Authority. Aerial photograph of the site of Ubeidiya in Fig. 1 c was taken by Alex Wiegmann, Israel Antiquities Authority, as part of this ongoing project.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Alex Wiegmann, Israel Antiquities Authority | |
| Emil Aladjem, and Israel Antiquities Authority | |
| KNM-WT | 15000 |
| National Museums of Kenya | |
| National Science Foundation to Miriam Belmaker | 1851613 |
| Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation to Markus Bastir | CGL2015-63648-P |
| Steinhart Museum of Natural History | |
| University of Tulsa | |
| Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | PID2020-115854GB-I00 |
| Tel Aviv University | |
| Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación |