中更新世晚期中国古人类化石的形态多样性及其演化意义

  • 刘武 ,
  • 吴秀杰
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  • 中国科学院脊椎动物演化与人类起源重点实验室,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所, 北京 100044
刘武,研究员,主要从事古人类学研究。E-mail: liuwu@ivpp.ac.cn

收稿日期: 2022-03-09

  修回日期: 2022-05-10

  网络出版日期: 2022-08-10

基金资助

中国科学院战略性先导科技专项(XDB26000000)

Morphological diversities and evolutionary implications of the late Middle Pleistocene hominins in China

  • Wu LIU ,
  • Xiujie WU
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  • Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044

Received date: 2022-03-09

  Revised date: 2022-05-10

  Online published: 2022-08-10

摘要

近年对许家窑、许昌、华龙洞、澎湖、夏河、哈尔滨等人类化石开展的系统研究,引发了学界对中更新世晚期人类演化及分类的不同认识。基于对相关中国人类化石形态特征的分析,作者提出这一时期中国人类化石形态特征表现为四种类型:1)以中更新世晚期人类共有特征为主;2)以原始特征为主;3)以现代特征为主;4)独特形态组合。多数化石形态特征表现为前三种类型,而许昌和许家窑这种以硕大的头骨和巨大颅容量构成的独特形态组合在其他同时期化石还没有发现。化石形态的多样性提示,不同类型的中更新世晚期中国古人类对现代人的形成贡献不同。作者认为在该时期的人类化石形态多样性规律还未阐明的情况下,将具有混合或镶嵌特征的相关人类化石归入分类地位不确定的人群较为合适。

本文引用格式

刘武 , 吴秀杰 . 中更新世晚期中国古人类化石的形态多样性及其演化意义[J]. 人类学学报, 2022 , 41(04) : 563 -575 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2022.0024

Abstract

The hominin fossils have been found in more than 20 late Middle Pleistocene sites in present China. For many years, these fossils have been classified as archaic Homo sapiens, intermediate between Homo erectus and early modern humans, and the ancestors of modern humans in East Asia. However, such an opinion has never been widely accepted in paleoanthropological community. There have been debates on the evolution and taxonomy of late Middle Pleistocene hominins in China and around the world. Since 21st century, some noticeable progresses on the late Middle Pleistocene hominin evolution in China have been achieved. The discoveries and studies on the hominin fossils of Penghu, Xuchang, Hualongdong, Xiahe and Harbin greatly enriched the hominin fossil record in China. Studies on the late Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils in China revealed complicated morphological diversities indicating simply classifying all the hominins of this time period into archaic Homo sapiens cannot accurately reflect the evolutionary patterns of Middle Pleistocene hominins in China. According to the studies of the hominin fossils from Xujiayao, Xuchang, Hualongdong, Xiahe and Harbin, some new opinions on the evolutionary pattern and taxonomy of the late Middle Pleistocene hominins in China have been proposed and triggered different understandings.

In this study, with analyzing the morphological diversities of late Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils in China, four types of the diversities were identified. Xuchang and Xujiyao are characterized with huge-sized crania and cranial capacity (1800 mL and 1700 mL respectively) with some Neanderthal features. These features occurred together in Xuchang and Xujiayao crania constitute unique morphological combinations which have not been found in all other contemporaneous hominin fossils. The other types of morphological diversities are characterized with 1) dominant common sharing features of late Middle Pleistocene hominins; 2) mainly primitive features; and 3) mainly derived or modern features. These morphological diversities suggest that not all the late Middle Pleistocene hominins in China contributed the formation of modern humans equally. Regarding the opinions that put some of the hominin fossils into different Homo members or taxa, the authors believe that at the present with no fully understanding these morphological diversities, treating the related late Middle Pleistocene hominin fossils in China with combined or mosaic morphological features as populations of unclear taxonomic status is a proper way.

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