Biology Reference
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early hominins. Splitters who focus on variation have placed WT 15K in various
species including
Homo erectus, Homo ergaster,
or
Homo microcranous
(Tattersall 2007).
52. The date for the origin of
Homo
is not yet known, although remains as
old as 2.4 million years have been attributed to this genus.
53. Gabunia and Vekua 1995; Gabunia et al. 2000; Vekua et al. 2002; Lord-
kipanidze et al. 2005, 2006, 2007.
54. Rightmire, Lordkipanidze, and Vekua 2006.
55. Rightmire, Lordkipanidze, and Vekua 2006.
56. Tattersall 2007.
57. Lordkipanidze et al. 2007.
58. The skull (D2700) had been described earlier, but the bones from below
the head had not. According to Lee (2005), the gracile form of the skull suggests
that the individual was female, but the upper canine teeth are consistent with
its having been male. The range of the stature estimates provided by Lordki-
panidze and his colleagues (2007), uncorrected for age, for the Dmanisi youth
was 4'9" to 5'3". The range of the stature estimates, uncorrected for age, for WT
15K was 4'11" to 5'7".
59. Despite the increase in absolute brain size of the Dmanisi hominins com-
pared with that of australopithecines, the many stone tools found at Dmanisi
were similar to the most primitive kind of tools that appeared in East Africa
as long ago as 2.6 million years (identified as Oldowan Mode 1 artifacts). More
sophisticated Oldowan-like tools were not found at the site. See Gabunia et al.
2000 for details.
60. Gabunia et al. 2000.
61. Gabunia et al. 2000, 1025.
62. According to Gibbons (2007) , this suggests “that a dramatic reorganiza-
tion for the orientation of the upper arm and shoulder, which allows overhead
throwing (and piano playing), came relatively late in the evolution of humans.”
63. Spoor et al. 2007. The derived features of KNM-ER 42700 include cra-
nial vault keeling and a mastoid process that is well separated from the petrous
crest.
64. Dart 1956.
65. Rightmire, Lordkipanidze, and Vekua 2006.
66. Rightmire, Lordkipanidze, and Vekua 2006, 138.
67. Tattersall 2007, 1651.
68. As discussed earlier, the discoverers of Kadanuumuu (Haile-Selassie et
al. 2010) disagree with this interpretation.
