A Hominin Femur with Archaic Affinities from the Late Pleistocene of Southwest China

Abstract

The number of Late Pleistocene hominin species and the timing of their extinction are issues receiving renewed attention following genomic evidence for interbreeding between the ancestors of some living humans and archaic taxa. Yet, major gaps in the fossil record and uncertainties surrounding the age of key fossils have meant that these questions remain poorly understood. Here we describe and compare a highly unusual femur from Late Pleistocene sediments at Maludong (Yunnan), Southwest China, recovered along with cranial remains that exhibit a mixture of anatomically modern human and archaic traits. Our studies show that the Maludong femur has affinities to archaic hominins, especially Lower Pleistocene femora. However, the scarcity of later Middle and Late Pleistocene archaic remains in East Asia makes an assessment of systematically relevant character states difficult, warranting caution in assigning the specimen to a species at this time. The Maludong fossil probably samples an archaic population that survived until around 14,000 years ago in the biogeographically complex region of Southwest China.

The upper limb skeleton and behavioral lateralization of modern humans from Zhaoguo Cave, southwestern China

“…The Maludong (Curnoe, Ji, Liu, et al, 2015a) (Trinkaus, 2015;Trinkaus et al, 2014;Vandermeersch & Trinkaus, 1995 (Curnoe, Ji, Liu, et al, 2015a).…”

“…Orientation of the radial tuberosity on the shaft with respect to a coronal plane defined by the interosseous crest. Position 2 indicates an anteromedial position of the tuberosity on the shaft (see Trinkaus & Churchill, 1988 (Curnoe, Ji, Liu, et al, 2015a).…”

“…Postcranial evidence supporting this regional trend, however, is restricted to a single femur from Maludong that has been called relatively archaic human-like rather than modern human-like (Curnoe, Ji, Liu, et al, 2015a). Here we describe new postcranial skeletal remains from Zhaoguo Cave that will contribute to broadening the morphological and behavioral picture of humans from southwestern China around the Pleistocene-Holocene transition.…”

“…This is problematic because it adds to the difficulty in assessing regional morphological or behavioral trends across the transition. The few hominin remains from these regions that are dated to this period exhibit a mixture of archaic human‐like and modern human‐like features (Curnoe et al, 2012; Curnoe et al, 2015a, b; Ji et al, 2013; Ji, Wu, Wu, & Liu, 2014). Based largely on craniodental and femoral remains from the sites of Maludong (14,310 ± 340 cal.…”

“…Morphological differences between the human remains from southwestern and southern China have led some researchers to suggest that humans from Maludong and Longlin in southwestern China were probably a late‐surviving archaic population that was isolated from other contemporary human populations in China (Curnoe et al, 2012; Ji et al, 2013; Curnoe, Ji, Taçon, & Yaozheng, 2015b; a). Postcranial evidence supporting this regional trend, however, is restricted to a single femur from Maludong that has been called relatively archaic human‐like rather than modern human‐like (Curnoe, Ji, Liu, et al, 2015a). Here we describe new postcranial skeletal remains from Zhaoguo Cave that will contribute to broadening the morphological and behavioral picture of humans from southwestern China around the Pleistocene–Holocene transition.…”