Re: Earliest Hominids
Alex Duncan (aduncan@mail.utexas.edu)
29 Jun 1995 12:54:41 GMT
In article <3sp58o$gib@portal.gmu.edu> HARRY R. ERWIN,
herwin@osf1.gmu.edu writes:
>I thought this, too, until I saw Holloway, Early Hominid Endocasts, in
>Tuttle, where he used a figure of 20 kg for A. africanus. His arguments
>make sense, too. It's a question of how much flesh you put on those bones,
>and 28-30 kg corresponds to a moderate degree of robustness, while 20 kg
I'm unfamiliar w/ this particular Holloway reference. More details?
Estimating body weight is problematic. I find it encouraging, however,
that regression equations using EITHER human or ape (or combination)
derivations for either articular surface dimensions or diaphyseal
dimensions seem to agree on around 28 - 30 kg for AL 288, and for Sts 14.
I agree that as we go back further, we might expect to see hominids
getting smaller and smaller. I suspect A. ramidus will turn out to be
smaller than the other Australopithecines, and that our common ancestor
w/ chimps may have weighed 10 - 15 kg.
Alex Duncan
Dept. of Anthropology
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78712-1086
512-471-4206
aduncan@mail.utexas.edu
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