爪哇人类演化的新近图景

THE CURRENT PICTURE OF HOMINID EVOLUTION IN JAVA

爪哇人类演化的新近图景Ｄ．Ｅ．泰勒（美国爱达荷大学人类学系）自从杜布哇（Ｅ·Ｄｕｂｏｉｓ）最初发现化石以来，所有重要的人类化石是由中爪哇的当地农民发现的．最古老的化石产自桑吉兰（Ｓａｎｇｉｒａｎ）的上卡利本（Ｋａｌｉｂｅｎｇ）层和普坎甘（Ｐｕｃａｎｇ...

Of the four major geographical areas where fossil hominids are found, Southeast Asia is the least understood. Except for some isolated teeth the only fossil hominid remains are from sites near the Ngandong (Solo) River of Java. All of the major discoveries of HOrn o erectus have been made by local farmers except for the original“Pithecunthropos” find of 1891. In 1949, based on the large she of a single mandible, G.H.R. von Koenigswald named a new hominid genus “Meganthropus“. Today there is no agreement among the authorities concerning the taxonomic status of the mandibular specimens that have been assigned to the genus, “Meganthropu”. Despite morphological differences mostly related to extreme size, these mandibles have been assigned by most authorities to a proposed highly sexually dimorphic population of early H.erects in Java. New evidence of cramal material has made this proposal even more problematic. Sangiran 31 consists of nearly complete left and right parietals, part of the left temporal, and an occipiral. The overall morphology is different from any known specimen of H.erects. An undescribed specimen, Sangiran 27, consists of a nearly complete but crushed cranium. The palate and dentition are intact and are within the size range found for the“theanthropos” type specimen and outside the range of known H. erectus specimens. It also possesses a double sagittal ridge.“Meganthropos” may be valid and represent an additional hominid genus in Southeast Asia.