Two hominid teeth recovered in Mohui cave are morphologically distinguished from Australopithecus in Af-rica, but close to Homo erectus in China. These teeth are therefore provisionally assigned to Homo erectus. The a...Two hominid teeth recovered in Mohui cave are morphologically distinguished from Australopithecus in Af-rica, but close to Homo erectus in China. These teeth are therefore provisionally assigned to Homo erectus. The associ-ated mammalian fauna include Gigantopithecus blacki, Nes-toritherium sp., Sus xiaozhu, Sus peii and Ailuropoda microta, which are typical early Pleistocene taxa in South China. The general characteristics of the Mohui faunal assemblage are similar to the Longgupo site, which is dated to 2 Ma, imply-ing a contemporaneity for the two sites. To date, compared with the discoveries in Africa, far fewer early Pleistocene hominid fossils have been recovered in Asia, and there are intensive controversies concerning their stratigraphic prove-nience and typological and temporal positions. The hominid fossils from Mohui cave, with their reliable biostratigraphic positions and distinct typological features, provide important evidence regarding the issue of early human origins and evo-lution.展开更多
基金This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.40163001)the Emergency Excavation Fund from the National Culture Relics Bureau of China+1 种基金special funds of“Talents Project in the New Century”of the Guangxi Government(Grant No.2001216)the National Science Foundation,USA.
文摘Two hominid teeth recovered in Mohui cave are morphologically distinguished from Australopithecus in Af-rica, but close to Homo erectus in China. These teeth are therefore provisionally assigned to Homo erectus. The associ-ated mammalian fauna include Gigantopithecus blacki, Nes-toritherium sp., Sus xiaozhu, Sus peii and Ailuropoda microta, which are typical early Pleistocene taxa in South China. The general characteristics of the Mohui faunal assemblage are similar to the Longgupo site, which is dated to 2 Ma, imply-ing a contemporaneity for the two sites. To date, compared with the discoveries in Africa, far fewer early Pleistocene hominid fossils have been recovered in Asia, and there are intensive controversies concerning their stratigraphic prove-nience and typological and temporal positions. The hominid fossils from Mohui cave, with their reliable biostratigraphic positions and distinct typological features, provide important evidence regarding the issue of early human origins and evo-lution.
