Abstract:
The methods used to study human growth and development (auxology) have not previously been applied within the setting of hominin maturation (ontogeny). Ontogeny is defined here as the pattern of biological change into an adult form, both at the individual and species level. The hominin fossil record has a lack of recovered immature materials, due to such factors as taphonomic processes that destroy pre-adults; the fragility of immature compared to adult bone; and the lower mortality rates of juveniles compared to adults. The recent discovery of pre-adult hominin skeletal material from a single, homogeneous Homo naledi species from the Rising Star cave system in South Africa provides the opportunity for a broader application of auxology methods and thus the need to understand their use in a modern context. Human auxology studies benefit from a robust database, across multiple populations, and with longitudinal studies in order to assess the patterns and variations in typical growth, development and life history stages. Here, we review the approach, vocabulary, and methods of these human studies, investigate commonalities in data with the fossil record, and then advance the reconstruction of ontogeny for the extinct hominin species H. naledi. To this end, we apply an auxology model into the paleontological context to broadly predict H. naledi birthweight of the offspring at 2.06 kg with a range (±1 SD) of 1.89 to 2.24 kg, with a length at birth 45.5 cm. We estimate a H. naledi juvenile partial skeleton DH7 to be a height of 111-125 cm at death.
摘要:
以前尚未在人类成熟(个体发育)的背景下应用用于研究人类生长和发育(营养)的方法。个体发育在这里被定义为生物学改变为成人形式的模式,在个体和物种层面。古人类化石记录缺乏回收的未成熟材料,由于诸如破坏成年前的植物学过程等因素;与成年骨骼相比,未成熟骨骼的脆弱性;与成年人相比,青少年的死亡率较低。最近发现的成年前人类骨骼材料从一个单一的,来自南非新星洞穴系统的同质纳莱迪人物种为更广泛地应用辅助方法提供了机会,因此需要在现代背景下了解它们的使用。人体发育学研究受益于强大的数据库,跨多个种群,通过纵向研究来评估典型生长的模式和变化,发展和生活史阶段。这里,我们回顾了这种方法,词汇,以及这些人类研究的方法,用化石记录调查数据的共性,然后推进灭绝的人类物种H.naledi的个体发育重建。为此,我们将辅助模型应用于古生物学背景,以广泛预测后代的H.naledi出生体重为2.06kg,范围(±1SD)为1.89至2.24kg,出生时的长度为45.5厘米。我们估计H.naledi少年部分骨骼DH7在死亡时的高度为111-125厘米。