Abstract
THE cranium of Olduvai hominid 24 has been claimed by M. D. Leakey, Clarke and L. S. B. Leakey1 to represent a member of the genus Homo, possibly a female Homo habilis. An unsigned comment in Nature, headed “Confusion Over Fossil Man”2, questions this attribution and claims that the new cranium does not fulfil all the generic criteria outlined in the definition of Homo proposed by Leakey, Tobias and Napier in 19643. In particular, it is claimed that Olduvai hominid 24, first, does not possess the minimum required cranial capacity of “about 600 cm3” and, second, possesses a “dished” face such as characterizes many known australopithecine crania but not Homo—on the forementioned definition.
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References
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TOBIAS, P. “Dished Faces”, Brain Size and Early Hominids. Nature 239, 468–469 (1972). https://doi.org/10.1038/239468a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/239468a0
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