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Palaeoanthropology

Asian Homo erectus converges in time

Nature volume 458, pages 153–154 (2009)Cite this article

Re-evaluation of the age of Zhoukoudian, a prominent site of Homo erectus occupation in China, prompts a rethink of the species' distribution in both the temperate north and the equatorial south of east Asia.

The first fossils of H. erectus were found at Trinil in Java, Indonesia, in 1892 by Eugène Dubois. It was Dubois who coined the name 'erectus', based on a thigh bone that indicated upright posture7. Homo erectus had a heavily armoured and thickened skull, with an adult brain size in the 650–1,250-cm3 range8 — the equivalent value for modern humans (H. sapiens) is 1,100–1,800 cm3. Homo erectus stood 145–180 cm tall9, walked fully upright with a modern-like human footprint10, and used stone tools. The species is easily distinguished from H. sapiens by its distinctive torso, which was much more barrel-shaped and larger in volume11.

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Figure 1: Prize site — the western wall of the main excavation at Zhoukoudian.

R. L. CIOCHON, UNIV. IOWA

Figure 2: Sites of Homo erectus fossils and artefacts in northern China and Java.

ESRI MAPS, C. A. GOINGS

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Russell L. Ciochon is in the Department of Anthropology University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. russell-ciochon@uiowa.edu,

    Russell L. Ciochon

  2. E. Arthur Bettis III is in the Department of Geoscience, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA. art-bettis@uiowa.edu,

    E. Arthur Bettis III

Authors
  1. Russell L. Ciochon
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  2. E. Arthur Bettis III
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Ciochon, R., Bettis III, E. Asian Homo erectus converges in time. Nature 458, 153–154 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/458153a

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