Recently identified postcranial remains of Paranthropus and early Homo from Swartkrans Cave, South Africa.

Abstract

Fifteen newly recognized hominid postcranials from Swartkrans are described here and compared with a sample of previously described early hominids, African apes and modern humans. Ten of the new specimens are from Member 1. Two are from Member 2 and three are from Member 3. Nine of the fossils are referred to Paranthropus, three to Homo, and three specimens cannot be assigned at present. The collection of hominid postcranials from Members 1-3 at Swartkrans now numbers more than 70 specimens. With the description of two new, small femoral heads, SKW 19 and SK 3121, there are now four proximal femora from Swartkrans. When SK 82 and SK 97 are compared with SKW 19 and SK 3121, the two sets offer important insights into body size and sexual dimorphism in Paranthropus robustus.A new distal femur, SK 1896 and other bones attributed to Homo cf. erectus, indicate that male Homo were larger than Paranthropus at Swartkrans.