The origin of the Australians: a multivariate approach

A reconstruction of the Indonesian male Homo erectus specimen Sangiran 17 reveals a suite of features that suggests regional morphological continuity in Australasia during the middle and late Pleistocene. Characteristics reflecting a morphological clade are established through a comparison with the males from Kow Swamp, the late Pleistocene Australian site with the largest number of hominid specimens. It is argued that the "center and edge" hypothesis could account for the initial appearance of regional variation, and that a dynamic model of geneflow and opposing selection provides the mechanism that maintained a long-standing dynamic clinal equilibrium in this area.