Body Size, Size Variation, and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Early Homo

@article{Plavcan2012BodySS,
  title={Body Size, Size Variation, and Sexual Size Dimorphism in Early Homo},
  author={J. Michael Plavcan},
  journal={Current Anthropology},
  year={2012},
  volume={53},
  pages={S409 - S423}
}
  • J. Plavcan
  • Published 15 October 2012
  • Environmental Science, Geography
  • Current Anthropology
Size variation provides important clues about the taxonomy, morphology, behavior, and life history of extinct species. Body size variation in living species is commonly attributed to Bergmann’s rule, resource availability, nutrition, local selection pressures, and sexual size dimorphism. While our understanding of the mechanisms producing size variation in living species has grown more sophisticated in recent years, our ability to apply this knowledge to the fossil record is limited by the… 
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Body mass estimates of hominin fossils and the evolution of human body size.
Implications of Male and Female Contributions to Sexual Size Dimorphism for Inferring Behavior in the Hominin Fossil Record
  • J. Plavcan
  • Biology, Environmental Science
    International Journal of Primatology
  • 2012
TLDR
Estimates of body mass dimorphism for four hominin taxa are compared to assess changes in male and female size to illustrate the potential for considering howDimorphism changes through time, rather than simply focusing on the magnitude of size dimorphistan in isolation.
Morphological variation in Homo erectus and the origins of developmental plasticity
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The metric variation in 35 human and non-human primate ‘populations’ from known environmental contexts and 14 time- and space-restricted paleodemes of H. erectus and other fossil Homo are considered, finding more similar patterns of variation than expected, with plasticity evident, but in differing patterns by sex across populations.
Male Life History, Reproductive Effort, and the Evolution of the Genus Homo
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It is proposed that selection for a broad range of variation in traits reflective of male reproductive effort was important to the evolution of Homo, including high fertility, large bodies, altricial offspring, large brains, and long lives.
Sexual dimorphism in Homo erectus inferred from 1.5 Ma footprints near Ileret, Kenya
TLDR
The results indicate that East African Homo erectus was moreDimorphic than modern Homo sapiens, although less so than highly dimorphic apes, suggesting that the Ileret footprints offer a unique window into an important transitional period in hominin social behavior.
Body size, brain size, and sexual dimorphism in Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber.
Long-term patterns of body mass and stature evolution within the hominin lineage
TLDR
Combined taxonomic and temporal analyses show that in relation to australopithecines, early Homo is characterized by significantly larger average body mass and stature but retains considerable diversity, including small body sizes.
Origins and Evolution of Genus Homo
TLDR
The extant data suggest that the origin and evolution of Homo was characterized by a positive feedback loop that drove life history evolution and many aspects of the human life history package, including reduced dimorphism, likely occured later in evolution.
Variation among the Dmanisi hominins: Multiple taxa or one species?
TLDR
It is likely that the Dmanisi hominins represent a single paleospecies of Homo displaying a pattern of sex dimorphism not seen in living hominids.
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