Evolution of P3 morphology inAustralopithecus afarensis

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 73:41-63 (1987) Evolution of P3 Morphology in Australopithecus afarensis

The Australopithecus afarensis dental sample exhibits a wide range of variation, which is most notable in the morphology of the lower third premolar (P3). P3 morphology in the A. afarensis sample ranges from the primitive sectorial extreme in AL 128-23 to the derived, bicuspid (molarized) extreme in AL 333w-1. In this paper, the degree and patterning of variation of the 20 known A. afarensis P3...

Australopithecus Afarensis and Human Evolution

Anterior dental evolution in the Australopithecus anamensis-afarensis lineage.

Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest known species of the Australopithecus-human clade and is the likely ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis. Investigating possible selective pressures underlying these changes is key to understanding the patterns of selection shaping the origins and early evolution of the Australopithecus-human clade. During the course of the Au. anamensis-afarensis li...

The Skull of Australopithecus afarensis

_______________________________________________________________________________________________ 13 Copyright © 2005, Paleoanthropology Society. All rights reserved. Published for the PAS by Penn Press University of Pennsylvania The Skull of Australopithecus afarensis William H. Kimbel, Yoel Rak and Donald C. Johanson with a chapter by Ralph L. Holloway and Michael S. Yuan New York: Oxford Unive...

Evolution of pollen morphology.

Over evolutionary time, the morphology of angiosperm pollen has evolved toward an increasing number of apertures, among other things. From a neo-Darwinian point of view, this means that (i) some polymorphism for aperture number must exist and (ii) there must be some fitness increase associated with increasing the aperture number. Pollen types with different aperture numbers often occur in the s...