Paleoanthropology has been beset by controversies concerning the number of hominid species at any given time. This thesis examines the case for one or more species from the time of early H. erectus using the biological and evolutionary species concepts as frames of reference. To accomplish this task, measurements were made on casts of African and Asian fossil hominid skulls with previously published data used as both a control and a supplement. Due to the fragmentary nature of the data and the small sample size, principle components analysis was used to create a usable data set. Linear regression was then used to calculate mean differences between the African and Asian fossil samples for PC 1 (a derived factor denoted overall cranial size) and XCB (maximum cranial breadth). This data was then compared to that of 28 pair-wise comparisons of eight modem human populations from the same general regions as the fossils. Since a number of these comparisons had mean differences greater or equal to that of the fossils, the finding are suggestive of the fossils all being from the same species, Homo erectus. / Department of Anthropology
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/188019 |
| Date | January 2005 |
| Creators | Gavronski, Eric J. |
| Contributors | Bowers, Evelyn J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vi, 110 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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