Browsing by Author "Berger, Lee R."

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    Bones of Contention: Shifting Paradigms in Human Evolution with the Skeletons of Australopithecus sediba
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2013) Berger, Lee R.
    In summary, at first glance Australopithecus sediba appears to add despairing complexity to our present understanding of the emergence of early Homo by adding yet another species, this time with an unexpected mosaic of primitive and derived characters, to what we thought we knew of the experiments occurring between the last australopiths and the first definitive members of the genus Homo somewhere around 2 million years ago. Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis both appear to show a trend in encephalization without the frontal complexity seen in Australopithecus sediba, as well as a retention of the general megadentia seen in many late australopiths, as well as, at least in the case of Homo habilis, retention of more primitive australopith aspects in its post-cranial anatomy, surprisingly more primitive in some areas than that observed in sediba.
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    New Cenozoic fossil-bearing site abbreviations for collections of the University of the Witwatersrand
    (Bernard price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009-12) Zipfel, Bernhard; Berger, Lee R.
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    Partial hominin tibia (StW 396) from Sterkfontein, South Africa
    (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009-12) Zipfel, Bernhard; Berger, Lee R.
    Comparison of a proximal hominin tibial fragment, StW 396 from Sterkfontein Member 4, South Africa, with the StW 514a tibia, also from Member 4 and attributed to Australopithecus africanus, indicates a degree of morphological variability that may represent the extremes of intraspecific variability or even exceed what one would expect from intraspecific variation alone. The morphology of StW 396 is human-like which suggests adaptations towards stability at the knee, whilst that of StW 514a is interpreted as being more mobile and ape-like (Berger & Tobias 1996). Four features separate the two morphological patterns. In StW 514a the attachment area of m. semimembranosus is strongly localized, whereas in StW 396 the posteromedial border is notched near the base of the lateral intercondylar tubercle; thirdly, the lateral tibial condyle of StW 514a is supero-inferiorly thin, whereas in StW 396 the lateral condyle is supero-inferiorly thickened and the contrast between the condyle and the shaft is less pronounced; lastly the articular surface of the medial condyle of StW 396 is anteroposteriorly broad and highly concave as opposed to the narrower, flatter surface of StW 514a. The degree of variability of the two specimens possibly suggests differing functional adaptations and may thus support an hypothesis suggesting that two hominin species may be represented within Sterkfontein Member 4.
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    A sabre-tooth felid from Coopers Cave (Gauteng, South Africa) and its implications for Megantereon (Felidae: Machairodontinae) taxonomy
    (BERNARD PRICE INSTITUTE FOR PALAEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2007) Hartstone-Rose, Adam; De Ruiter, Darryl J.; Berger, Lee R.; Churchill, Steven E.
    Metrical and morphological analysis of a new sabre-tooth felid mandible recovered from the Plio-Pleistocene hominid-bearing site of Coopers, South Africa, indicates that it can be assigned to the genus Megantereon, though it is by some measures the smallest individual of this taxon yet described. Comparison of morphological variability within this genus to that found within four extant, medium-sized felid species (Acinonyx jubatus, Neofelis nebulosa, Panthera pardus and P. uncia) and the extinct genus Smilodon (sister taxon of Megantereon) provides confirmation of the suggestion by Martínez-Navarro&Palmqvist (1995, 1996) that Megantereon is a geographically polymorphic genus comprised of at least two species: M. cultridens (Cuvier, 1824) of North America and Europe and M. whitei (Broom, 1937) of Africa and Europe.