The Evolutionary History of Humans in Australasia from an Environmental Perspective

Bibliographic Data

ID6135832
AuthorsPaul Storm (0009-0002-6061-9457, National Museum of Natural History, corresponding author)
Year2000
Volume108
Issue3
Pages225-259
Publication date2000-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropological Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0918-7960 • E-ISSN: 1348-8570
PublisherAnthropological Society of Nippon (PUBLISHER • JP)
DOI10.1537/ase.108.225
OpenAlexW2058020228
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited49

Attempts to understand the evolution within the genus Homo in Australasia have relied on two main theories. The Multiregional scenario suggests that cranial morphology reveals a long-standing continuity between fossil and recent hominids in the region. Out of Africa theorist have favoured the idea that Homo sapiens evolved in Africa, migrated outward, and replaced archaic hominids, such as Homo erectus in Australasia. Neither Multiregionalists nor Out of Africans have factored (seriously) in the unique geographic and ecological context in which variation in Australasian members of the genus Homo evolved. Nonetheless, the mammalian faunas of this region have been strongly shaped by the existence of zoogeographic barriers and different ecological zones. Taking an environmental perspective on the evolutionary history of the human lineage in this region leads to an third and possibly more plausible scenario in which both local evolution and replacement play a role. The continuing importance of the zoogeography of Australasia is evidenced in the cranial variations seen within modern humans of this region, which can be divided into a Sunda (“Asian”) and a Sahul (“Australo-Melanesian”) cranial pattern

Archaeology · Australopithecus · Biology · Context (archaeology · Evolutionary biology · Fauna · Genus · Geography · Homo erectus · Homo sapiens · Lineage (genetic · Pleistocene · Zoogeography · Zoology · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology · Ecology · Paleontology

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