Resumen

THACKERAY, Francis. Commentary on Neves et al. (2024): Dental metrics of Sahelanthropus and other hominoids. S. Afr. j. sci. [online]. 2025, vol.121, n.9-10, pp.1-3. ISSN 1996-7489.  https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2025/19358.

SIGNIFICANCE: Neves et al. (S Afr J Sci. 2024;120(7/8), Art. #16362) have presented a valuable dental database for a diversity of hominoids, which can be criticised for two reasons. Firstly, they make a taxonomic statement based only on a size-related first principal component. Secondly, they regard the second principal component as insignificant. Thus, they conclude on weak grounds that their results do not "preclude" Sahelanthropus from being a hominin. I used UPGMA (unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean) analysis to infer that variability in upper dentition molars of the hominoid taxa under consideration is not inconsistent with the view that Sahelanthropus is a hominin.

Palabras clave : hominin; Sahelanthropus; Pan; Miocene; Pliocene; Pleistocene.

        · texto en Inglés     · Inglés ( pdf )