Evolution in a Hominin Lineage:
The Appearance of the
“Classic” Neanderthal Morphology

Ferdinando, Peter *1, and Lynn, Misti *2; 1Graves Museum of Archaeology and Natural History, Dania Beach, FL (peta919@hotmail.com), 2Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL (mistaiwolfe6@yahoo.com)

The search for hominin origins has produced a wealth of material from Africa, Eastern Asia, Australasia, and Europe. Europe preserves the largest sample of a distinct hominin species, the Neanderthals and their antecedents, because of historical factors, remarkable sites, and the preservation that results from potential burials. This ongoing investigation combines two notions into one continuous and comprehensive concept. There appears to have been a gradual shift toward the “classic” Neanderthal morphology in European Homo heidelbergensis resulting in the emergence of a novel species Homo neanderthalensis. This assertion is based on purported Neanderthal apomorphies and their distribution in the European paleoanthropological population. Through the union of G. Phillip Rightmire’s hypothesis of Homo heidelbergensis as a viable species and Jean-Jacques Hublin’s “Accretion Model” of Neanderthal evolution, the prehistory of Europe can be elucidated. The “Accretion Model” is of importance because it establishes a four-stage framework for defining the evolution of Neanderthal morphological features, while Rightmire’s idea of a distinct Middle Pleistocene hominin provides a precursor for the Neanderthals. Utilizing the European sample from the Middle Pleistocene until the disappearance of Neanderthals 27,000 years ago, the accumulation of Neanderthal features can be witnessed. This suggests that a hypothesis for the evolution of Neanderthals lies within a composite of both Hublin’s and Rightmire’s ideas.

Ferdinando, Peter, and Lynn, Misti. Evolution in a Hominin Lineage: The Appearance of the “Classic” Neanderthal Morphology. Journal of Morphology. V260(3). June 2004.