RT Journal Article
T1 The ear of the Sima de los Huesos hominins (Atapuerca, Spain)
A1 Conde Valverde, Mercedes
A1 Martínez Mendizábal, Ignacio
A1 Quam, Rolf
A1 Arsuaga Ferreras, Juan Luis
AB Previous studies on the morphology of the inner ear (semicircular canals and cochlea) in the Sima de los Huesos hominin sample have provided important results on the evolution of these structures in the Neandertal lineage. Similarly, studies of the anatomy of the external and middle ear cavities of the Sima de los Huesos hominins have also provided important data on the auditory capacities of this European Middle Pleistocene population. The present contribution provides unpublished data on three new middle ear variables from the Sima de los Huesos fossils and compares these data with values from samples of Pan troglodytes, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. The results of this analysis are combined with those obtained in previous studies to characterize the anatomy of the outer, middle and inner ear in the Sima de los Huesos fossils, as well as to establish the order of appearance of the features that characterize Neandertal ears. As in other cranial structures, the ear region in the Sima de los Huesos show a mosaic evolutionary pattern that includes primitive traits, others shared exclusively with Neandertals, and others that are specific to the Sima de los Huesos hominins. Neandertals and Sima de los Huesos hominins share two exclusive features of the middle ear that are among the first characteristics of the Neandertal lineage: a long tympanic cavity and a large entrance and exit of the mastoid antrum. Along with these traits, the Sima de los Huesos hominins present two specialized features: large volumes of the tympanic cavity and the mastoid antrum. Finally, the middle ear of the Neandertals is characterized by the presence of small angles between the tympanic axis and the plane of the oval window.
PB Wiley
SN 1932-8486
SN 1932-8494
YR 2024
FD 2024-07
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/105291
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/105291
LA eng
NO Conde‐Valverde, Mercedes, et al. «The Ear of the Sima de Los Huesos Hominins (Atapuerca, Spain)». The Anatomical Record, vol. 307, n.o 7, julio de 2024, pp. 2410-24), https://doi.org/10.1002/ar.25181
NO MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER
NO Universidad de Alcalá
DS Docta Complutense
RD 5 abr 2025