Abstract
WE report here the discovery of the first ear ossicle, an incus, of a Plio–Pleistocene hominid. It is substantially different from that of modern man, and the dissimilarity exceeds that between the ear bones of Homo sapiens and of the African apes. The new incus is of interest particularly in view of the unique advantages that ear ossicles have for taxonomic and phylogenetic studies. (The only other fossil hominid ear ossicles are from Qafzeh1 and are indistinguishable from those of modern man.)
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RAK, Y., CLARKE, R. Ear ossicle of Australopithecus robustus. Nature 279, 62–63 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1038/279062a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/279062a0
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