The Paleobiology of Australopithecus (Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology) 2013th Edition

Very interesting work, full of information. Very unfortunately, however, most contributions still assume that the australopithecine fossils closer relatives of Homo than of Pan or Gorilla.Fossil-hunters claim to have discovered 1000s of fossils of human ancestors or relatives (‘Missing Links’), but virtually 0 fossils of ancestors or relatives of chimps or gorillas. Very remarkable.A number of anthropologists, however, independently, don’t follow this conventional but unproven interpretation, which is based on the assumption that ‘humanlike’ = ‘derived’.In fact, australopithecine humanlike features (thick enamel, rel.small canines, low iliac blades, more vertical spine etc.) are not human-derived, but primitive-hominoid, and got reduced to different degrees in Pan and Gorilla.My Hum.Evol.papers (e.g. 1996 Morphological Distance between Australopithecine, Human and Ape Skulls, HE 11:35-41, 1994 Australopithecines: Ancestors of the African Apes? HE 9:121-139) argue that Australopithecus & certainly Paranthropus are paraphyletic: East-African australopiths & South-African ones seem to have evolved in parallel from gracile (Pliocene) to robust (Pleistocene), possibly in response to Pleistocene coolings (Ice Ages).My hypothesis on Plio-Pleistocene hominids FWIW:- E.Africa: genus Gorilla (subgenus Praeanthropus) afarensis, aethiopicus, boisei, ?anamensis, ?bahrelghazali...- S.Africa: Pan (subgenus Australopithecus) africanus, sediba, robustus, ?habilis...- Pleistocene intercontinental dispersal along African & Eurasian coasts & rivers: Homo (Homo) ?habilis, ?rudolfensis, georgicus, modjokertensis, erectus, ergaster, antecessor, heidelbergensis, neanderthalensis, floresiensis, sapiens...Google e.g.-marc verhaegen human evolution-resarchGate marc verhaegen

An amazing collection of papers.