Explore the vast range of titles available.

One of the most contentious topics in the study of human evolution is that of the time, place and mode of origin of Homo sapiens 1 , 2 , 3 . The discovery in the Northern Danakil (Afar) Depression, Eritrea, of a well-preserved Homo cranium with a mixture of characters typical of H. erectus and H. sapiens contributes significantly to this debate. The cranium was found in a succession of fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine deposits and is associated with a rich mammalian fauna of early to early-middle Pleistocene age. A magnetostratigraphic survey indicates two reversed and two normal magnetozones. The layer in which the cranium was found is near the top of the lower normal magnetozone, which is identified as the Jaramillo subchron. Consequently, the human remains can be dated at ∼1 million years before present.

The first reported cranium (and associated mandible) of Equus insulatus is described from the middle Pleistocene (Enseñadan) Tarija Formation of southern Bolivia. This specimen reveals that E. insulatus, previously only known from fragmentary material, is morphologically and phylogenetically intermediate within the genus Equus and closely related to the common South American species E. andium. It also confirms that the subgenus Amerhippus, which includes all South American species within the genus Equus, is a valid, monophyletic taxon.