Ternifine (or Tighenif) is an Algerian archeological site dating around 700,000 years old, representing an arid, treeless environment. From this fossil site, a plethora of animal remains and Acheulean tools were discovered, most notably including fossil hominin remains ( Britannica ). In this post, I examine the hominins at Ternifine, specifically the complete jawbone and teeth recovered. Dataset I use the typically H. ergaster specimens KNM-WT 15000, KNM-ER 992, and the Ternifine collection (Ternifine 1-4). Defining dental characters are from Tattersall 2013. This chart represents the dataset used. The examined traits are highlighted in colour and correlated to their key. 1=the trait is observed in the specimen, 0=the trait is not represented in the specimen, -=the examined area is not preserved. Below is a tally that directly demonstrates similarities and differences. Results After examining the mandibular dental characters of specimens often assigned to Homo ergaster , I found t
Specializing in paleoanthropology.