Postcranial characters for analyzing hominin relationships and adaptations

A new matrix of postcranial hominin characters is here presented, consisting of 239 characters and 14 taxa. The taxa include extant humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas, and the fossil taxa consist of Ardipithecus ramidus, three species of Australopithecus, and seven Homo taxa. The matrix is 65.7% complete, with 2,197 scored character states. The characters are not polarized. These data could be useful for applications in cluster analysis, classification, and phylogeny., A preliminary list of potential characters were derived from published descriptions of comparative data from the sources indicated in Table 1. The characters were then screened for redundant descriptions. Using published descriptions, scans, casts, and museum exhibits of original fossils, every character was assessed using relevant specimens. Where possible, missing character states were scored during this process. In some instances, the scans and photographs did not adequately replicate the original fossil, and character states could therefore not be observed. In those cases, character state assignments were left as originally reported and no new character states were recorded. For other characters, character descriptions could not be verified from examination of specimens, and new, related characters were devised in their place. Newly devised metric characters were assigned character states that roughly divided the range of observed values for all taxa in half. Finally, when character..., The characters are given in Nexus format, which is compatible with a variety of phylogenetic software.