Further assessment of a ~2-million-year-old hominin pelvis (DNH 43) from Drimolen Main Quarry, South Africa

Ellie Berg; Ashley S. Hammond; Anna G. Warrener; Mary Shirley Mitchell; Matthew W. Tocheri; Stephanie E. Baker; Andy I.R. Herries; David S. Strait; Caley M. Orr

doi:10.17159/sajs.2025/17908

Authors

Ellie Berg Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4009-9610
Ashley S. Hammond 1.Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA; 2.New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8444-0553
Anna G. Warrener Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7916-3456
Mary Shirley Mitchell Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7556-1898
Matthew W. Tocheri 1.Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada; 2.Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA; 3.Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7600-8998
Stephanie E. Baker Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7140-928X
Andy I.R. Herries 1.Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; 2.Palaeoanthropology Lab, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2905-2002
David S. Strait 1.Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa; 2.Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, USA; 3.DFG Center for Advanced Studies ‘Words, Bones, Genes, Tools’, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3572-1663
Caley M. Orr 1.Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA; 2.Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1156-1543

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/sajs.2025/17908

Keywords:

early hominins, Plio-Pleistocene hominins, locomotion, obstetrics

Abstract

The palaeocave site of Drimolen Main Quarry (DMQ) in Gauteng Province, South Africa, has produced fossil hominin material dating to 2.04–1.95 Ma, including craniodental remains attributed to Paranthropus robustus and the earliest specimen of Homo erectus sensu lato along with numerous postcrania of uncertain taxonomic affiliation. Among this collection is a partial pelvis (DNH 43), which includes the sacrum and elements of the right os coxae. Although previously described as showing similarities to the pelvis of Australopithecus and Paranthropus, comparisons across the broader hominin fossil record have been limited and DNH 43 has never been analysed quantitatively. Here we present a partial digital reconstruction of DNH 43 and compare it to an expanded data set of fossil specimens to determine its closest morphological affinities. Overall, the quantitative analysis is congruent with qualitative results reflecting the primitive features of DNH 43, suggesting an Australopithecus/Paranthropus-like anatomy, including small absolute size, relatively small sacroiliac articulation, moderately wide tuberoacetabular sulcus, gracile acetabulosacral buttress, and obstetric dimensions that are relatively broad. A study of this rare articulated pelvis shows that the orientation of the sacrum (pelvic incidence) is similar to that of recent Homo sapiens. Although DNH 43 shares some specific metric similarities with specimens MH2 (Australopithecus sediba) and OH 28 (cf. Homo erectus), the taxonomic relevance is unclear given the poor understanding of Paranthropus and early Homo postcranial variation. Affiliation with Paranthropus robustus (which dominates the DMQ craniodental assemblage) cannot be ruled out, and we consider assignment to that taxon to be a reasonable provisional attribution.

Significance:

Associated pelvic elements (sacrum and ossa coxae) are rare in the hominin fossil record but provide information on overall body form, locomotion and obstetrics.
Anatomical assessment and partial reconstruction of specimen DNH 43 from the Drimolen Main Quarry in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, thus provides additional insights into pelvic form in a ~2.0-million-year-old hominin.
The fossil is best attributed to Paranthropus robustus and displays an overall primitive, gracile morphology, but presents with positioning of the sacrum similar to that of recent humans, which differs from prior interpretations of early hominin spinopelvic anatomy.