Abstract
Cladistic analysis is the most commonly applied method for reconstructing fossil human phylogenetic relationships. It allows for the testing of prior taxonomic hypotheses about paired fossil groups through the application of topology-dependent permutation tail probability tests. Here, these tests are applied to assess various fossil human taxonomic schemes, in particular published hypotheses about early Homo in southern Africa and robust Australopithecus groups. The hypothesis of monophyly of Stw 53 and SK 847/SK 15 is corroborated but no support is found for monophyly of Stw 53 and Australopithecus. The prior hypothesis that the robustus-group and boisei-group are monophyletic also receives strong support.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 310-312 |
| Number of pages | 3 |
| Journal | South African Journal of Science |
| Volume | 98 |
| Issue number | 5-6 |
| Publication status | Published - 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |