Table 3.
Results of the taxonomic analyses of hominin body size estimates by broad groupings, ordered through time from younger to older.
| taxonomic grouping | n | mean | median | mean CI Lc | mean CI Uc | s.d. | min | max | CV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| body mass | |||||||||
| Holocene foragersa | 438 | 61.86 | 62.28 | — | — | 10.71 | 34.39 | 88.23 | 17.3 |
| Pleistocene Homo sapiensb | 57 | 67.16 | 69.80 | 53.72 | 80.58 | 10.16 | 42.70 | 91.30 | 15.1 |
| Neanderthals | 30 | 70.52 | 69.85 | 56.42 | 84.63 | 9.14 | 53.00 | 90.50 | 13.0 |
| SH hominins | 26 | 69.38 | 67.60 | 55.50 | 83.26 | 8.90 | 56.90 | 90.70 | 12.8 |
| early Mid-Pleistocene Homo | 19 | 61.49 | 55.30 | 44.35 | 84.74 | 12.08 | 47.10 | 82.60 | 19.6 |
| Homo naledi | 8 | 37.53 | 35.90 | 30.02 | 45.03 | 3.75 | 33.50 | 43.50 | 10.0 |
| early Homo | 40 | 54.73 | 54.00 | 42.68 | 67.41 | 12.84 | 32.00 | 81.00 | 23.5 |
| paranthropines | 21 | 35.04 | 32.40 | 21.41 | 56.92 | 7.70 | 24.00 | 51.60 | 22.0 |
| australopithecines | 47 | 34.64 | 33.90 | 22.99 | 54.23 | 8.79 | 22.70 | 63.60 | 25.4 |
| Ardipithecus | 1 | 32.10 | 32.10 | 19.40 | 53.30 | — | — | — | — |
| stature | |||||||||
| Holocene foragersa | 449 | 159.91 | 159.74 | — | — | 8.28 | 134.16 | 180.55 | 5.2 |
| Pleistocene Homo sapiensb | 60 | 170.34 | 171.85 | 153.78 | 184.62 | 10.64 | 144.80 | 191.60 | 6.2 |
| Neanderthals | 38 | 162.66 | 162.40 | 152.05 | 173.24 | 7.25 | 148.70 | 181.20 | 4.5 |
| SH hominins | 30 | 166.05 | 165.10 | 158.42 | 173.61 | 6.18 | 153.70 | 177.80 | 3.7 |
| early Mid-Pleistocene Homo | 13 | 164.84 | 165.00 | 153.92 | 175.95 | 10.36 | 149.90 | 184.20 | 6.3 |
| Homo naledi | 2 | 142.15 | 142.15 | 134.40 | 151.75 | 1.48 | 141.10 | 143.20 | 1.0 |
| early Homo | 39 | 153.89 | 153.05 | 144.45 | 164.00 | 10.04 | 133.82 | 178.00 | 6.5 |
| paranthropines | 9 | 128.81 | 126.00 | 112.28 | 137.23 | 15.41 | 110.00 | 161.30 | 12.0 |
| australopithecines | 7 | 125.43 | 120.00 | 117.87 | 140.95 | 17.20 | 105.00 | 151.00 | 13.7 |
| Ardipithecus | 1 | 121.00 | 121.00 | 117.00 | 124.00 | — | — | — | — |
aThe Holocene forager sample is provided as comparative baseline and excluded from the statistical analyses.
bCombined data from Middle Palaeolithic (MP) Homo sapiens and Upper Palaeolithic modern humans. The Holocene forager sample is displayed separately.
cLower and upper 95% confidence intervals of the mean (individual prediction intervals in electronic supplementary material, file S1).