A Taxonomic and Phylogenetic Analysis of the Bañolas Mandible (Gerona, Spain)

The Bañolas mandible was the first fossil hominin specimen ever discovered in Spain and has received sporadic attention ever since its discovery in 1887. Recently, the mandible has been dated to the Late Pleistocene (45-66kya). The present study re-examines the Bañolas mandible relying on 3D geometric morphometrics (3DGM) and an assessment of its morphological features. Bañolas is compared with Middle and Late Pleistocene members of the genus Homo as well as a recent H. sapiens sample. The results of the 3DGM analysis demonstrated that Bañolas falls closest to the centroid of fossil Homo sapiens than it does with the Neandertals. Regarding the morphological features, Bañolas shares many features with Homo sapiens, but lacks other structures (e.g. mental trigone) associated with the modern human chin. The results of the present study suggest that the Bañolas mandible is not a Neandertal and is most morphologically closest to Homo sapiens