Upper post canine dental variation in the late Miocene hominid Hispanopithecus – is H. crusafonti sympatric with H. laietanus at Can Llobateres, Vallès-Penedès Basin, Spain?

Abstract The aim of this paper is to assess variation within the upper premolar and molar samples from the Late Miocene hominid samples of Hispanopithecus to test the single species hypothesis using multivariate statistics. A series of correspondent and hierarchical cluster analyses were generated against 17 teeth from both species of Hispanopithecus . The morphological range (non-metric) of variation in Hispanopithecus crusafonti dental specimens from the Can Ponsic locality is well within the range of the extant hominids. The morphological range observed in H. laietanus from Can Llobateres, however, is shown ​ to be greater than that observed in the four extant hominid species. An upper third premolar specimen, IPS-1792, from Can Llobateres is shown to reflect the H. crusafonti morphotype, which indicates it may be a specimen of this species as opposed to H. laietanus . If this is correct, this indicates that both hominid species were sympatric. The techniques used here also test the serial position of isolated molars, demonstrating that IPS-1814 which has traditionally been considered an M 1 is almost certainly an M 3 , with the same applying to IPS-1771 which has been considered a likely M 2 but is also shown to be an M 3 .