Abstract
This study reassesses body weight sexual dimorphism in A. afarensis by applying equations that predict body weight from hindlimb joint size in a comparative sample of modern apes and humans. The resulting estimates show a level of body size dimorphism in this fossil hominid to be below that seen in modern gorillas or orang-utans, greater than modern species of Pan, and well above modern H. sapiens. This degree of dimorphism fits with the behavioral model proposed by Foley & Lee, 1989 in which A. afarensis lived in large kin-related multimale groups with females that are not kin-related. The moderate level of body size sexual dimorphism found in this study removes one objection to the lumping of all Hadar hominids into a single species.
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