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Thomson SA, Friol NR, White A, Wedd D, Georges A. The Australian gulf snapping turtle Elseya lavarackorum (Testudines: Chelidae) revisited—Is the late Pleistocene fossil species extant? VZ 2023. [DOI: 10.3897/vz.73.e99495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Disagreement exists on the taxonomic identity of the extant populations of the Australian Elseya referred to in 1992 as the gulf Elseya (= Elseya sp. aff. dentata [Nicholson]). The extant form has since 1997 been considered conspecific with the late Pleistocene fossil Elseya lavarackorum (White and Archer, 1994). Recently it has been considered a new species, Elseya oneirosJoseph-Ouni et al., 2020, conspecific with another fossil found in the same site and stratum as Elseya lavarackorum. Here we re-examine the fossil material and reassess the characters used by previous authors in an attempt to decide the issue. We find that the anterior bridge suture with the carapace of the fossil Elseya lavarackorum is associated with extensive and prominent plastral elements, which has led to misinterpretation of characters associated with this structure. We furthermore show that interindividual variation in sulci patterns is so great as to render them of little taxonomic value. On the basis of (a) deviation of the anterior shape of the carapace from ovoid such that, in aged individuals, the most anterior point of the carapace occurs at marginal scutes M2 (a resultant nuchal bay occurs in such individuals); (b) the typical absence of a cervical scute; (c) no evidence of a medial constriction in the anterior bridge strut suture; and (d) absence of evidence of any other informative variation of taxonomic value; we conclude that the decision to consider the late Pleistocene (ca 23 kyr old) fossil and the extant Elseya sp. aff. dentata [Nicholson] as Elseya lavarackorum (White and Archer, 1994) as conspecific should stand.
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Pop E, Hilgen S, Adhityatama S, Berghuis H, Veldkamp T, Vonhof H, Sutisna I, Alink G, Noerwidi S, Roebroeks W, Joordens J. Reconstructing the provenance of the hominin fossils from Trinil (Java, Indonesia) through an integrated analysis of the historical and recent excavations. J Hum Evol 2023; 176:103312. [PMID: 36745959 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 12/17/2022] [Accepted: 12/17/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
In the early 1890s at Trinil, Eugène Dubois found a hominin skullcap (Trinil 2) and femur (Trinil 3, Femur I), situated at the same level ca. 10-15 m apart. He interpreted them as representing one species, Pithecanthropus erectus (now Homo erectus) which he inferred to be a transitional form between apes and humans. Ever since, this interpretation has been questioned-as the skullcap looked archaic and the femur surprisingly modern. From the 1950s onward, chemical and morphological analyses rekindled the debate. Concurrently, (bio)stratigraphic arguments gained importance, raising the stakes by extrapolating the consequences of potential mixing of hominin remains to the homogeneity of the complete Trinil fossil assemblage. However, conclusive evidence on the provenance and age of the hominin fossils remains absent. New Trinil fieldwork yielded unmanned aerial vehicle imagery, digital elevation models, and stratigraphic observations that have been integrated here with an analysis of the historical excavation documentation. Using a geographic information system and sightline analysis, the position of the historical excavation pits and the hominin fossils therein were reconstructed, and the historical stratigraphy was connected to that of new sections and test pits. This study documents five strata situated at low water level at the excavation site. Cutting into a lahar breccia are two similarly oriented, but asynchronous pre-terrace fluvial channels whose highly fossiliferous infills are identified as the primary targets of the historical excavations (Bone-Bearing Channel 1, 830-773 ka; Bone-Bearing Channel 2, 560-380 ka), providing evidence for a mixed faunal assemblage and yielding most of the hominin fossils. These channels were incised by younger terrace-related fluvial channels (terminal Middle or Late Pleistocene) that directly intersect the historical excavations and the reconstructed discovery location of Femur I, thereby providing an explanation for the relatively modern morphology of this 'bone of contention'. The paleoanthropological implications are discussed in light of the current framework of human evolution in Southeast Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduard Pop
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands.
| | - Sander Hilgen
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
| | - Shinatria Adhityatama
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast Campus, 58 Parklands Drive, Southport, Qld, 4222, Australia
| | - Harold Berghuis
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Tom Veldkamp
- Faculty ITC, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE, Enschede, the Netherlands
| | - Hubert Vonhof
- Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Hahn-Meitner-Weg 1, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Indra Sutisna
- Geological Museum, Jl. Diponegoro 57, Bandung, Jawa Barat, 40122, Bandung, Indonesia
| | - Gerrit Alink
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Sofwan Noerwidi
- Pusat Riset Arkeometri, Organisasi Riset Arkeologi, Bahasa, dan Sastra, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (OR ARBASTRA - BRIN), Jl. Condet Pejaten 4, Ps. Minggu, Jakarta Selatan, DKI Jakarta, 12510, Indonesia
| | - Wil Roebroeks
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Josephine Joordens
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9514, 2300 RA, Leiden, the Netherlands; Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit, de Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Faculty of Science and Engineering, Maastricht University, Paul-Henri Spaaklaan 1, 6229 EN, Maastricht, the Netherlands
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Vyshedskiy A. Language evolution is not limited to speech acquisition: a large study of language development in children with language deficits highlights the importance of the voluntary imagination component of language. RIO 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/rio.8.e86401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Did the boy bite the cat or was it the other way around? When processing a sentence with several objects, one has to establish ‘who did what to whom’. When a sentence cannot be interpreted by recalling an image from memory, we rely on the special type of voluntary constructive imagination called Prefrontal synthesis (PFS). PFS is defined as the ability to juxtapose mental visuospatial objects at will. We hypothesised that PFS has fundamental importance for language acquisition. To test this hypothesis, we designed a PFS-targeting intervention and administered it to 6,454 children with language deficiencies (age 2 to 12 years). The results from the three-year-long study demonstrated that children who engaged with the PFS intervention showed 2.2-fold improvement in combinatorial language comprehension compared to children with similar initial evaluations. These findings suggest that language can be improved by training the PFS and exposes the importance of the visuospatial component of language. This manuscript reflects on the experimental findings from the point of view of human language evolution. When used as a proxy for evolutionary language acquisition, the study results suggest a dichotomy of language evolution, with its speech component and its visuospatial component developing in parallel. The study highlights the radical idea that evolutionary acquisition of language was driven primarily by improvements of voluntary imagination rather than by improvements in the speech apparatus.
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Roberts P, Douka K, Tromp M, Bedford S, Hawkins S, Bouffandeau L, Ilgner J, Lucas M, Marzo S, Hamilton R, Ambrose W, Bulbeck D, Luu S, Shing R, Gosden C, Summerhayes G, Spriggs M. Fossils, fish and tropical forests: prehistoric human adaptations on the island frontiers of Oceania. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200495. [PMID: 35249390 PMCID: PMC8899615 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Oceania is a key region for studying human dispersals, adaptations and interactions with other hominin populations. Although archaeological evidence now reveals occupation of the region by approximately 65–45 000 years ago, its human fossil record, which has the best potential to provide direct insights into ecological adaptations and population relationships, has remained much more elusive. Here, we apply radiocarbon dating and stable isotope approaches to the earliest human remains so far excavated on the islands of Near and Remote Oceania to explore the chronology and diets of the first preserved human individuals to step across these Pacific frontiers. We demonstrate that the oldest human (or indeed hominin) fossil outside of the mainland New Guinea-Aru area dates to approximately 11 800 years ago. Furthermore, although these early sea-faring populations have been associated with a specialized coastal adaptation, we show that Late Pleistocene–Holocene humans living on islands in the Bismarck Archipelago and in Vanuatu display a persistent reliance on interior tropical forest resources. We argue that local tropical habitats, rather than purely coasts or, later, arriving domesticates, should be emphasized in discussions of human diets and cultural practices from the onset of our species' arrival in this part of the world. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.,School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.,Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Monica Tromp
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.,Southern Pacific Archaeological Research, Archaeology Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Stuart Bedford
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.,College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Stuart Hawkins
- College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Laurie Bouffandeau
- UMR 7209 AASPE, CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France.,CIRAP, Université de la Polynésie française, Tahiti, French Polynesia
| | - Jana Ilgner
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany
| | - Mary Lucas
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany
| | - Sara Marzo
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany
| | - Rebecca Hamilton
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Germany.,College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Wallace Ambrose
- College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - David Bulbeck
- College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Sindy Luu
- Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Archaeology Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Chris Gosden
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Glenn Summerhayes
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.,Archaeology Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Matthew Spriggs
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.,Vanuatu Cultural Centre, Port Vila, Vanuatu
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Bartz M, Arnold LJ, Spooner NA, Demuro M, Campaña I, Rixhon G, Brückner H, Duval M. First experimental evaluation of the alpha efficiency in coarse-grained quartz for ESR dating purposes: implications for dose rate evaluation. Sci Rep 2019; 9:19769. [PMID: 31874956 PMCID: PMC6930274 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-54688-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
We present the first experimental evaluation of the alpha efficiency value for electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of coarse quartz grains, which is used for the evaluation of the internal and external alpha dose rate components. Based on our results, we recommend the use of an a-value of 0.07 ± 0.01 (1σ) for both the Al and Ti centres. Although we acknowledge that quartz ESR alpha efficiency may be sample dependent, and could also be impacted by other sources of uncertainty, this potential variability is presently impossible to evaluate given the absence of other experimental a-values available in the ESR dating literature. Measured radioactivity of quartz grains from the Moulouya catchment (NE Morocco) provides an internal dose rate in the range of 50–70 µGy/a when using an a-value of 0.07. The use of this empirically derived a-value for the evaluation of the internal and external alpha dose rate has a limited overall impact on the final ESR age results: they change by <2% and <3%, respectively, in comparison with those obtained with an assumed a-value. However, the large variability observed among the broader sample dataset for quartz internal radioactivity and hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching rates underscores the potential importance of undertaking experimental evaluations of alpha dose rate parameters for each dated sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Melanie Bartz
- Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Lee J Arnold
- School of Physical Sciences, Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - Nigel A Spooner
- School of Physical Sciences, Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.,Defence Science and Technology Group, Third Avenue, Edinburgh, SA, 5111, Australia
| | - Martina Demuro
- School of Physical Sciences, Environment Institute, and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
| | - Isidoro Campaña
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain
| | - Gilles Rixhon
- ENGEES/Laboratoire Image Ville Environnement (LIVE), UMR 7362 - CNRS (University of Strasbourg), Quai Koch 1, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Helmut Brückner
- Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, Albertus-Magnus-Platz, 50923, Cologne, Germany
| | - Mathieu Duval
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca, 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain.,Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Environmental Futures Research Institute (EFRI), Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia
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Vyshedskiy A. Language evolution to revolution: the leap from rich-vocabulary non-recursive communication system to recursive language 70,000 years ago was associated with acquisition of a novel component of imagination, called Prefrontal Synthesis, enabled by a mutation that slowed down the prefrontal cortex maturation simultaneously in two or more children – the Romulus and Remus hypothesis. RIO 2019. [DOI: 10.3897/rio.5.e38546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There is an overwhelming archeological and genetic evidence that modern speech apparatus was acquired by hominins by 600,000 years ago. On the other hand, artifacts signifying modern imagination, such as (1) composite figurative arts, (2) bone needles with an eye, (3) construction of dwellings, and (4) elaborate burials arose not earlier than 70,000 years ago. It remains unclear (1) why there was a long gap between acquisition of modern speech apparatus and modern imagination, (2) what triggered the acquisition of modern imagination 70,000 years ago, and (3) what role language might have played in this process. Our research into evolutionary origin of modern imagination has been driven by the observation of a temporal limit for the development of a particular component of imagination. Modern children not exposed to recursive language in early childhood never acquire the type of active constructive imagination called Prefrontal Synthesis (PFS). Unlike vocabulary and grammar acquisition, which can be learned throughout one’s lifetime, there is a strong critical period for the development of PFS and individuals not exposed to recursive language in early childhood can never acquire PFS as adults. Their language will always lack understanding of spatial prepositions and recursion that depend on the PFS ability. In a similar manner, early hominins would not have been able to learn recursive language as adults and, therefore, would not be able to teach recursive language to their children. Thus, the existence of a strong critical period for PFS acquisition creates an evolutionary barrier for behavioral modernity. An evolutionary mathematical model suggests that a synergistic confluence of three events (1) a genetic mutation that extended the critical period by slowing down the prefrontal cortex development simultaneously in two or more children, (2) invention of recursive elements of language, such as spatial prepositions, by these children and (3) their dialogic communications using these recursive elements, resulted in concurrent conversion of a non-recursive communication system of their parents to recursive language and acquisition of PFS around 70,000 years ago.
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O'Connell JF, Allen J, Williams MAJ, Williams AN, Turney CSM, Spooner NA, Kamminga J, Brown G, Cooper A. When did Homo sapiens first reach Southeast Asia and Sahul? Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:8482-90. [PMID: 30082377 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1808385115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 137] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens, AMH) began spreading across Eurasia from Africa and adjacent Southwest Asia about 50,000-55,000 years ago (ca 50-55 ka). Some have argued that human genetic, fossil, and archaeological data indicate one or more prior dispersals, possibly as early as 120 ka. A recently reported age estimate of 65 ka for Madjedbebe, an archaeological site in northern Sahul (Pleistocene Australia-New Guinea), if correct, offers what might be the strongest support yet presented for a pre-55-ka African AMH exodus. We review evidence for AMH arrival on an arc spanning South China through Sahul and then evaluate data from Madjedbebe. We find that an age estimate of >50 ka for this site is unlikely to be valid. While AMH may have moved far beyond Africa well before 50-55 ka, data from the region of interest offered in support of this idea are not compelling.
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Abstract
The ability of Homo sapiens to kill prey at a distance is arguably one of the catalysts for our current ecological dominance. Many researchers have suggested its origins lie in the African Middle Stone Age or the European Middle Palaeolithic (∼300-30 thousand years ago), but the perishable components of armatures rarely preserve. Most research on this subject therefore emphasises analysis of armature tip size, shape, and diagnostic impacts or residues. Other lines of evidence have included human skeletal anatomy or analyses of the species composition of faunal assemblages. Projectile Impact Marks (PIMs) on archaeofaunal remains offer an ideal complement to this work, but their potential has been restricted mainly to the later Eurasian zooarchaeological record. A review of current evidence and approaches shows that systematic PIM research could add much to our understanding of early projectile technology, especially in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corey A O'Driscoll
- School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, Australia
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9
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Nagle N, van Oven M, Wilcox S, van Holst Pellekaan S, Tyler-Smith C, Xue Y, Ballantyne KN, Wilcox L, Papac L, Cooke K, van Oorschot RAH, McAllister P, Williams L, Kayser M, Mitchell RJ. Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial genome variation - an increased understanding of population antiquity and diversity. Sci Rep 2017; 7:43041. [PMID: 28287095 PMCID: PMC5347126 DOI: 10.1038/srep43041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2016] [Accepted: 01/17/2017] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Aboriginal Australians represent one of the oldest continuous cultures outside Africa, with evidence indicating that their ancestors arrived in the ancient landmass of Sahul (present-day New Guinea and Australia) ~55 thousand years ago. Genetic studies, though limited, have demonstrated both the uniqueness and antiquity of Aboriginal Australian genomes. We have further resolved known Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups and discovered novel indigenous lineages by sequencing the mitogenomes of 127 contemporary Aboriginal Australians. In particular, the more common haplogroups observed in our dataset included M42a, M42c, S, P5 and P12, followed by rarer haplogroups M15, M16, N13, O, P3, P6 and P8. We propose some major phylogenetic rearrangements, such as in haplogroup P where we delinked P4a and P4b and redefined them as P4 (New Guinean) and P11 (Australian), respectively. Haplogroup P2b was identified as a novel clade potentially restricted to Torres Strait Islanders. Nearly all Aboriginal Australian mitochondrial haplogroups detected appear to be ancient, with no evidence of later introgression during the Holocene. Our findings greatly increase knowledge about the geographic distribution and phylogenetic structure of mitochondrial lineages that have survived in contemporary descendants of Australia’s first settlers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nano Nagle
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Mannis van Oven
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Stephen Wilcox
- Australian Genome Research Facility, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Sheila van Holst Pellekaan
- Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, New South Wales, Australia.,School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Chris Tyler-Smith
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Welcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Yali Xue
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Welcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom
| | - Kaye N Ballantyne
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands.,Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist, Victoria Police Forensic Services Department, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Leah Wilcox
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Luka Papac
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Karen Cooke
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Roland A H van Oorschot
- Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist, Victoria Police Forensic Services Department, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | | | - Lesley Williams
- Community Elder and Cultural Advisor, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Manfred Kayser
- Department of Genetic Identification, Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - R John Mitchell
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics, La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
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Curnoe D, Datan I, Taçon PSC, Leh Moi Ung C, Sauffi MS. Deep Skull from Niah Cave and the Pleistocene Peopling of Southeast Asia. Front Ecol Evol 2016. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2016.00075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
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Nagle N, Ballantyne KN, van Oven M, Tyler-Smith C, Xue Y, Taylor D, Wilcox S, Wilcox L, Turkalov R, van Oorschot RA, McAllister P, Williams L, Kayser M, Mitchell RJ. Antiquity and diversity of aboriginal Australian Y-chromosomes. Am J Phys Anthropol 2015; 159:367-81. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.22886] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2015] [Revised: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 10/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Nano Nagle
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics; La Trobe Institute of Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University; Melbourne VIC Australia
| | - Kaye N. Ballantyne
- Victorian Police Forensic Services Department; Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist; Melbourne VIC Australia
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology; Erasmus MC University Medical Center; Rotterdam The Netherlands
| | - Mannis van Oven
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology; Erasmus MC University Medical Center; Rotterdam The Netherlands
| | - Chris Tyler-Smith
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; Welcome Trust Genome Campus; Hinxton Cambridgeshire UK
| | - Yali Xue
- The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute; Welcome Trust Genome Campus; Hinxton Cambridgeshire UK
| | - Duncan Taylor
- Forensic Science South Australia; 21 Divett Place Adelaide SA 5000 Australia
- School of Biological Sciences; Flinders University; Adelaide SA 5001 Australia
| | - Stephen Wilcox
- Australian Genome Research Facility; Melbourne VIC Australia
| | - Leah Wilcox
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics; La Trobe Institute of Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University; Melbourne VIC Australia
| | - Rust Turkalov
- Australian Genome Research Facility; Melbourne VIC Australia
| | - Roland A.H. van Oorschot
- Victorian Police Forensic Services Department; Office of the Chief Forensic Scientist; Melbourne VIC Australia
| | | | - Lesley Williams
- Department of Communities; Child Safety and Disability Services, Queensland Government; Brisbane QLD Australia
| | - Manfred Kayser
- Department of Forensic Molecular Biology; Erasmus MC University Medical Center; Rotterdam The Netherlands
| | - Robert J. Mitchell
- Department of Biochemistry and Genetics; La Trobe Institute of Molecular Sciences, La Trobe University; Melbourne VIC Australia
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Lee JBL. Committing to reconciling our differences: development of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists' Reconciliation Action Plan. BJPsych Int 2015; 12:59-61. [PMID: 29093857 PMCID: PMC5618923 DOI: 10.1192/s205647400000043x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians continue to experience disproportionately poor physical and mental health, and inequity of opportunity. Australia's Reconciliation Action Plan programme provides a framework and support for organisations to demonstrate leadership through public commitment to actions. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists developed its own Reconciliation Action Plan through a consultative process, and hopes to lead and promote reconciliation as a peak medical body.
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Détroit F, Corny J, Dizon EZ, Mijares AS. "Small size" in the Philippine human fossil record: is it meaningful for a better understanding of the evolutionary history of the negritos? Hum Biol 2015; 85:45-65. [PMID: 24297220 DOI: 10.3378/027.085.0303] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/02/2013] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
"Pygmy populations" are recognized in several places over the world, especially in Western Africa and in Southeast Asia (Philippine "negritos," for instance). Broadly defined as "small-bodied Homo sapiens" (compared with neighboring populations), their origins and the nature of the processes involved in the maintenance of their phenotype over time are highly debated. Major results have been recently obtained from population genetics on present-day negrito populations, but their evolutionary history remains largely unresolved. We present and discuss the Upper Pleistocene human remains recovered from Tabon Cave and Callao Cave in the Philippines, which are potentially highly relevant to these research questions. Human fossils have been recovered in large numbers from Tabon Cave (Palawan Island) but mainly from reworked and mixed sediments from several archaeological layers. We review and synthesize the long and meticulous collaborative work done on the archives left from the 1960s excavations and on the field. The results demonstrate the long history of human occupations in the cave, since at least ~30,000 BP. The examination of the Tabon human remains shows a large variability: large and robust for one part of the sample, and small and gracile for the other part. The latter would fit quite comfortably within the range of variation of Philippine negritos. Farther north, on Luzon Island, the human third metatarsal recently recovered from Callao Cave and dated to ~66,000 BP is now the oldest direct evidence of human presence in the Philippines. Previous data show that, compared with H. sapiens (including Philippine negritos), this bone presents a very small size and several unusual morphological characteristics. We present a new analytical approach using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics for comparing the Callao fossil to a wide array of extant Asian mammals, including nonhuman primates and H. sapiens. The results demonstrate that the shape of the Callao metatarsal is definitely closer to humans than to any other groups. The fossil clearly belongs to the genus Homo; however, it remains at the margin of the variation range of H. sapiens. Because of its great antiquity and the presence of another diminutive species of the genus Homo in the Wallace area during this time period (H. floresiensis), we discuss here in detail the affinities and potential relatedness of the Callao fossil with negritos that are found today on Luzon Island.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florent Détroit
- UMR7194-Département de Préhistoire, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France
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Hill EC, Durband AC. Mobility and subsistence at the Willandra Lakes: a comparative analysis of femoral cross-sectional properties in the Lake Mungo 3 skeleton. J Hum Evol 2014; 73:103-6. [PMID: 25049161 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2012] [Revised: 02/17/2014] [Accepted: 05/08/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ethan C Hill
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, MS 41012, Holden Hall 158, Lubbock, TX 79409-1012, USA
| | - Arthur C Durband
- Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work, Texas Tech University, MS 41012, Holden Hall 158, Lubbock, TX 79409-1012, USA; Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia; Department of Anthropology, Science Centre, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia.
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Kemp J, Pietsch TJ, Olley J. Digging your own grave: OSL signatures in experimental graves. J Hum Evol 2014; 76:77-82. [PMID: 24953668 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.05.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2013] [Revised: 05/09/2014] [Accepted: 05/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Excavation of mock graves in sediments of aeolian and fluvial origin were conducted to test the bleaching efficiency of grave digging in materials that commonly host ancient burials in Australia. Grave-size pits were dug into Pleistocene aeolian sediments at Willandra Lakes and younger fluvial sediments on the Lachlan River, backfilled, and re-excavated. Samples for optical dating were taken from sediment infilling the mock graves and from the adjacent, undisturbed substrate, and analysed using the single aliquot-regenerative dose (SAR) protocol applied to single quartz grains. The resulting equivalent dose (De) distributions revealed that ≤1% of grains had been fully zeroed in both settings, and an additional 1-6% of poorly bleached grains were apparent in the fluvial sediments. Insufficient and heterogeneous bleaching of sediments during excavation and backfilling produced a decrease in the central dose of between 3 and 6 Gy, and an increase in over-dispersion values of between 5 and 10%. These differences were insufficient to clearly distinguish the disturbance event from the effects of bioturbation, biological mixing, or other sources of De variation. The use of the Minimum Age Model substantially over-estimated the burial age (zero years) in both depositional environments, with the degree of over-estimation increasing with the age of the host sediments. These results suggest that optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques will not produce accurate ages for grave infill in a number of forensic and archaeological settings. Further study of the bleaching susceptibility of grains within grave infills, as well as the effectiveness of grave-digging as a bleaching mechanism is required. In other archaeological and geomorphological applications of OSL dating we recommend routine checks on the effective zeroing of sediments in modern equivalent situations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justine Kemp
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.
| | - Timothy J Pietsch
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.
| | - Jon Olley
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland 4111, Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheila van Holst Pellekaan
- Department of Life Sciences in Nursing, College of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown Campus M02, 88 Mallett Street, NSW 2006 Australia,
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Mona S, Mordret E, Veuille M, Tommaseo-Ponzetta M. Investigating sex-specific dynamics using uniparental markers: West New Guinea as a case study. Ecol Evol 2013; 3:2647-60. [PMID: 24567829 PMCID: PMC3930047 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.660] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2013] [Revised: 05/27/2013] [Accepted: 05/31/2013] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome (NRY) genetic markers have been often contrasted to investigate sex-specific dynamics. Traditionally, isolation by distance, intrapopulation genetic diversity and population differentiation are estimated from both markers and compared. Two possible sources of bias are often neglected. First, kilometric distances are frequently used as predictor of the connectivity between groups, hiding the role played by environmental features at a microgeographic scale. Second, the comparison of intrapopulation diversity and population differentiation between mtDNA and NRY is hampered by their different mutational mechanisms and rates. Here, we show how to account for these biases by analyzing from a different perspective a published dataset of eight West New Guinea (WNG) populations for which mtDNA control region sequences and seven linked NRY microsatellites had been typed. First, we modeled the connectivity among sampled populations by computing the number of days required to travel between groups. Then, we investigated the differences between the two sexes accounting for the molecular characteristics of the markers examined to obtain estimates on the product of the effective population size and the migration rate among demes (Nm). We achieved this goal by studying the shape of the gene genealogy at several sampling levels and using spatial explicit simulations. Both the direction and the rate of migration differ between male and females, with an Nm estimated to be >6 times higher in the latter under many evolutionary scenarios. We finally highlight the importance of applying metapopulation models when analyzing the genetic diversity of a species. We have applied the prediction of the sampling theory in a meta-population and we have corroborated our finding using spatial explicit simulations. Both approaches are fundamentally meant to deal with structured populations: we strongly believe in the importance of tacking structure into account when inferring the demographic history of a species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Mona
- Laboratoire Biologie intégrative des populations, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes 46 rue de Lille, 75007, Paris, France ; CNRS UMR 7205, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Ernest Mordret
- Laboratoire Biologie intégrative des populations, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes 46 rue de Lille, 75007, Paris, France ; CNRS UMR 7205, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Michel Veuille
- Laboratoire Biologie intégrative des populations, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes 46 rue de Lille, 75007, Paris, France ; CNRS UMR 7205, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Rue Buffon, 75005, Paris, France
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McKenna T, Woods DB. Using psychotherapeutic arts to decolonise counselling for Indigenous peoples. Asia Pacific Journal of Counselling and Psychotherapy 2012. [DOI: 10.1080/21507686.2011.631145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Beyin A. Upper Pleistocene Human Dispersals out of Africa: A Review of the Current State of the Debate. Int J Evol Biol 2011; 2011:615094. [PMID: 21716744 PMCID: PMC3119552 DOI: 10.4061/2011/615094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2010] [Revised: 01/22/2011] [Accepted: 02/24/2011] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Although there is a general consensus on African origin of early modern humans, there is disagreement about how and when they dispersed to Eurasia. This paper reviews genetic and Middle Stone Age/Middle Paleolithic archaeological literature from northeast Africa, Arabia, and the Levant to assess the timing and geographic backgrounds of Upper Pleistocene human colonization of Eurasia. At the center of the discussion lies the question of whether eastern Africa alone was the source of Upper Pleistocene human dispersals into Eurasia or were there other loci of human expansions outside of Africa? The reviewed literature hints at two modes of early modern human colonization of Eurasia in the Upper Pleistocene: (i) from multiple Homo sapiens source populations that had entered Arabia, South Asia, and the Levant prior to and soon after the onset of the Last Interglacial (MIS-5), (ii) from a rapid dispersal out of East Africa via the Southern Route (across the Red Sea basin), dating to ~74–60 kya.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amanuel Beyin
- Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, SBS Building 5th Floor, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
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Grün R, Spooner N, Magee J, Thorne A, Simpson J, Yan G, Mortimer G. Stratigraphy and chronology of the WLH 50 human remains, Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area, Australia. J Hum Evol 2011; 60:597-604. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2007] [Revised: 08/17/2010] [Accepted: 10/30/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Curnoe D. A 150-year conundrum: cranial robusticity and its bearing on the origin of aboriginal australians. Int J Evol Biol 2011; 2011:632484. [PMID: 21350636 PMCID: PMC3039414 DOI: 10.4061/2011/632484] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2010] [Accepted: 12/16/2010] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
The origin of Aboriginal Australians has been a central question of palaeoanthropology since its inception during the 19th Century. Moreover, the idea that Australians could trace their ancestry to a non-modern Pleistocene population such as Homo erectus in Southeast Asia have existed for more than 100 years, being explicitly linked to cranial robusticity. It is argued here that in order to resolve this issue a new program of research should be embraced, one aiming to test the full range of alternative explanations for robust morphology. Recent developments in the morphological sciences, especially relating to the ontogeny of the cranium indicate that character atomisation, an approach underpinning phylogenetic reconstruction, is fraught with difficulties. This leads to the conclusion that phylogenetic-based explanations for robusticity should be reconsidered and a more parsimonious approach to explaining Aboriginal Australian origins taken. One that takes proper account of the complex processes involved in the growth of the human cranium rather than just assuming natural selection to explain every subtle variation seen in past populations. In doing so, the null hypothesis that robusticity might result from phenotypic plasticity alone cannot be rejected, a position at odds with both reticulate and deep-time continuity models of Australian origins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Curnoe
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
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Abstract
A review is presented of some of the ways in which electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy may be useful to investigate systems of relevance to the environmental sciences. Specifically considered are: quantititave ESR, photocatalysis for pollution control; sorption and mobility of molecules in zeolites; free radicals produced by mechanical action and by shock waves from explosives; measurement of peroxyl radicals and nitrate radicals in air; determination of particulate matter polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), soot and black carbon in air; estimation of nitrate and nitrite in vegetables and fruit; lipid-peroxidation by solid particles (silica, asbestos, coal dust); ESR of soils and other biogenic substances: formation of soil organic matter carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) and no-till farming; detection of reactive oxygen species in the photosynthetic apparatus of higher plants under light stress; molecular mobility and intracellular glasses in seeds and pollen; molecular mobility in dry cotton; characterisation of the surface of carbon black used for chromatography; ESR dating for archaeology and determining seawater levels; measurement of the quality of tea-leaves by ESR; green-catalysts and catalytic media; studies of petroleum (crude oil); fuels; methane hydrate; fuel cells; photovoltaics; source rocks; kerogen; carbonaceous chondrites to find an ESR-based marker for extraterrestrial origin; samples from the Moon taken on the Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 missions to understand space-weathering; ESR studies of organic matter in regard to oil and gas formation in the North Sea; solvation by ionic liquids as green solvents, ESR in food and nutraceutical research.
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Abstract
Modern humans have gone through varied processes of genetic adaptations when their ancestors left Africa about 100,000 years ago. The environmental stresses and the social transitions (e.g., emergence of the Neolithic culture) have been acting as the major selective forces reshaping the genetic make-up of human populations. Genetic adaptations have occurred in many aspects of human life, including the adaptation to cold climate and high-altitude hypoxia, the improved ability of defending infectious diseases, and the polished strategy of utilizing new diet with the advent of agriculture. At the same time, the adaptations once developed during evolution may sometimes generate deleterious effects (e.g., susceptibility to diseases) when facing new environmental and social changes. The molecular (especially the genome-wide screening of genetic variations) studies in recent years have detected many genetic variants that show signals of Darwinian positive selection in modern human populations, which will not only provide a better understanding of human evolutionary history, but also help dissecting the genetic basis of human complex diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming 650223, China
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Abstract
Creating visual art is one of the defining characteristics of the human species, but the paucity of archaeological evidence means that we have limited information on the origin and evolution of this aspect of human culture. The components of art include colour, pattern and the reproduction of visual likeness. The 2D and 3D art forms that were created by Upper Palaeolithic Europeans at least 30,000 years ago are conceptually equivalent to those created in recent centuries, indicating that human cognition and symbolling activity, as well as anatomy, were fully modern by that time. The origins of art are therefore much more ancient and lie within Africa, before worldwide human dispersal. The earliest known evidence of 'artistic behaviour' is of human body decoration, including skin colouring with ochre and the use of beads, although both may have had functional origins. Zig-zag and criss-cross patterns, nested curves and parallel lines are the earliest known patterns to have been created separately from the body; their similarity to entopic phenomena (involuntary products of the visual system) suggests a physiological origin. 3D art may have begun with human likeness recognition in natural objects, which were modified to enhance that likeness; some 2D art has also clearly been influenced by suggestive features of an uneven surface. The creation of images from the imagination, or 'the mind's eye', required a seminal evolutionary change in the neural structures underpinning perception; this change would have had a survival advantage in both tool-making and hunting. Analysis of early tool-making techniques suggests that creating 3D objects (sculptures and reliefs) involves their cognitive deconstruction into a series of surfaces, a principle that could have been applied to early sculpture. The cognitive ability to create art separate from the body must have originated in Africa but the practice may have begun at different times in genetically and culturally distinct groups both within Africa and during global dispersal, leading to the regional variety seen in both ancient and recent art. At all stages in the evolution of artistic creativity, stylistic change must have been due to rare, highly gifted individuals.
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Abstract
Language, whether spoken or signed, can be viewed as a gestural system, evolving from the so-called mirror system in the primate brain. In nonhuman primates the gestural system is well developed for the productions and perception of manual action, especially transitive acts involving the grasping of objects. The emergence of bipedalism in the hominins freed the hands for the adaptation of the mirror system for intransitive acts for communication, initially through the miming of events. With the emergence of the genus Homo from some 2 million years ago, pressures for more complex communication and increased vocabulary size led to the conventionalization of gestures, the loss of iconic representation, and a gradual shift to vocal gestures replacing manual ones-although signed languages are still composed of manual and facial gestures. In parallel with the conventionalization of symbols, languages gained grammatical complexity, perhaps driven by the evolution of episodic memory and mental time travel, which involve combinations of familiar elements--Who did what to whom, when, where, and why? Language is thus adapted to allow us to share episodic structures, whether past, planned, or fictional, and so increase survival fitness.
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Abstract
The Upper Paleolithic represents both the phase during which anatomically modern humans appeared and the climax of hunter-gatherer cultures. Demographic expansion into new areas that took place during this period and the diffusion of burial practices resulted in an unprecedented number of well-preserved human remains. This skeletal record, dovetailed with archeological, environmental, and chronological contexts, allows testing of hypotheses regarding biological processes at the population level. In this article, we review key studies about the biology of Upper Paleolithic populations based primarily on European samples, but integrating information from other areas of the Old World whenever possible. Data about cranial morphology, skeletal robusticity, stature, body proportions, health status, diet, physical activity, and genetics are evaluated in Late Pleistocene climatic and cultural contexts. Various lines of evidence delineate the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) as a critical phase in the biological and cultural evolution of Upper Paleolithic populations. The LGM, a long phase of climatic deterioration culminating around 20,000 BP, had a profound impact on the environment, lifestyle, and behavior of human groups. Some of these effects are recorded in aspects of skeletal biology of these populations. Groups living before and after the LGM, Early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) and Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP), respectively, differ significantly in craniofacial dimensions, stature, robusticity, and body proportions. While paleopathological and stable isotope data suggest good health status throughout the Upper Paleolithic, some stress indicators point to a slight decline in quality of life in LUP populations. The intriguing and unexpected incidence of individuals affected by congenital disorders probably indicates selective burial practices for these abnormal individuals. While some of the changes observed can be explained through models of biocultural or environmental adaptation (e.g., decreased lower limb robusticity following decreased mobility; changes in body proportions along with climatic change), others are more difficult to explain. For instance, craniodental and upper limb robusticity show complex evolutionary patterns that do not always correspond to expectations. In addition, the marked decline in stature and the mosaic nature of change in body proportions still await clarifications. These issues, as well as systematic analysis of specific pathologies and possible relationships between genetic lineages, population movements and cultural complexes, should be among the goals of future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brigitte M Holt
- Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
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Carto SL, Weaver AJ, Hetherington R, Lam Y, Wiebe EC. Out of Africa and into an ice age: on the role of global climate change in the late Pleistocene migration of early modern humans out of Africa. J Hum Evol 2008; 56:139-51. [PMID: 19019409 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2007] [Revised: 09/01/2008] [Accepted: 09/02/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The results from two climate model simulations are used to explore the relationship between North Atlantic sea surface temperatures and the development of African aridity around 100,000 years ago. Through the use of illustrative simulations with an Earth System Climate Model, it is shown that freshwater fluxes associated with ice sheet surges into the North Atlantic, known as Heinrich events, lead to the southward shift of the intertropical convergence zone over Africa. This, combined with the overall increased aridity in the cooler mean climate, leads to substantial changes in simulated African vegetation cover, particularly in the Sahel. We suggest that Heinrich events, which occurred episodically throughout the last glacial cycle, led to abrupt changes in climate that may have rendered large parts of North, East, and West Africa unsuitable for hominin occupation, thus compelling early Homo sapiens to migrate out of Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shannon L Carto
- School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Victoria, PO Box 3055, Victoria, BC, V8W 3P6, Canada
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Shi H, Zhong H, Peng Y, Dong YL, Qi XB, Zhang F, Liu LF, Tan SJ, Ma RZ, Xiao CJ, Wells RS, Jin L, Su B. Y chromosome evidence of earliest modern human settlement in East Asia and multiple origins of Tibetan and Japanese populations. BMC Biol 2008; 6:45. [PMID: 18959782 PMCID: PMC2605740 DOI: 10.1186/1741-7007-6-45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 110] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2008] [Accepted: 10/29/2008] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The phylogeography of the Y chromosome in Asia previously suggested that modern humans of African origin initially settled in mainland southern East Asia, and about 25,000–30,000 years ago, migrated northward, spreading throughout East Asia. However, the fragmented distribution of one East Asian specific Y chromosome lineage (D-M174), which is found at high frequencies only in Tibet, Japan and the Andaman Islands, is inconsistent with this scenario. Results In this study, we collected more than 5,000 male samples from 73 East Asian populations and reconstructed the phylogeography of the D-M174 lineage. Our results suggest that D-M174 represents an extremely ancient lineage of modern humans in East Asia, and a deep divergence was observed between northern and southern populations. Conclusion We proposed that D-M174 has a southern origin and its northward expansion occurred about 60,000 years ago, predating the northward migration of other major East Asian lineages. The Neolithic expansion of Han culture and the last glacial maximum are likely the key factors leading to the current relic distribution of D-M174 in East Asia. The Tibetan and Japanese populations are the admixture of two ancient populations represented by two major East Asian specific Y chromosome lineages, the O and D haplogroups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, PR China.
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Abstract
Motivation: Analysis of the distribution of alleles across populations is a useful tool for examining population diversity and relationships. However, sample sizes often differ across populations, sometimes making it difficult to assess allelic distributions across groups. Results: We introduce a generalized rarefaction approach for counting alleles private to combinations of populations. Our method evaluates the number of alleles found in each of a set of populations but absent in all remaining populations, considering equal-sized subsamples from each population. Applying this method to a worldwide human microsatellite dataset, we observe a high number of alleles private to the combination of African and Oceanian populations. This result supports the possibility of a migration out of Africa into Oceania separate from the migrations responsible for the majority of the ancestry of the modern populations of Asia, and it highlights the utility of our approach to sample size correction in evaluating hypotheses about population history. Availability: We have implemented our method in the computer pro-gram ADZE, which is available for download at http://rosenberglab.bioinformatics.med.umich.edu/adze.html. Contact:szpiechz@umich.edu
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary A Szpiech
- Center for Computational Medicine and Biology, Department of Human Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
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Habgood PJ, Franklin NR. The revolution that didn't arrive: A review of Pleistocene Sahul. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:187-222. [PMID: 18485448 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2006] [Revised: 06/12/2007] [Accepted: 11/15/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
There is a "package" of cultural innovations that are claimed to reflect modern human behaviour. The introduction of the "package" has been associated with the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the appearance in Europe of modern humans. It has been proposed that modern humans spread from Africa with the "package" and colonised not only Europe but also southern Asia and Australia (McBrearty and Brooks, 2000; Mellars, 2006a). In order to evaluate this proposal, we explore the late Pleistocene archaeological record of Sahul, the combined landmass of Australia and Papua New Guinea, for indications of these cultural innovations at the earliest sites. It was found that following initial occupation of the continent by anatomically and behaviourally modern humans, the components were gradually assembled over a 30,000-year period. We discount the idea that the "package" was lost en route to Sahul and assess the possibility that the "package" was not integrated within the material culture of the initial colonising groups because they may not have been part of a rapid colonisation process from Africa. As the cultural innovations appear at different times and locations within Sahul, the proposed "package" of archaeologically visible traits cannot be used to establish modern human behaviour. Whilst the potential causal role of increasing population densities/pressure in the appearance of the "package" of modern human behaviour in the archaeological record is acknowledged, it is not seen as the sole explanation because the individual components of the "package" appear at sites that are widely separated in space and time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Phillip J Habgood
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia
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Yokoyama Y, Falguères C, Sémah F, Jacob T, Grün R. Gamma-ray spectrometric dating of late Homo erectus skulls from Ngandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java, Indonesia. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:274-7. [PMID: 18479734 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2007] [Revised: 11/23/2007] [Accepted: 01/04/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Hominid fossils from Ngandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java, Indonesia, are considered to be the most anatomically derived and youngest representatives of Homo erectus. Nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometric dating of three of these Homo erectus skulls showed that all samples underwent uranium leaching. Nevertheless, we could establish minimum age estimates of around 40ka, with an upper age limit of around 60 to 70ka. This means that the Homo erectus of Java very likely survived the Toba eruption and may have been contemporaneous with the earliest Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia and Australasia.
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Abu-Amero KK, Larruga JM, Cabrera VM, González AM. Mitochondrial DNA structure in the Arabian Peninsula. BMC Evol Biol 2008; 8:45. [PMID: 18269758 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-8-45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2007] [Accepted: 02/12/2008] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Two potential migratory routes followed by modern humans to colonize Eurasia from Africa have been proposed. These are the two natural passageways that connect both continents: the northern route through the Sinai Peninsula and the southern route across the Bab al Mandab strait. Recent archaeological and genetic evidence have favored a unique southern coastal route. Under this scenario, the study of the population genetic structure of the Arabian Peninsula, the first step out of Africa, to search for primary genetic links between Africa and Eurasia, is crucial. The haploid and maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) molecule has been the most used genetic marker to identify and to relate lineages with clear geographic origins, as the African Ls and the Eurasian M and N that have a common root with the Africans L3. RESULTS To assess the role of the Arabian Peninsula in the southern route, we genetically analyzed 553 Saudi Arabs using partial (546) and complete mtDNA (7) sequencing, and compared the lineages obtained with those present in Africa, the Near East, central, east and southeast Asia and Australasia. The results showed that the Arabian Peninsula has received substantial gene flow from Africa (20%), detected by the presence of L, M1 and U6 lineages; that an 18% of the Arabian Peninsula lineages have a clear eastern provenance, mainly represented by U lineages; but also by Indian M lineages and rare M links with Central Asia, Indonesia and even Australia. However, the bulk (62%) of the Arabian lineages has a Northern source. CONCLUSION Although there is evidence of Neolithic and more recent expansions in the Arabian Peninsula, mainly detected by (preHV)1 and J1b lineages, the lack of primitive autochthonous M and N sequences, suggests that this area has been more a receptor of human migrations, including historic ones, from Africa, India, Indonesia and even Australia, than a demographic expansion center along the proposed southern coastal route.
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Abstract
Hominin evolutionary history is characterized by regular dispersals, cycles of colonization, and entry into novel environments. This article considers the relationship between such colonizing capacity and hominin biology. In general, colonizing strategy favors rapid rates of reproduction and generalized rather than specialized biology. Physiological viability across diverse environments favors a high degree of phenotypic plasticity, which buffers the genome from selective pressures. Colonizing also favors the capacity to access and process information about environmental variability. We propose that early hominin adaptive radiations were based upon the development of such capacities as adaptations to unstable Pliocene environments. These components came together, along with fundamental changes in morphology, behavior, and cognition in the genus Homo, who exploited them in subsequent wider dispersals. Middle Pleistocene hominins and modern humans also show development of further traits, which correspond with successful probing of, and dispersals into, stressful environments. These traits have their precursors in primate or ape biology, but have become more pronounced during hominin evolution. First, short interbirth intervals and slow childhood growth allow human females to provision several offspring simultaneously, increasing the rate of reproduction in favorable conditions. This allows rapid recovery from population crashes, or rapid population growth in new habitats. Second, despite high geographical phenotypic variability, humans have high genetic unity. This is achieved by a variety of levels of plasticity, including physiology, behavior, and technology, which reduce the need to commit to genetic adaptation. Hominin behavior may increasingly have shaped both the ecological niches occupied and the selective pressures acting back on the genome. Such selective pressures may have been exacerbated by population dynamics, predicted to both derive from, and favor, the colonizing strategy. Exposure to ecological variability is likely to have generated particular selective pressures on female biology, favoring increasing steering of offspring ontogeny by maternal phenotype. We propose that the concept of hominins as "colonizing apes" offers a novel unified model for interpreting the suite of traits characteristic of our genus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan C K Wells
- Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, UK.
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Abstract
The Aboriginal Australian population have continuously inhabited the vast Australian continent for in excess of 50,000 years, making them one of the most distinctive modern human population groups. At the time of European colonisation, it was estimated there were as many as 500 tribes with defined territorial lands and distinct linguistic and cultural traits. Unfortunately, the contribution of genetic data from Aboriginal Australia to studies of modern human global migration has been limited. Likewise, there are limited data from tribal populations from across Australia, and therefore a limited understanding of the genetic differentiation among tribal groups. This research is the first to analyse population data from Aboriginal Australians using the polymorphic minisatellite locus D1S80. Considerable differentiation was observed among the tribal groups that are represented in this Northern Australian dataset. The most genetically distinct tribal groups identified in this study (East Arnhem Land and Tiwi Island) are groups which have been previously noted in anthropological studies as having distinct cultural and/or linguistic characteristics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Walsh
- Biological Criminalistics, Forensic and Technical Services, Australian Federal Police, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
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van Holst Pellekaan S. Human Genome Diversity: Ethics and Practice in Australia. Glob Bioeth 2008. [DOI: 10.1080/11287462.2008.10800674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022] Open
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Jacobs Z, Roberts RG. Advances in optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual grains of quartz from archeological deposits. Evol Anthropol 2007. [DOI: 10.1002/evan.20150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 149] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
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Abstract
The genomic diversity of the Arrernte people of Australia or caterpillar people was investigated utilizing 13 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers. Significant departures from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium were detected at the D18S51, TPOX and CSF1PO loci, which persisted after applying the Bonferroni correction. Gene diversity values oscillate between 0.6302 (CSF1PO) and 0.8731 (D21S11). Observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranges from 0.2632 (D18S51) to 0.8333 (vWA) and is lower than the expected heterozygosity (He) for 12 of the 13 loci analyzed. The genetic relationships of the Arrernte with Middle Eastern, East Asian, South Asian and Indian populations were analyzed by distance-based methods, including Neighbor-Joining trees and nonmetric multidimensional scaling. In addition, the genetic contribution of the populations included in the analysis to the Arrernte gene pool was estimated utilizing weighted least square coefficients. Although the Arrernte population exhibits a remarkable level of genetic differentiation, results of the phylogeographic analyses based on autosomal microsatellite data suggest a certain degree of genetic relatedness between the Arrernte tribe of Australia and populations from the Indian subcontinent. In contrast, the STR diversity analyses failed to detect substantial East Asian contribution to the genetic background of the Arrernte group.
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Affiliation(s)
- M A Alfonso-Sánchez
- Molecular Biology and Human Diversity Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA
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Cohen AS, Stone JR, Beuning KRM, Park LE, Reinthal PN, Dettman D, Scholz CA, Johnson TC, King JW, Talbot MR, Brown ET, Ivory SJ. Ecological consequences of early Late Pleistocene megadroughts in tropical Africa. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2007; 104:16422-7. [PMID: 17925446 PMCID: PMC2034256 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0703873104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 219] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2007] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Extremely arid conditions in tropical Africa occurred in several discrete episodes between 135 and 90 ka, as demonstrated by lake core and seismic records from multiple basins [Scholz CA, Johnson TC, Cohen AS, King JW, Peck J, Overpeck JT, Talbot MR, Brown ET, Kalindekafe L, Amoako PYO, et al. (2007) Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104:16416-16421]. This resulted in extraordinarily low lake levels, even in Africa's deepest lakes. On the basis of well dated paleoecological records from Lake Malawi, which reflect both local and regional conditions, we show that this aridity had severe consequences for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. During the most arid phase, there was extremely low pollen production and limited charred-particle deposition, indicating insufficient vegetation to maintain substantial fires, and the Lake Malawi watershed experienced cool, semidesert conditions (<400 mm/yr precipitation). Fossil and sedimentological data show that Lake Malawi itself, currently 706 m deep, was reduced to an approximately 125 m deep saline, alkaline, well mixed lake. This episode of aridity was far more extreme than any experienced in the Afrotropics during the Last Glacial Maximum (approximately 35-15 ka). Aridity diminished after 95 ka, lake levels rose erratically, and salinity/alkalinity declined, reaching near-modern conditions after 60 ka. This record of lake levels and changing limnological conditions provides a framework for interpreting the evolution of the Lake Malawi fish and invertebrate species flocks. Moreover, this record, coupled with other regional records of early Late Pleistocene aridity, places new constraints on models of Afrotropical biogeographic refugia and early modern human population expansion into and out of tropical Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew S Cohen
- Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
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Walsh SJ, Mitchell RJ, Watson N, Buckleton JS. A comprehensive analysis of microsatellite diversity in Aboriginal Australians. J Hum Genet 2007; 52:712-728. [PMID: 17628738 DOI: 10.1007/s10038-007-0172-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2007] [Accepted: 06/18/2007] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Indigenous Australians have a unique evolutionary history that has resulted in a complex system of inter and intra-tribal relationships. While a number of studies have examined the population genetics of indigenous Australians, most have used a single sample to illuminate details of the global dispersal of modern humans and few studies have focussed on the population genetic features of the widely dispersed communities of the indigenous population. In this study we examine the largest Aboriginal Australian sample yet analysed (N = 8,868) at fifteen hypervariable autosomal microsatellite loci. A comprehensive analysis of differentiation indicates different levels of heterogeneity among indigenous peoples from traditional regions of Aboriginal Australia. The most genetically differentiated populations inhabit the North of the country, in particular the Tiwi of Melville and Bathurst islands, Arnhem Land (itself divided into West and East Arnhem), and Fitzmaurice regions. These tribal groups are most differentiated from other Aboriginal Australian tribes, especially those of the Central Desert regions, and also show marked heterogeneity from one another. These genetic findings are supportive of observations of body measurements, skin colour, and dermatoglyphic features which also vary substantially between tribes of the North (e.g. Arnhem Land) and Central Australian regions and, more specifically, between the Tiwi and West and East Arnhem tribes. This study provides the most comprehensive survey of the population genetics of Aboriginal Australia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Walsh
- Forensic and Technical Services, Australian Federal Police, GPO Box 401, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
- Centre for Forensic Science, UTS, PO Box 123, Broadway, NSW, 2007, Australia.
| | - R John Mitchell
- Department of Human Genetics, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Australia
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Crevecoeur I. New discovery of an Upper Paleolithic auditory ossicle: The right malleus of Nazlet Khater 2. J Hum Evol 2007; 52:341-5. [PMID: 17239938 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2006] [Revised: 11/13/2006] [Accepted: 11/29/2006] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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van Holst Pellekaan SM, Ingman M, Roberts-Thomson J, Harding RM. Mitochondrial genomics identifies major haplogroups in Aboriginal Australians. Am J Phys Anthropol 2006; 131:282-94. [PMID: 16596590 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
We classified diversity in eight new complete mitochondrial genome sequences and 41 partial sequences from living Aboriginal Australians into five haplogroups. Haplogroup AuB belongs to global lineage M, and AuA, AuC, AuD, and AuE to N. Within N, we recognize subdivisions, assigning AuA to haplogroup S, AuD to haplogroup O, AuC to P4, and AuE to P8. On available evidence, (S)AuA and (M)AuB are widespread in Australia. (P4)AuC is found in the Riverine region of western New South Wales, and was identified by others in northern Australia. (O)AuD and (P8)AuE were clearly identified only from central Australia. Our eight Australian full mt genome sequences, combined with 20 others (Ingman and Gyllensten 2003 Genome Res. 13:1600-1606) and compared with full mt genome sequences from regions to the north that include Papua New Guinea, Malaya, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, show that ancestral connections between regions are deep and limited to clustering at the level of the N and M macrohaplogroups. The Australian-specific distribution of the five haplogroups identified indicates genetic isolation over a long period. Ancestral connections within Australia are deeper than those reflected by known linguistic or culturally based affinities. Applying a coalescence analysis to a gene tree for the coding regions of the eight genomic sequences, we made estimates of time depth that support a continuity of presence for the descendants of a founding population already established by 40,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheila M van Holst Pellekaan
- School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, University of New South Wales, Kensington, New South Wales 2052, Australia.
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Webb S, Cupper ML, Robins R. Pleistocene human footprints from the Willandra Lakes, southeastern Australia. J Hum Evol 2006; 50:405-13. [PMID: 16343597 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2005] [Revised: 10/24/2005] [Accepted: 10/26/2005] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Human and other hominid fossil footprints provide rare but important insights into anatomy and behavior. Here we report recently discovered fossil trackways of human footprints from the Willandra Lakes region of western New South Wales, Australia. Optically dated to between 19-23 ka and consisting of at least 124 prints, the trackways form the largest collection of Pleistocene human footprints in the world. The prints were made by adults, adolescents, and children traversing the moist surface of an ephemeral soak. This site offers a unique glimpse of humans living in the arid inland of Australia at the height of the last glacial period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve Webb
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bond University, Robina, Queensland 4229, Australia
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Abstract
Spatial genetic variation within species is influenced by both contemporary and historical factors. We attempted to assess the impact of increased aridity and lower temperatures associated with the last glacial maximum on possible refugia and the structuring of genetic variation in Banksia hookeriana, a shrub species restricted to deep sands on the Eneabba sandplain and adjacent Gingin Scarp/Dandaragan Plateau, centred 300 km north of Perth, Western Australia. We used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to estimate the last time these sands were mobile, as well as amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) to infer spatial patterns and the phylogeographical history of genetic variation among 15 populations of B. hookeriana. While genetic variation at the species level was high, with 96.6% of 238 AFLP markers polymorphic, average within population gene diversity was low (H(pop) = 0.16). Of the total genetic variation, an analysis of molecular variance (amova) partitioned 70% within populations, 24% among populations within substrate and 6% between substrates. There was an isolation-by-distance effect among populations within the same substrate, but not across substrates, and ordination highlighted genetic differentiation between the sandplain and scarp/plateau populations. A neighbour-joining tree identified the sandplain populations as a distinct clade, with the exception of the most northern sandplain population, which clustered with two northern and eastern plateau populations. The most southern plateau populations formed a clade sister to the sandplain clade. OSL dating of sand at six extant populations suggested that dunes were last mobile 15,000-35,000 years ago, with no clear difference in the ages of sandplain and plateau dunes. These data are consistent with a historical scenario of (re)colonization from isolated refugia of smaller populations either within the patchily vegetated sandplain and/or refugia at the northern, eastern and southern sandplain/scarp margins following postglacial climate amelioration and dune stabilization. Historic interpretations were confounded by the possible effects of long-distance dispersal, natural selection by substrate, and weak and/or ancient introgression with the sister species, Banksia prionotes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siegfried L Krauss
- Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Kings Park and Botanic Garden, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia.
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van Holst Pellekaan S, Harding R. Excavating the mitochondrial genome identifies major haplogroups in Aboriginal Australians. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2006; 2006:1-26. [DOI: 10.3828/bfarm.2006.1.3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Abstract
The methods that can be used for the direct dating of human remains comprise of radiocarbon, U-series, electron spin resonance (ESR), and amino acid racemization (AAR). This review gives an introduction to these methods in the context of dating human bones and teeth. Recent advances in ultrafiltration techniques have expanded the dating range of radiocarbon. It now seems feasible to reliably date bones up to 55,000 years. New developments in laser ablation mass spectrometry permit the in situ analysis of U-series isotopes, thus providing a rapid and virtually non-destructive dating method back to about 300,000 years. This is of particular importance when used in conjunction with non-destructive ESR analysis. New approaches in AAR analysis may lead to a renaissance of this method. The potential and present limitations of these direct dating techniques are discussed for sites relevant to the reconstruction of modern human evolution, including Florisbad, Border Cave, Tabun, Skhul, Qafzeh, Vindija, Banyoles, and Lake Mungo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer Grün
- Research School of Earth Sciences, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.
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