1
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Zhang Y, Westaway KE, Haberle S, Lubeek JK, Bailey M, Ciochon R, Morley MW, Roberts P, Zhao JX, Duval M, Dosseto A, Pan Y, Rule S, Liao W, Gully GA, Lucas M, Mo J, Yang L, Cai Y, Wang W, Joannes-Boyau R. The demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki. Nature 2024; 625:535-539. [PMID: 38200315 PMCID: PMC10794149 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06900-0] [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] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
The largest ever primate and one of the largest of the southeast Asian megafauna, Gigantopithecus blacki1, persisted in China from about 2.0 million years until the late middle Pleistocene when it became extinct2-4. Its demise is enigmatic considering that it was one of the few Asian great apes to go extinct in the last 2.6 million years, whereas others, including orangutan, survived until the present5. The cause of the disappearance of G. blacki remains unresolved but could shed light on primate resilience and the fate of megafauna in this region6. Here we applied three multidisciplinary analyses-timing, past environments and behaviour-to 22 caves in southern China. We used 157 radiometric ages from six dating techniques to establish a timeline for the demise of G. blacki. We show that from 2.3 million years ago the environment was a mosaic of forests and grasses, providing ideal conditions for thriving G. blacki populations. However, just before and during the extinction window between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago there was enhanced environmental variability from increased seasonality, which caused changes in plant communities and an increase in open forest environments. Although its close relative Pongo weidenreichi managed to adapt its dietary preferences and behaviour to this variability, G. blacki showed signs of chronic stress and dwindling populations. Ultimately its struggle to adapt led to the extinction of the greatest primate to ever inhabit the Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Kira E Westaway
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Simon Haberle
- School of Culture, History and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Juliën K Lubeek
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Marian Bailey
- GARG, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Russell Ciochon
- Department of Anthropology and Museum of Natural History, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Mike W Morley
- College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Patrick Roberts
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jian-Xin Zhao
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Mathieu Duval
- National Research Centre on Human Evolution CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Anthony Dosseto
- Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yue Pan
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sue Rule
- School of Culture, History and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Wei Liao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Grant A Gully
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Mary Lucas
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Jinyou Mo
- Natural History Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, China
| | - Liyun Yang
- Chongzuo Zhuang Ethnological Musuem, Chongzuo, China
| | - Yanjun Cai
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- GARG, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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2
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Callaway E. Oldest genetic data from a human relative found in 2-million-year-old teeth. Nature 2023; 619:446. [PMID: 37430164 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-02242-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/12/2023]
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Abstract
Wild great apes harbor clades of gut bacteria that are restricted to each host species. Previous research shows the evolutionary relationships among several host-restricted clades mirror those of great-ape species. However, processes such as geographic separation, host-shift speciation, and host-filtering based on diet or gut physiology can generate host-restricted bacterial clades and mimic patterns of co-diversification across host species. To gain insight into the distribution of host-restricted taxa, we examine captive great apes living under conditions where sharing of bacterial strains is readily possible. Here, we show that increased sampling of wild and captive apes identifies additional host-restricted lineages whose relationships are not concordant with the host phylogeny. Moreover, the gut microbiomes of captive apes converge through the displacement of strains that are restricted to their wild conspecifics by human-restricted strains. We demonstrate that host-restricted and co-diversifying bacterial strains in wild apes lack persistence and fidelity in captive environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alex H Nishida
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
- Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Howard Ochman
- Department of Integrative Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Molecular Biosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
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4
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Gogarten JF, Rühlemann M, Archie E, Tung J, Akoua-Koffi C, Bang C, Deschner T, Muyembe-Tamfun JJ, Robbins MM, Schubert G, Surbeck M, Wittig RM, Zuberbühler K, Baines JF, Franke A, Leendertz FH, Calvignac-Spencer S. Primate phageomes are structured by superhost phylogeny and environment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2013535118. [PMID: 33876746 PMCID: PMC8053973 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2013535118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans harbor diverse communities of microorganisms, the majority of which are bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. These gut bacterial communities in turn host diverse bacteriophage (hereafter phage) communities that have a major impact on their structure, function, and, ultimately, human health. However, the evolutionary and ecological origins of these human-associated phage communities are poorly understood. To address this question, we examined fecal phageomes of 23 wild nonhuman primate taxa, including multiple representatives of all the major primate radiations. We find relatives of the majority of human-associated phages in wild primates. Primate taxa have distinct phageome compositions that exhibit a clear phylosymbiotic signal, and phage-superhost codivergence is often detected for individual phages. Within species, neighboring social groups harbor compositionally and evolutionarily distinct phageomes, which are structured by superhost social behavior. Captive nonhuman primate phageome composition is intermediate between that of their wild counterparts and humans. Phage phylogenies reveal replacement of wild great ape-associated phages with human-associated ones in captivity and, surprisingly, show no signal for the persistence of wild-associated phages in captivity. Together, our results suggest that potentially labile primate-phage associations have persisted across millions of years of evolution. Across primates, these phylosymbiotic and sometimes codiverging phage communities are shaped by transmission between groupmates through grooming and are dramatically modified when primates are moved into captivity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan F Gogarten
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Organisms, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany;
- Viral Evolution, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Malte Rühlemann
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrecht-University of Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Elizabeth Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Duke University Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708
| | - Chantal Akoua-Koffi
- Unité de Formation et Recherche des Sciences Médicales, Université Alassane Ouattara de Bouake, BP V1801 Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire
| | - Corinna Bang
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrecht-University of Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Tobias Deschner
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Muyembe-Tamfun
- National Institute for Biomedical Research, National Laboratory of Public Health, BP 1197 Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
| | - Martha M Robbins
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Grit Schubert
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Organisms, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Martin Surbeck
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138
| | - Roman M Wittig
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Tai Chimpanzee Project, Centre Suisse de Recherches Scientifiques, BP 1301, Abidjan 01, Cote d'Ivoire
| | - Klaus Zuberbühler
- Institute of Biology, University of Neuchatel, CH-2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland
| | - John F Baines
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, 24306 Plön, Germany
- Institute for Experimental Medicine, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
| | - Andre Franke
- Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Christian-Albrecht-University of Kiel, 24105 Kiel, Germany
| | - Fabian H Leendertz
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Organisms, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany
| | - Sébastien Calvignac-Spencer
- Epidemiology of Highly Pathogenic Organisms, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany;
- Viral Evolution, Robert Koch Institute, 13353 Berlin, Germany
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5
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Hammond AS, Mavuso SS, Biernat M, Braun DR, Jinnah Z, Kuo S, Melaku S, Wemanya SN, Ndiema EK, Patterson DB, Uno KT, Palcu DV. New hominin remains and revised context from the earliest Homo erectus locality in East Turkana, Kenya. Nat Commun 2021; 12:1939. [PMID: 33850143 PMCID: PMC8044126 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22208-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2020] [Accepted: 03/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The KNM-ER 2598 occipital is among the oldest fossils attributed to Homo erectus but questions have been raised about whether it may derive from a younger horizon. Here we report on efforts to relocate the KNM-ER 2598 locality and investigate its paleontological and geological context. Although located in a different East Turkana collection area (Area 13) than initially reported, the locality is stratigraphically positioned below the KBS Tuff and the outcrops show no evidence of deflation of a younger unit, supporting an age of >1.855 Ma. Newly recovered faunal material consists primarily of C4 grazers, further confirmed by enamel isotope data. A hominin proximal 3rd metatarsal and partial ilium were discovered <50 m from the reconstructed location where KNM-ER 2598 was originally found but these cannot be associated directly with the occipital. The postcrania are consistent with fossil Homo and may represent the earliest postcrania attributable to Homo erectus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley S Hammond
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA.
- New York Consortium of Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, NY, USA.
| | | | - Maryse Biernat
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - David R Braun
- Department of Anthropology and Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Zubair Jinnah
- School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Sharon Kuo
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Sahleselasie Melaku
- Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH), National Museum of Ethiopia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Sylvia N Wemanya
- Archaeology Section, Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- Department of Archaeology and History, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Emmanuel K Ndiema
- Archaeology Section, Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - David B Patterson
- Department of Biology, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, USA
| | - Kevin T Uno
- Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA
| | - Dan V Palcu
- Paleomagnetic Laboratory 'Fort Hoofddijk', Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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6
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Abstract
Introgressive hybridization results in the transfer of genetic material between species, often with fitness implications for the recipient species. The development of statistical methods for detecting the signatures of historical introgression in whole-genome data has been a major area of focus. Although existing techniques are able to identify the taxa that exchanged genes during introgression using a four-taxon system, most methods do not explicitly distinguish which taxon served as donor and which as recipient during introgression (i.e., polarization of introgression directionality). Existing methods that do polarize introgression are often only able to do so when there is a fifth taxon available and that taxon is sister to one of the taxa involved in introgression. Here, we present divergence-based introgression polarization (DIP), a method for polarizing introgression using patterns of sequence divergence across whole genomes, which operates in a four-taxon context. Thus, DIP can be applied to infer the directionality of introgression when additional taxa are not available. We use simulations to show that DIP can polarize introgression and identify potential sources of bias in the assignment of directionality, and we apply DIP to a well-described hominin introgression event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan S Forsythe
- Department of Biology, Colorado State University
- School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona
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7
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Semaw S, Rogers MJ, Simpson SW, Levin NE, Quade J, Dunbar N, McIntosh WC, Cáceres I, Stinchcomb GE, Holloway RL, Brown FH, Butler RF, Stout D, Everett M. Co-occurrence of Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts with Homo erectus cranial fossils from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. Sci Adv 2020; 6:eaaw4694. [PMID: 32181331 PMCID: PMC7056306 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw4694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2018] [Accepted: 11/19/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Although stone tools generally co-occur with early members of the genus Homo, they are rarely found in direct association with hominins. We report that both Acheulian and Oldowan artifacts and Homo erectus crania were found in close association at 1.26 million years (Ma) ago at Busidima North (BSN12), and ca. 1.6 to 1.5 Ma ago at Dana Aoule North (DAN5) archaeological sites at Gona, Afar, Ethiopia. The BSN12 partial cranium is robust and large, while the DAN5 cranium is smaller and more gracile, suggesting that H. erectus was probably a sexually dimorphic species. The evidence from Gona shows behavioral diversity and flexibility with a lengthy and concurrent use of both stone technologies by H. erectus, confounding a simple "single species/single technology" view of early Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sileshi Semaw
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002 Burgos, Spain
- Stone Age Institute and CRAFT Research Center, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd., Gosport, IN 47408, USA
| | - Michael J. Rogers
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Connecticut State University, 501 Crescent Street, New Haven, CT 06515, USA
| | - Scott W. Simpson
- Department of Anatomy, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
- Laboratory of Physical Anthropology, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
| | - Naomi E. Levin
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Michigan, 1100 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Jay Quade
- Department of Geosciences/Desert Laboratory, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA
| | - Nelia Dunbar
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Earth and Environmental Science Department, New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801-4796, USA
| | - William C. McIntosh
- New Mexico Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources, Earth and Environmental Science Department, New Mexico Tech, 801 Leroy Place, Socorro, NM 87801-4796, USA
| | - Isabel Cáceres
- Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
- IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Zona Educacional 4–Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Gary E. Stinchcomb
- Watershed Studies Institute and Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Murray State University, Murray, KY 42071, USA
| | - Ralph L. Holloway
- Department of Anthropology, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027, USA
| | - Francis H. Brown
- The University of Utah, 201 South Presidents Circle Room 201, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
| | - Robert F. Butler
- Department of Physics, University of Portland, Portland, OR 97203, USA
| | - Dietrich Stout
- Department of Anthropology, Emory University, 1557 Dickey Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Melanie Everett
- Chevron Energy Technology Company, 1500 Louisiana St., Houston, TX 77002, USA
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8
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Tang W, Liang P. Comparative Genomics Analysis Reveals High Levels of Differential Retrotransposition among Primates from the Hominidae and the Cercopithecidae Families. Genome Biol Evol 2019; 11:3309-3325. [PMID: 31651947 PMCID: PMC6934888 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evz234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/24/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Mobile elements (MEs), making ∼50% of primate genomes, are known to be responsible for generating inter- and intra-species genomic variations and play important roles in genome evolution and gene function. Using a bioinformatics comparative genomics approach, we performed analyses of species-specific MEs (SS-MEs) in eight primate genomes from the families of Hominidae and Cercopithecidae, focusing on retrotransposons. We identified a total of 230,855 SS-MEs, with which we performed normalization based on evolutionary distances, and we also analyzed the most recent SS-MEs in these genomes. Comparative analysis of SS-MEs reveals striking differences in ME transposition among these primate genomes. Interesting highlights of our results include: 1) the baboon genome has the highest number of SS-MEs with a strong bias for SINEs, while the crab-eating macaque genome has a sustained extremely low transposition for all ME classes, suggesting the existence of a genome-wide mechanism suppressing ME transposition; 2) while SS-SINEs represent the dominant class in general, the orangutan genome stands out by having SS-LINEs as the dominant class; 3) the human genome stands out among the eight genomes by having the largest number of recent highly active ME subfamilies, suggesting a greater impact of ME transposition on its recent evolution; and 4) at least 33% of the SS-MEs locate to genic regions, including protein coding regions, presenting significant potentials for impacting gene function. Our study, as the first of its kind, demonstrates that mobile elements evolve quite differently among these primates, suggesting differential ME transposition as an important mechanism in primate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ping Liang
- Department of Biological Sciences, Brock University, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
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Amato KR, Mallott EK, McDonald D, Dominy NJ, Goldberg T, Lambert JE, Swedell L, Metcalf JL, Gomez A, Britton GAO, Stumpf RM, Leigh SR, Knight R. Convergence of human and Old World monkey gut microbiomes demonstrates the importance of human ecology over phylogeny. Genome Biol 2019; 20:201. [PMID: 31590679 PMCID: PMC6781418 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-019-1807-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Accepted: 08/29/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Comparative data from non-human primates provide insight into the processes that shaped the evolution of the human gut microbiome and highlight microbiome traits that differentiate humans from other primates. Here, in an effort to improve our understanding of the human microbiome, we compare gut microbiome composition and functional potential in 14 populations of humans from ten nations and 18 species of wild, non-human primates. RESULTS Contrary to expectations from host phylogenetics, we find that human gut microbiome composition and functional potential are more similar to those of cercopithecines, a subfamily of Old World monkey, particularly baboons, than to those of African apes. Additionally, our data reveal more inter-individual variation in gut microbiome functional potential within the human species than across other primate species, suggesting that the human gut microbiome may exhibit more plasticity in response to environmental variation compared to that of other primates. CONCLUSIONS Given similarities of ancestral human habitats and dietary strategies to those of baboons, these findings suggest that convergent ecologies shaped the gut microbiomes of both humans and cercopithecines, perhaps through environmental exposure to microbes, diet, and/or associated physiological adaptations. Increased inter-individual variation in the human microbiome may be associated with human dietary diversity or the ability of humans to inhabit novel environments. Overall, these findings show that diet, ecology, and physiological adaptations are more important than host-microbe co-diversification in shaping the human microbiome, providing a key foundation for comparative analyses of the role of the microbiome in human biology and health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherine R. Amato
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Ave, Evanston, IL 60208 USA
| | - Elizabeth K. Mallott
- Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University, 1810 Hinman Ave, Evanston, IL 60208 USA
| | - Daniel McDonald
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
| | | | - Tony Goldberg
- Department of Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, 53706 USA
| | - Joanna E. Lambert
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, 80302 USA
| | - Larissa Swedell
- Department of Anthropology, City University of New York - Queens College, New York, 11367 USA
| | - Jessica L. Metcalf
- Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80521 USA
| | - Andres Gomez
- Department of Animal Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 55108 USA
| | | | - Rebecca M. Stumpf
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, 61801 USA
| | - Steven R. Leigh
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, 80302 USA
| | - Rob Knight
- Department of Pediatrics, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
- Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California San Diego, San Diego, 92093 USA
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10
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Emery Thompson M. How can non-human primates inform evolutionary perspectives on female-biased kinship in humans? Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180074. [PMID: 31303156 PMCID: PMC6664131 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [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] [Accepted: 12/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The rarity of female-biased kinship organization in human societies raises questions about ancestral hominin family structures. Such questions require grounding in the form and function of kin relationships in our close phylogenetic relatives, the non-human primates. Common features of primate societies, such as low paternity certainty and lack of material wealth, are consistent with features that promote matriliny in humans. In this review, I examine the role of kinship in three primate study systems (socially monogamous species, female-bonded cercopithecines and great apes) that, each for different reasons, offer insights into the evolutionary roots of matriliny. Using these and other examples, I address potential analogues to features of female-biased kinship organization, including residence, descent and inheritance. Social relationships are biased towards matrilineal kin across primates, even where female dispersal limits access to them. In contrast to the strongly intergenerational nature of human kinship, most primate kin relationships function laterally as the basis for cooperative networks and require active reinforcement. There is little evidence that matrilineal kin relationships in primates are functionally equivalent to descent or true inheritance, but further research is needed to understand whether human cultural constructs of kinship produce fundamentally different biological outcomes from their antecedents in primates. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolution of female-biased kinship in humans and other mammals'.
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11
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Shipton C, Blinkhorn J, Breeze PS, Cuthbertson P, Drake N, Groucutt HS, Jennings RP, Parton A, Scerri EML, Alsharekh A, Petraglia MD. Acheulean technology and landscape use at Dawadmi, central Arabia. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0200497. [PMID: 30052630 PMCID: PMC6063418 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0200497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2017] [Accepted: 06/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite occupying a central geographic position, investigations of hominin populations in the Arabian Peninsula during the Lower Palaeolithic period are rare. The colonization of Eurasia below 55 degrees latitude indicates the success of the genus Homo in the Early and Middle Pleistocene, but the extent to which these hominins were capable of innovative and novel behavioural adaptations to engage with mid-latitude environments is unclear. Here we describe new field investigations at the Saffaqah locality (206–76) near Dawadmi, in central Arabia that aim to establish how hominins adapted to this region. The site is located in the interior of Arabia over 500 km from both the Red Sea and the Gulf, and at the headwaters of two major extinct river systems that were likely used by Acheulean hominins to cross the Peninsula. Saffaqah is one of the largest Acheulean sites in Arabia with nearly a million artefacts estimated to occur on the surface, and it is also the first to yield stratified deposits containing abundant artefacts. It is situated in the unusual setting of a dense and well-preserved landscape of Acheulean localities, with sites and isolated artefacts occurring regularly for tens of kilometres in every direction. We describe both previous and recent excavations at Saffaqah and its large lithic assemblage. We analyse thousands of artefacts from excavated and surface contexts, including giant andesite cores and flakes, smaller cores and retouched artefacts, as well as handaxes and cleavers. Technological assessment of stratified lithics and those from systematic survey, enable the reconstruction of stone tool life histories. The Acheulean hominins at Dawadmi were strong and skilful, with their adaptation evidently successful for some time. However, these biface-makers were also technologically conservative, and used least-effort strategies of resource procurement and tool transport. Ultimately, central Arabia was depopulated, likely in the face of environmental deterioration in the form of increasing aridity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceri Shipton
- Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, United Kingdom
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Paul S. Breeze
- Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | | | - Nick Drake
- Department of Geography, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Huw S. Groucutt
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Richard P. Jennings
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Ash Parton
- Department of Social Sciences, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Mansfield College, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Eleanor M. L. Scerri
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Michael D. Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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12
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Klein JC, Keith A, Agarwal V, Durham T, Shendure J. Functional characterization of enhancer evolution in the primate lineage. Genome Biol 2018; 19:99. [PMID: 30045748 PMCID: PMC6060477 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-018-1473-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Enhancers play an important role in morphological evolution and speciation by controlling the spatiotemporal expression of genes. Previous efforts to understand the evolution of enhancers in primates have typically studied many enhancers at low resolution, or single enhancers at high resolution. Although comparative genomic studies reveal large-scale turnover of enhancers, a specific understanding of the molecular steps by which mammalian or primate enhancers evolve remains elusive. RESULTS We identified candidate hominoid-specific liver enhancers from H3K27ac ChIP-seq data. After locating orthologs in 11 primates spanning around 40 million years, we synthesized all orthologs as well as computational reconstructions of 9 ancestral sequences for 348 active tiles of 233 putative enhancers. We concurrently tested all sequences for regulatory activity with STARR-seq in HepG2 cells. We observe groups of enhancer tiles with coherent trajectories, most of which can be potentially explained by a single gain or loss-of-activity event per tile. We quantify the correlation between the number of mutations along a branch and the magnitude of change in functional activity. Finally, we identify 84 mutations that correlate with functional changes; these are enriched for cytosine deamination events within CpGs. CONCLUSIONS We characterized the evolutionary-functional trajectories of hundreds of liver enhancers throughout the primate phylogeny. We observe subsets of regulatory sequences that appear to have gained or lost activity. We use these data to quantify the relationship between sequence and functional divergence, and to identify CpG deamination as a potentially important force in driving changes in enhancer activity during primate evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason C Klein
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
| | - Aidan Keith
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Vikram Agarwal
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Timothy Durham
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Jay Shendure
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
- Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle, WA, 98195-8047, USA.
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13
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Abstract
The split of our own clade from the Panini is undocumented in the fossil record. To fill this gap we investigated the dentognathic morphology of Graecopithecus freybergi from Pyrgos Vassilissis (Greece) and cf. Graecopithecus sp. from Azmaka (Bulgaria), using new μCT and 3D reconstructions of the two known specimens. Pyrgos Vassilissis and Azmaka are currently dated to the early Messinian at 7.175 Ma and 7.24 Ma. Mainly based on its external preservation and the previously vague dating, Graecopithecus is often referred to as nomen dubium. The examination of its previously unknown dental root and pulp canal morphology confirms the taxonomic distinction from the significantly older northern Greek hominine Ouranopithecus. Furthermore, it shows features that point to a possible phylogenetic affinity with hominins. G. freybergi uniquely shares p4 partial root fusion and a possible canine root reduction with this tribe and therefore, provides intriguing evidence of what could be the oldest known hominin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jochen Fuss
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP). Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nikolai Spassov
- National Museum of Natural History, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 1 Blvd Tzar Osvoboditel, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - David R. Begun
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Madelaine Böhme
- Department of Geoscience, Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen, Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment (HEP). Sigwartstr. 10, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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14
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Gibbons A. Newest member of human family is surprisingly young. Science 2017; 356:571. [PMID: 28495707 DOI: 10.1126/science.356.6338.571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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15
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Berger LR, Hawks J, Dirks PHGM, Elliott M, Roberts EM. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa. eLife 2017; 6:e24234. [PMID: 28483041 PMCID: PMC5423770 DOI: 10.7554/elife.24234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Paul HGM Dirks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Marina Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Eric M Roberts
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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16
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Baab KL, Brown P, Falk D, Richtsmeier JT, Hildebolt CF, Smith K, Jungers W. A Critical Evaluation of the Down Syndrome Diagnosis for LB1, Type Specimen of Homo floresiensis. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0155731. [PMID: 27275928 PMCID: PMC4898715 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2015] [Accepted: 05/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The Liang Bua hominins from Flores, Indonesia, have been the subject of intense scrutiny and debate since their initial description and classification in 2004. These remains have been assigned to a new species, Homo floresiensis, with the partial skeleton LB1 as the type specimen. The Liang Bua hominins are notable for their short stature, small endocranial volume, and many features that appear phylogenetically primitive relative to modern humans, despite their late Pleistocene age. Recently, some workers suggested that the remains represent members of a small-bodied island population of modern Austro-Melanesian humans, with LB1 exhibiting clinical signs of Down syndrome. Many classic Down syndrome signs are soft tissue features that could not be assessed in skeletal remains. Moreover, a definitive diagnosis of Down syndrome can only be made by genetic analysis as the phenotypes associated with Down syndrome are variable. Most features that contribute to the Down syndrome phenotype are not restricted to Down syndrome but are seen in other chromosomal disorders and in the general population. Nevertheless, we re-evaluated the presence of those phenotypic features used to support this classification by comparing LB1 to samples of modern humans diagnosed with Down syndrome and euploid modern humans using comparative morphometric analyses. We present new data regarding neurocranial, brain, and symphyseal shape in Down syndrome, additional estimates of stature for LB1, and analyses of inter- and intralimb proportions. The presence of cranial sinuses is addressed using CT images of LB1. We found minimal congruence between the LB1 phenotype and clinical descriptions of Down syndrome. We present important differences between the phenotypes of LB1 and individuals with Down syndrome, and quantitative data that characterize LB1 as an outlier compared with Down syndrome and non-Down syndrome groups. Homo floresiensis remains a phenotypically unique, valid species with its roots in Plio-Pleistocene Homo taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Baab
- Department of Anatomy, Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, 19555 N. 59th Avenue, Glendale, AZ, 85308, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Peter Brown
- Bioanthropology, School of Archaeology & Anthropology, Australian National University, Acton, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Dean Falk
- Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, 32306–7772, United States of America
- School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe, NM, 87505, United States of America
| | - Joan T. Richtsmeier
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, United States of America
| | - Charles F. Hildebolt
- Department of Radiology, Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, 510 South Kingshighway, St. Louis, Missouri, 63110, United States of America
| | - Kirk Smith
- Department of Biomedical Informatics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, 72205, United States of America
| | - William Jungers
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, School of Medicine, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794–8081, United States of America
- Association Vahatra, BP 3972, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar
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17
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Curnoe D, Ji X, Liu W, Bao Z, Taçon PSC, Ren L. A Hominin Femur with Archaic Affinities from the Late Pleistocene of Southwest China. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0143332. [PMID: 26678851 PMCID: PMC4683062 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0143332] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 11/03/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The number of Late Pleistocene hominin species and the timing of their extinction are issues receiving renewed attention following genomic evidence for interbreeding between the ancestors of some living humans and archaic taxa. Yet, major gaps in the fossil record and uncertainties surrounding the age of key fossils have meant that these questions remain poorly understood. Here we describe and compare a highly unusual femur from Late Pleistocene sediments at Maludong (Yunnan), Southwest China, recovered along with cranial remains that exhibit a mixture of anatomically modern human and archaic traits. Our studies show that the Maludong femur has affinities to archaic hominins, especially Lower Pleistocene femora. However, the scarcity of later Middle and Late Pleistocene archaic remains in East Asia makes an assessment of systematically relevant character states difficult, warranting caution in assigning the specimen to a species at this time. The Maludong fossil probably samples an archaic population that survived until around 14,000 years ago in the biogeographically complex region of Southwest China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Curnoe
- Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
- * E-mail: (DC); (XJ)
| | - Xueping Ji
- Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- * E-mail: (DC); (XJ)
| | - Wu Liu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhende Bao
- Mengzi Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
| | - Paul S. C. Taçon
- Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, School of Humanities, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
| | - Liang Ren
- Mengzi Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
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18
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Abstract
Incomplete lineage sorting can cause incongruencies of the overall species-level phylogenetic tree with the phylogenetic trees for individual genes or genomic segments. If these incongruencies are not accounted for, it is possible to incur several biases in species tree estimation. Here, we present a simple maximum likelihood approach that accounts for ancestral variation and incomplete lineage sorting. We use a POlymorphisms-aware phylogenetic MOdel (PoMo) that we have recently shown to efficiently estimate mutation rates and fixation biases from within and between-species variation data. We extend this model to perform efficient estimation of species trees. We test the performance of PoMo in several different scenarios of incomplete lineage sorting using simulations and compare it with existing methods both in accuracy and computational speed. In contrast to other approaches, our model does not use coalescent theory but is allele frequency based. We show that PoMo is well suited for genome-wide species tree estimation and that on such data it is more accurate than previous approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola De Maio
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien 1210, Austria; Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Wien, Austria; and Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 7BN, UK
| | - Dominik Schrempf
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien 1210, Austria; Vienna Graduate School of Population Genetics, Wien, Austria; and
| | - Carolin Kosiol
- Institut für Populationsgenetik, Vetmeduni Vienna, Wien 1210, Austria;
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19
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Thackeray JF, Dykes S. Morphometric analyses of hominoid crania, probabilities of conspecificity and an approximation of a biological species constant. Homo 2015; 67:1-10. [PMID: 26456122 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2015.09.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2015] [Accepted: 07/26/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Thackeray has previously explored the possibility of using a morphometric approach to quantify the "amount" of variation within species and to assess probabilities of conspecificity when two fossil specimens are compared, instead of "pigeon-holing" them into discrete species. In an attempt to obtain a statistical (probabilistic) definition of a species, Thackeray has recognized an approximation of a biological species constant (T=-1.61) based on the log-transformed standard error of the coefficient m (log sem) in regression analysis of cranial and other data from pairs of specimens of conspecific extant species, associated with regression equations of the form y=mx+c where m is the slope and c is the intercept, using measurements of any specimen A (x axis), and any specimen B of the same species (y axis). The log-transformed standard error of the co-efficient m (log sem) is a measure of the degree of similarity between pairs of specimens, and in this study shows central tendency around a mean value of -1.61 and standard deviation 0.10 for modern conspecific specimens. In this paper we focus attention on the need to take into account the range of difference in log sem values (Δlog sem or "delta log sem") obtained from comparisons when specimen A (x axis) is compared to B (y axis), and secondly when specimen A (y axis) is compared to B (x axis). Thackeray's approach can be refined to focus on high probabilities of conspecificity for pairs of specimens for which log sem is less than -1.61 and for which Δlog sem is less than 0.03. We appeal for the adoption of a concept here called "sigma taxonomy" (as opposed to "alpha taxonomy"), recognizing that boundaries between species are not always well defined.
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Affiliation(s)
- J F Thackeray
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO WITS, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa.
| | - S Dykes
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO WITS, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
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20
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Berger LR, Hawks J, de Ruiter DJ, Churchill SE, Schmid P, Delezene LK, Kivell TL, Garvin HM, Williams SA, DeSilva JM, Skinner MM, Musiba CM, Cameron N, Holliday TW, Harcourt-Smith W, Ackermann RR, Bastir M, Bogin B, Bolter D, Brophy J, Cofran ZD, Congdon KA, Deane AS, Dembo M, Drapeau M, Elliott MC, Feuerriegel EM, Garcia-Martinez D, Green DJ, Gurtov A, Irish JD, Kruger A, Laird MF, Marchi D, Meyer MR, Nalla S, Negash EW, Orr CM, Radovcic D, Schroeder L, Scott JE, Throckmorton Z, Tocheri MW, VanSickle C, Walker CS, Wei P, Zipfel B. Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa. eLife 2015; 4:e09560. [PMID: 26354291 PMCID: PMC4559886 DOI: 10.7554/elife.09560] [Citation(s) in RCA: 198] [Impact Index Per Article: 22.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2015] [Accepted: 08/04/2015] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Homo naledi is a previously-unknown species of extinct hominin discovered within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. This species is characterized by body mass and stature similar to small-bodied human populations but a small endocranial volume similar to australopiths. Cranial morphology of H. naledi is unique, but most similar to early Homo species including Homo erectus, Homo habilis or Homo rudolfensis. While primitive, the dentition is generally small and simple in occlusal morphology. H. naledi has humanlike manipulatory adaptations of the hand and wrist. It also exhibits a humanlike foot and lower limb. These humanlike aspects are contrasted in the postcrania with a more primitive or australopith-like trunk, shoulder, pelvis and proximal femur. Representing at least 15 individuals with most skeletal elements repeated multiple times, this is the largest assemblage of a single species of hominins yet discovered in Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Geosciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
| | - Darryl J de Ruiter
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, United States
| | - Steven E Churchill
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States
| | - Peter Schmid
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Lucas K Delezene
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, United States
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Heather M Garvin
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology/Archaeology and Department of Applied Forensic Sciences, Mercyhurst University, Erie, United States
| | - Scott A Williams
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, United States
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, United States
| | - Jeremy M DeSilva
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Dartmouth College, Hanover, United States
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Charles M Musiba
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, United States
| | - Noel Cameron
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
| | - Trenton W Holliday
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Tulane University, New Orleans, United States
| | - William Harcourt-Smith
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Lehman College, Bronx, United States
- Division of Paleontology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, United States
| | - Rebecca R Ackermann
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Markus Bastir
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Paleoanthropology Group, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain
| | - Barry Bogin
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, United Kingdom
| | - Debra Bolter
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Modesto Junior College, Modesto, United States
| | - Juliet Brophy
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, United States
| | - Zachary D Cofran
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
| | - Kimberly A Congdon
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, United States
| | - Andrew S Deane
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, United States
| | - Mana Dembo
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program and Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Michelle Drapeau
- Department d'Anthropologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| | - Marina C Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Human Evolutionary Studies Program and Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Elen M Feuerriegel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Daniel Garcia-Martinez
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Paleoanthropology Group, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain
- Faculty of Sciences, Biology Department, Universidad Autònoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - David J Green
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anatomy, Midwestern University, Downers Grove, United States
| | - Alia Gurtov
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
| | - Joel D Irish
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Research Centre in Evolutionary Anthropology and Palaeoecology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom
| | - Ashley Kruger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Myra F Laird
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, United States
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, United States
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
| | - Marc R Meyer
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, United States
| | - Shahed Nalla
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Enquye W Negash
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, Washington, United States
| | - Caley M Orr
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States
| | - Davorka Radovcic
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geology and Paleontology, Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Lauren Schroeder
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Jill E Scott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, United States
| | - Zachary Throckmorton
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anatomy, DeBusk College of Osteopathic Medicine, Lincoln Memorial University, Harrogate, United States
| | - Matthew W Tocheri
- Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, United States
- Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada
| | - Caroline VanSickle
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
- Department of Gender and Women's Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, United States
| | - Christopher S Walker
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, United States
| | - Pianpian Wei
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Paleoanthropology, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Beijing, China
| | - Bernhard Zipfel
- Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre of Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Domínguez-Rodrigo M, Pickering TR, Baquedano E, Mabulla A, Mark DF, Musiba C, Bunn HT, Uribelarrea D, Smith V, Diez-Martin F, Pérez-González A, Sánchez P, Santonja M, Barboni D, Gidna A, Ashley G, Yravedra J, Heaton JL, Arriaza MC. First partial skeleton of a 1.34-million-year-old Paranthropus boisei from Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. PLoS One 2013; 8:e80347. [PMID: 24339873 PMCID: PMC3855051 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2013] [Accepted: 10/01/2013] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent excavations in Level 4 at BK (Bed II, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania) have yielded nine hominin teeth, a distal humerus fragment, a proximal radius with much of its shaft, a femur shaft, and a tibia shaft fragment (cataloged collectively as OH 80). Those elements identified more specifically than to simply Hominidae gen. et sp. indet are attributed to Paranthropus boisei. Before this study, incontrovertible P. boisei partial skeletons, for which postcranial remains occurred in association with taxonomically diagnostic craniodental remains, were unknown. Thus, OH 80 stands as the first unambiguous, dentally associated Paranthropus partial skeleton from East Africa. The morphology and size of its constituent parts suggest that the fossils derived from an extremely robust individual who, at 1.338±0.024 Ma (1 sigma), represents one of the most recent occurrences of Paranthropus before its extinction in East Africa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo
- Instituto de Evolución en África, Museo de los Orígenes, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Travis Rayne Pickering
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Department of Vertebrates, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum), Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Enrique Baquedano
- Instituto de Evolución en África, Museo de los Orígenes, Madrid, Spain
- Museo Arqueológico Regional, Plaza de las Bernardas s/n, Madrid, Spain
| | - Audax Mabulla
- Archaeology Unit, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Darren F. Mark
- Natural Environment Research Council Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Charles Musiba
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Denver, Denver, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Henry T. Bunn
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America
| | | | - Victoria Smith
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Fernando Diez-Martin
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | | | - Policarpo Sánchez
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Valladolid, Valladolid, Spain
| | - Manuel Santonja
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
| | - Doris Barboni
- Centre Européen de Recherche et d'enseignement de Géosciences de l'Environnement, Aix-Marseille Université, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Agness Gidna
- Instituto de Evolución en África, Museo de los Orígenes, Madrid, Spain
- Paleontology Unit, National Museum of Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Gail Ashley
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, United States of America
| | - José Yravedra
- Department of Prehistory, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jason L. Heaton
- Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology Section, Department of Vertebrates, Ditsong National Museum of Natural History (Transvaal Museum), Pretoria, South Africa
- Department of Biology, Birmingham-Southern College, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America
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Abstract
Physical size has been critical in the evolutionary success of the genus Homo over the past 2.4 million-years. An acceleration in the expansion of savannah grasslands in Africa from 1.6Ma to 1.2Ma witnessed concomitant increases in physical stature (150-170cm), weight (50-70kg), and brain size (750-900cm(3)). With the onset of 100,000year Middle Pleistocene glacial cycles ("ice ages") some 780,000years ago, large-bodied Homo groups had reached modern size and had successfully dispersed from equatorial Africa, Central, and Southeast Asia to high-latitude localities in Atlantic Europe and North East Asia. While there is support for incursions of multiple Homo lineages to West Asia and Continental Europe at this time, data does not favour a persistence of Homo erectus beyond ∼400,000years ago in Africa, west and Central Asia, and Europe. Novel Middle Pleistocene Homo forms (780,000-400,000years) may not have been substantially taller (150-170cm) than earlier Homo (1.6Ma-800,000years), yet brain size exceeded 1000cm(3) and body mass approached 80kg in some males. Later Pleistocene Homo (400,000-138,000years) were 'massive' in their height (160-190cm) and mass (70-90kg) and consistently exceed recent humans. Relative brain size exceeds earlier Homo, yet is substantially lower than in final glacial H. sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. A final leap in absolute and relative brain size in Homo (300,000-138,000years) occurred independent of any observed increase in body mass and implies a different selective mediator to that operating on brain size increases observed in earlier Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Gallagher
- Centre for Anthropological Research (CfAR), University of Johannesburg, PO Box 524, Auckland Park, 2006 Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Coppens Y. [About Australopithecus afarensis Lucy]. Gynecol Obstet Fertil 2013; 41:477. [PMID: 23988471 DOI: 10.1016/j.gyobfe.2013.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2013] [Accepted: 07/10/2013] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
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Alba DM, Almécija S, Casanovas-Vilar I, Méndez JM, Moyà-Solà S. A partial skeleton of the fossil great ape Hispanopithecus laietanus from Can Feu and the mosaic evolution of crown-hominoid positional behaviors. PLoS One 2012; 7:e39617. [PMID: 22761844 PMCID: PMC3382465 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0039617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2012] [Accepted: 05/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The extinct dryopithecine Hispanopithecus (Primates: Hominidae), from the Late Miocene of Europe, is the oldest fossil great ape displaying an orthograde body plan coupled with unambiguous suspensory adaptations. On the basis of hand morphology, Hispanopithecus laietanus has been considered to primitively retain adaptations to above-branch quadrupedalism-thus displaying a locomotor repertoire unknown among extant or fossil hominoids, which has been considered unlikely by some researchers. Here we describe a partial skeleton of H. laietanus from the Vallesian (MN9) locality of Can Feu 1 (Vallès-Penedès Basin, NE Iberian Peninsula), with an estimated age of 10.0-9.7 Ma. It includes dentognathic and postcranial remains of a single, female adult individual, with an estimated body mass of 22-25 kg. The postcranial remains of the rib cage, shoulder girdle and forelimb show a mixture of monkey-like and modern-hominoid-like features. In turn, the proximal morphology of the ulna-most completely preserved in the Can Feu skeleton than among previously-available remains-indicates the possession of an elbow complex suitable for preserving stability along the full range of flexion/extension and enabling a broad range of pronation/supination. Such features, suitable for suspensory behaviors, are however combined with an olecranon morphology that is functionally related to quadrupedalism. Overall, when all the available postcranial evidence for H. laietanus is considered, it emerges that this taxon displayed a locomotor repertoire currently unknown among other apes (extant or extinct alike), uniquely combining suspensory-related features with primitively-retained adaptations to above-branch palmigrady. Despite phylogenetic uncertainties, Hispanopithecus is invariably considered an extinct member of the great-ape-and-human clade. Therefore, the combination of quadrupedal and suspensory adaptations in this Miocene crown hominoid clearly evidences the mosaic nature of locomotor evolution in the Hominoidea, as well as the impossibility to reconstruct the ancestral locomotor repertoires for crown hominoid subclades on the basis of extant taxa alone.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Alba
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain.
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Abstract
The fossil ape Lufengpithecus is known from a number of late Miocene sites in Yunnan Province in southern China. Along with other fossil apes from South and Southeast Asia, it is widely considered to be a relative of the extant orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus. It is best represented at the type site of Shihuiba (Lufeng) by several partial to nearly complete but badly crushed adult crania. There is, however, an additional, minimally distorted cranium of a young juvenile from a nearly contemporaneous site in the Yuanmou Basin, which affords the opportunity to better assess the relationships between Lufengpithecus and Pongo. Comparison with similarly aged juvenile skulls of extant great apes reveals no features suggesting clear affinities to orangutans, and instead reveals a morphological pattern largely consistent with a stem member of the hominid (great ape and human) clade. The existence at this time of other hominids in South Asia (Sivapithecus) and Southeast Asia (Khoratpithecus) with clear craniofacial affinities to Pongo suggests both more diversity among Asian Late Miocene apes and more complex patterns of dispersal than previously supposed. Major differences in the associated mammal faunas from the southern China sites and those from South and Southeast Asia are consistent with these findings and suggest more than one dispersal route of apes into East Asia earlier in the Miocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jay Kelley
- Institute of Human Origins and School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
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Eren MI, Lycett SJ. Why Levallois? A morphometric comparison of experimental 'preferential' Levallois flakes versus debitage flakes. PLoS One 2012; 7:e29273. [PMID: 22291888 PMCID: PMC3264556 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0029273] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2011] [Accepted: 11/23/2011] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Middle Palaeolithic stone artefacts referred to as ‘Levallois’ have caused considerable debate regarding issues of technological predetermination, cognition and linguistic capacities in extinct hominins. Their association with both Neanderthals and early modern humans has, in particular, fuelled such debate. Yet, controversy exists regarding the extent of ‘predetermination’ and ‘standardization’ in so-called ‘preferential Levallois flakes’ (PLFs). Methodology/Principal Findings Using an experimental and morphometric approach, we assess the degree of standardization in PLFs compared to the flakes produced during their manufacture. PLFs possess specific properties that unite them robustly as a group or ‘category’ of flake. The properties that do so, relate most strongly to relative flake thicknesses across their surface area. PLFs also exhibit significantly less variability than the flakes generated during their production. Again, this is most evident in flake thickness variables. A further aim of our study was to assess whether the particular PLF attributes identified during our analyses can be related to current knowledge regarding flake functionality and utility. Conclusions/Significance PLFs are standardized in such a manner that they may be considered ‘predetermined’ with regard to a specific set of properties that distinguishes them statistically from a majority of other flakes. Moreover, their attributes can be linked to factors that, based on current knowledge, are desirable features in flake tools (e.g. durability, capacity for retouch, and reduction of torque). As such, our results support the hypothesis that the lengthy, multi-phase, and hierarchically organized process of Levallois reduction was a deliberate, engineered strategy orientated toward specific goals. In turn, our results support suggestions that Levallois knapping relied on a cognitive capacity for long-term working memory. This is consistent with recent evidence suggesting that cognitive distinctions between later Pleistocene hominins such as the Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans were not as sharp as some scholars have previously suggested.
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Affiliation(s)
- Metin I. Eren
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
| | - Stephen J. Lycett
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
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Pickering R, Dirks PHGM, Jinnah Z, de Ruiter DJ, Churchil SE, Herries AIR, Woodhead JD, Hellstrom JC, Berger LR. Australopithecus sediba at 1.977 Ma and Implications for the Origins of the Genus Homo. Science 2011; 333:1421-3. [PMID: 21903808 DOI: 10.1126/science.1203697] [Citation(s) in RCA: 146] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn Pickering
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Gibbons or small apes are, next to great apes, our closest living relatives, and form the most diverse group of contemporary hominoids. A characteristic trait of gibbons is their species-specific song structure, which, however, exhibits a certain amount of inter- and intra-individual variation. Although differences in gibbon song structure are routinely applied as taxonomic tool to identify subspecies and species, it remains unclear to which degree acoustic and phylogenetic differences are correlated. To trace this issue, we comparatively analyse song recordings and mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequence data from 22 gibbon populations representing six of the seven crested gibbon species (genus Nomascus). In addition, we address whether song similarity and geographic distribution can support a recent hypothesis about the biogeographic history of crested gibbons. RESULTS The acoustic analysis of 92 gibbon duets confirms the hypothesised concordance between song structure and phylogeny. Based on features of male and female songs, we can not only distinguish between N. nasutus, N. concolor and the four southern species (N. leucogenys, N. siki, N. annamensis, N. gabriellae), but also between the latter by applying more detailed analysis. In addition to the significant correlation between song structure and genetic similarity, we find a similar high correlation between song similarity and geographic distance. CONCLUSIONS The results show that the structure of crested gibbon songs is not only a reliable tool to verify phylogenetic relatedness, but also to unravel geographic origins. As vocal production in other nonhuman primate species appears to be evolutionarily based, it is likely that loud calls produced by other species can serve as characters to elucidate phylogenetic relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- Van Ngoc Thinh
- Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Goettingen, Germany
| | | | - Christian Roos
- Primate Genetics Laboratory, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Goettingen, Germany
- Gene Bank of Primates, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Goettingen, Germany
| | - Kurt Hammerschmidt
- Cognitive Ethology Laboratory, German Primate Center, Kellnerweg 4, 37077 Goettingen, Germany
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Bae
- Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
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Ho SYW, Lanfear R. Mito-communications. Mitochondrial DNA 2010; 21:147-148. [PMID: 20958221 DOI: 10.3109/19401736.2010.508091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/30/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Simon Y W Ho
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
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Oxnard C, Obendorf PJ, Kefford BJ. Post-cranial skeletons of hypothyroid cretins show a similar anatomical mosaic as Homo floresiensis. PLoS One 2010; 5:e13018. [PMID: 20885948 PMCID: PMC2946357 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0013018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2010] [Accepted: 08/19/2010] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human remains, some as recent as 15 thousand years, from Liang Bua (LB) on the Indonesian island of Flores have been attributed to a new species, Homo floresiensis. The definition includes a mosaic of features, some like modern humans (hence derived: genus Homo), some like modern apes and australopithecines (hence primitive: not species sapiens), and some unique (hence new species: floresiensis). Conversely, because only modern humans (H. sapiens) are known in this region in the last 40 thousand years, these individuals have also been suggested to be genetic human dwarfs. Such dwarfs resemble small humans and do not show the mosaic combination of the most complete individuals, LB1 and LB6, so this idea has been largely dismissed. We have previously shown that some features of the cranium of hypothyroid cretins are like those of LB1. Here we examine cretin postcrania to see if they show anatomical mosaics like H. floresiensis. We find that hypothyroid cretins share at least 10 postcranial features with Homo floresiensis and unaffected humans not found in apes (or australopithecines when materials permit). They share with H. floresiensis, modern apes and australopithecines at least 11 postcranial features not found in unaffected humans. They share with H. floresiensis, at least 8 features not found in apes, australopithecines or unaffected humans. Sixteen features can be rendered metrically and multivariate analyses demonstrate that H. floresiensis co-locates with cretins, both being markedly separate from humans and chimpanzees (P<0.001: from analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) over all variables, ANOSIM, global R>0.999). We therefore conclude that LB1 and LB6, at least, are, most likely, endemic cretins from a population of unaffected Homo sapiens. This is consistent with recent hypothyroid endemic cretinism throughout Indonesia, including the nearby island of Bali.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles Oxnard
- School of Anatomy and Human Biology, and Forensic Science Centre, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia.
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Harvati K, Hublin JJ, Gunz P. Evolution of middle-late Pleistocene human cranio-facial form: a 3-D approach. J Hum Evol 2010; 59:445-64. [PMID: 20708775 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.06.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [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: 03/18/2008] [Revised: 05/24/2010] [Accepted: 04/08/2010] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The classification and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Pleistocene human fossil record remains one of the most intractable problems in paleoanthropology. Several authors have noted broad resemblances between European and African fossils from this period, suggesting a single taxon ancestral to both modern humans and Neanderthals. Others point out 'incipient' Neanderthal features in the morphology of the European sample and have argued for their inclusion in the Neanderthal lineage exclusively, following a model of accretionary evolution of Neanderthals. We approach these questions using geometric morphometric methods which allow the intuitive visualization and quantification of features previously described qualitatively. We apply these techniques to evaluate proposed cranio-facial 'incipient' facial, vault, and basicranial traits in a middle-late Pleistocene European hominin sample when compared to a sample of the same time depth from Africa. Some of the features examined followed the predictions of the accretion model and relate the middle Pleistocene European material to the later Neanderthals. However, although our analysis showed a clear separation between Neanderthals and early/recent modern humans and morphological proximity between European specimens from OIS 7 to 3, it also shows that the European hominins from the first half of the middle Pleistocene still shared most of their cranio-facial architecture with their African contemporaries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Harvati
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology and Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Baden-Württenberg, Germany.
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Almécija S, Moyà-Solà S, Alba DM. Early origin for human-like precision grasping: a comparative study of pollical distal phalanges in fossil hominins. PLoS One 2010; 5:e11727. [PMID: 20661444 PMCID: PMC2908684 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0011727] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2010] [Accepted: 06/27/2010] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The morphology of human pollical distal phalanges (PDP) closely reflects the adaptation of human hands for refined precision grip with pad-to-pad contact. The presence of these precision grip-related traits in the PDP of fossil hominins has been related to human-like hand proportions (i.e. short hands with a long thumb) enabling the thumb and finger pads to contact. Although this has been traditionally linked to the appearance of stone tool-making, the alternative hypothesis of an earlier origin--related to the freeing of the hands thanks to the advent of terrestrial bipedalism--is also possible given the human-like intrinsic hand proportion found in australopiths. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We perform morphofunctional and morphometric (bivariate and multivariate) analyses of most available hominin pollical distal phalanges, including Orrorin, Australopithecus, Paranthropous and fossil Homo, in order to investigate their morphological affinities. Our results indicate that the thumb morphology of the early biped Orrorin is more human-like than that of australopiths, in spite of its ancient chronology (ca. 6 Ma). Moreover, Orrorin already displays typical human-like features related to precision grasping. CONCLUSIONS These results reinforce previous hypotheses relating the origin of refined manipulation of natural objects--not stone tool-making--with the relaxation of locomotor selection pressures on the forelimbs. This suggests that human hand length proportions are largely plesiomorphic, in the sense that they more closely resemble the relatively short-handed Miocene apes than the elongated hand pattern of extant hominoids. With the advent of terrestrial bipedalism, these hand proportions may have been co-opted by early hominins for enhanced manipulative capabilities that, in turn, would have been later co-opted for stone tool-making in the genus Homo, more encephalized than the previous australopiths. This hypothesis remains may be further tested by the finding of more complete hands of unequivocally biped early hominins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Almécija
- Institut Català de Paleontologia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), Spain.
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Berger LR, de Ruiter DJ, Churchill SE, Schmid P, Carlson KJ, Dirks PHGM, Kibii JM. Australopithecus sediba: A New Species of Homo-Like Australopith from South Africa. Science 2010; 328:195-204. [PMID: 20378811 DOI: 10.1126/science.1184944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 266] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Institute for Human Evolution, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
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Whiten A, McGrew WC, Aiello LC, Boesch C, Boyd R, Byrne RW, Dunbar RIM, Matsuzawa T, Silk JB, Tomasello M, van Schaik CP, Wrangham R. Studying extant species to model our past. Science 2010; 327:410; author reply 410-1. [PMID: 20093456 DOI: 10.1126/science.327.5964.410-a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Abstract
During the early 1960s, Morris Goodman used a variety of immunological tests to demonstrate the very close genetic relationships among humans, chimpanzees, and gorillas. Molecular anthropologists often point to this early research as a critical step in establishing their new specialty. Based on his molecular results, Goodman challenged the widely accepted taxonomic classification that separated humans from chimpanzees and gorillas in two separate families. His claim that chimpanzees and gorillas should join humans in family Hominidae sparked a well-known conflict with George Gaylord Simpson, Ernst Mayr, and other prominent evolutionary biologists. Less well known, but equally significant, were a series of disagreements between Goodman and other prominent molecular evolutionists concerning both methodological and theoretical issues. These included qualitative versus quantitative data, the role of natural selection, rates of evolution, and the reality of molecular clocks. These controversies continued throughout Goodman's career, even as he moved from immunological techniques to protein and DNA sequence analysis. This episode highlights the diversity of methods used by molecular evolutionists and the conflicting conclusions drawn from the data that these methods generated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel B Hagen
- Department of Biology, Radford University, Radford, VA, 24142, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- William H Kimbel
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-4101, USA.
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Lycett SJ. Understanding ancient hominin dispersals using artefactual data: a phylogeographic analysis of Acheulean handaxes. PLoS One 2009; 4:e7404. [PMID: 19826473 PMCID: PMC2756619 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2009] [Accepted: 09/16/2009] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Reconstructing the dispersal patterns of extinct hominins remains a challenging but essential goal. One means of supplementing fossil evidence is to utilize archaeological evidence in the form of stone tools. Based on broad dating patterns, it has long been thought that the appearance of Acheulean handaxe technologies outside of Africa was the result of hominin dispersals, yet independent tests of this hypothesis remain rare. Cultural transmission theory leads to a prediction of a strong African versus non-African phylogeographic pattern in handaxe datasets, if the African Acheulean hypothesis is to be supported. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, this prediction is tested using an intercontinental dataset of Acheulean handaxes and a biological phylogenetic method (maximum parsimony). The analyses produce a tree consistent with the phylogeographic prediction. Moreover, a bootstrap analysis provides evidence that this pattern is robust, and the maximum parsimony tree is also shown to be statistically different from a tree constrained by stone raw materials. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE These results demonstrate that nested analyses of behavioural data, utilizing methods drawn from biology, have the potential to shed light on ancient hominin dispersals. This is an encouraging prospect for human palaeobiology since sample sizes for lithic artefacts are many orders of magnitude higher than those of fossil data. These analyses also suggest that the sustained occurrence of Acheulean handaxe technologies in regions such as Europe and the Indian subcontinent resulted from dispersals by African hominin populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen J Lycett
- Department of Anthropology, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom.
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White TD, Ambrose SH, Suwa G, Su DF, DeGusta D, Bernor RL, Boisserie JR, Brunet M, Delson E, Frost S, Garcia N, Giaourtsakis IX, Haile-Selassie Y, Howell FC, Lehmann T, Likius A, Pehlevan C, Saegusa H, Semprebon G, Teaford M, Vrba E. Macrovertebrate paleontology and the Pliocene habitat of Ardipithecus ramidus. Science 2009; 326:87-93. [PMID: 19810193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
A diverse assemblage of large mammals is spatially and stratigraphically associated with Ardipithecus ramidus at Aramis. The most common species are tragelaphine antelope and colobine monkeys. Analyses of their postcranial remains situate them in a closed habitat. Assessment of dental mesowear, microwear, and stable isotopes from these and a wider range of abundant associated larger mammals indicates that the local habitat at Aramis was predominantly woodland. The Ar. ramidus enamel isotope values indicate a minimal C4 vegetation component in its diet (plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway), which is consistent with predominantly forest/woodland feeding. Although the Early Pliocene Afar included a range of environments, and the local environment at Aramis and its vicinity ranged from forests to wooded grasslands, the integration of available physical and biological evidence establishes Ar. ramidus as a denizen of the closed habitats along this continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim D White
- Human Evolution Research Center and Department of Integrative Biology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
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White TD, Asfaw B, Beyene Y, Haile-Selassie Y, Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, WoldeGabriel G. Ardipithecus ramidus and the paleobiology of early hominids. Science 2009; 326:75-86. [PMID: 19810190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Hominid fossils predating the emergence of Australopithecus have been sparse and fragmentary. The evolution of our lineage after the last common ancestor we shared with chimpanzees has therefore remained unclear. Ardipithecus ramidus, recovered in ecologically and temporally resolved contexts in Ethiopia's Afar Rift, now illuminates earlier hominid paleobiology and aspects of extant African ape evolution. More than 110 specimens recovered from 4.4-million-year-old sediments include a partial skeleton with much of the skull, hands, feet, limbs, and pelvis. This hominid combined arboreal palmigrade clambering and careful climbing with a form of terrestrial bipedality more primitive than that of Australopithecus. Ar. ramidus had a reduced canine/premolar complex and a little-derived cranial morphology and consumed a predominantly C3 plant-based diet (plants using the C3 photosynthetic pathway). Its ecological habitat appears to have been largely woodland-focused. Ar. ramidus lacks any characters typical of suspension, vertical climbing, or knuckle-walking. Ar. ramidus indicates that despite the genetic similarities of living humans and chimpanzees, the ancestor we last shared probably differed substantially from any extant African ape. Hominids and extant African apes have each become highly specialized through very different evolutionary pathways. This evidence also illuminates the origins of orthogrady, bipedality, ecology, diet, and social behavior in earliest Hominidae and helps to define the basal hominid adaptation, thereby accentuating the derived nature of Australopithecus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim D White
- Human Evolution Research Center and Department of Integrative Biology, 3101 Valley Life Sciences Building, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
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Suwa G, Kono RT, Simpson SW, Asfaw B, Lovejoy CO, White TD. Paleobiological implications of the Ardipithecus ramidus dentition. Science 2009; 326:94-99. [PMID: 19810195] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The Middle Awash Ardipithecus ramidus sample comprises over 145 teeth, including associated maxillary and mandibular sets. These help reveal the earliest stages of human evolution. Ar. ramidus lacks the postcanine megadontia of Australopithecus. Its molars have thinner enamel and are functionally less durable than those of Australopithecus but lack the derived Pan pattern of thin occlusal enamel associated with ripe-fruit frugivory. The Ar. ramidus dental morphology and wear pattern are consistent with a partially terrestrial, omnivorous/frugivorous niche. Analyses show that the ARA-VP-6/500 skeleton is female and that Ar. ramidus was nearly monomorphic in canine size and shape. The canine/lower third premolar complex indicates a reduction of canine size and honing capacity early in hominid evolution, possibly driven by selection targeted on the male upper canine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gen Suwa
- University Museum, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033 Japan.
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Suwa G, Asfaw B, Kono RT, Kubo D, Lovejoy CO, White TD. The Ardipithecus ramidus skull and its implications for hominid origins. Science 2009; 326:68e1-7. [PMID: 19810194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
The highly fragmented and distorted skull of the adult skeleton ARA-VP-6/500 includes most of the dentition and preserves substantial parts of the face, vault, and base. Anatomical comparisons and micro-computed tomography-based analysis of this and other remains reveal pre-Australopithecus hominid craniofacial morphology and structure. The Ardipithecus ramidus skull exhibits a small endocranial capacity (300 to 350 cubic centimeters), small cranial size relative to body size, considerable midfacial projection, and a lack of modern African ape-like extreme lower facial prognathism. Its short posterior cranial base differs from that of both Pan troglodytes and P. paniscus. Ar. ramidus lacks the broad, anteriorly situated zygomaxillary facial skeleton developed in later Australopithecus. This combination of features is apparently shared by Sahelanthropus, showing that the Mio-Pliocene hominid cranium differed substantially from those of both extant apes and Australopithecus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gen Suwa
- University Museum, University of Tokyo, Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan.
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Video: the analysis of Ardipithecus ramidus--one of the earliest known hominids. Science 2009; 326:60. [PMID: 19797651 DOI: 10.1126/science.326_60b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Lovejoy CO, Suwa G, Simpson SW, Matternes JH, White TD. The great divides: Ardipithecus ramidus reveals the postcrania of our last common ancestors with African apes. Science 2009; 326:100-106. [PMID: 19810199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Genomic comparisons have established the chimpanzee and bonobo as our closest living relatives. However, the intricacies of gene regulation and expression caution against the use of these extant apes in deducing the anatomical structure of the last common ancestor that we shared with them. Evidence for this structure must therefore be sought from the fossil record. Until now, that record has provided few relevant data because available fossils were too recent or too incomplete. Evidence from Ardipithecus ramidus now suggests that the last common ancestor lacked the hand, foot, pelvic, vertebral, and limb structures and proportions specialized for suspension, vertical climbing, and knuckle-walking among extant African apes. If this hypothesis is correct, each extant African ape genus must have independently acquired these specializations from more generalized ancestors who still practiced careful arboreal climbing and bridging. African apes and hominids acquired advanced orthogrady in parallel. Hominoid spinal invagination is an embryogenetic mechanism that reoriented the shoulder girdle more laterally. It was unaccompanied by substantial lumbar spine abbreviation, an adaptation restricted to vertical climbing and/or suspension. The specialized locomotor anatomies and behaviors of chimpanzees and gorillas therefore constitute poor models for the origin and evolution of human bipedality.
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Affiliation(s)
- C Owen Lovejoy
- Department of Anthropology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242-0001, USA.
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Abstract
Homo sapiens sapiens displays a species wide lateralised hand preference, with 85% of individuals in all populations being right-handed for most manual actions. In contrast, no other great ape species shows such strong and consistent population level biases, indicating that extremes of both direction and strength of manual laterality (i.e., species-wide right-handedness) may have emerged after divergence from the last common ancestor. To reconstruct the hand use patterns of early hominins, laterality is assessed in prehistoric artefacts. Group right side biases are well established from the Neanderthals onward, while patchy evidence from older fossils and artefacts indicates a preponderance of right-handed individuals. Individual hand preferences and group level biases can occur in chimpanzees and other apes for skilled tool use and food processing. Comparing these findings with human ethological data on spontaneous hand use reveals that the great ape clade (including humans) probably has a common effect at the individual level, such that a person can vary from ambidextrous to completely lateralised depending on the action. However, there is currently no theoretical model to explain this result. The degree of task complexity and bimanual complementarity have been proposed as factors affecting lateralisation strength. When primatology meets palaeoanthropology, the evidence suggests species-level right-handedness may have emerged through the social transmission of increasingly complex, bimanually differentiated, tool using activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Natalie T Uomini
- School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, UK
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