| a geometric morphometric analysis of hominin upper premolars. shape variation and morphological integration. | this paper continues the series of articles initiated in 2006 that analyse hominin dental crown morphology by means of geometric morphometric techniques. the detailed study of both upper premolar occlusal morphologies in a comprehensive sample of hominin fossils, including those coming from the gran dolina-td6 and sima de los huesos sites from atapuerca, spain, complement previous works on lower first and second premolars and upper first molars. a morphological gradient consisting of the change ... | 2011 | 22047673 |
| neanderthals versus modern humans: evidence for resource competition from isotopic modelling. | during later mois3, in europe two populations were present, autochthonous neanderthals and modern humans. ecological competition between these two populations has often been evoked but never demonstrated. our aim is to establish whether resource competition occurred. in this paper, in order to examine the possibility of ecological competition between these two populations, 599 isotopic data were subjected to rigorous statistical treatment and analysis through mixing models. the aim of this paper ... | 2011 | 21941674 |
| earliest known use of marine resources by neanderthals. | numerous studies along the northern mediterranean borderland have documented the use of shellfish by neanderthals but none of these finds are prior to marine isotopic stage 3 (mis 3). in this paper we present evidence that gathering and consumption of mollusks can now be traced back to the lowest level of the archaeological sequence at bajondillo cave (málaga, spain), dated during the mis 6. the paper describes the taxonomical and taphonomical features of the mollusk assemblages from this level ... | 2011 | 21935371 |
| climatic adaptation and neandertal facial evolution: a comment on rae et al. (2011). | | 2011 | 21920585 |
| neanderthal use of fish, mammals, birds, starchy plants and wood 125-250,000 years ago. | neanderthals are most often portrayed as big game hunters who derived the vast majority of their diet from large terrestrial herbivores while birds, fish and plants are seen as relatively unimportant or beyond the capabilities of neanderthals. although evidence for exploitation of other resources (small mammals, birds, fish, shellfish, and plants) has been found at certain neanderthal sites, these are typically dismissed as unusual exceptions. the general view suggests that neanderthal diet may ... | 2011 | 21887315 |
| the reality of neandertal symbolic behavior at the grotte du renne, arcy-sur-cure, france. | the question of whether symbolically mediated behavior is exclusive to modern humans or shared with anatomically archaic populations such as the neandertals is hotly debated. at the grotte du renne, arcy-sur-cure, france, the châtelperronian levels contain neandertal remains and large numbers of personal ornaments, decorated bone tools and colorants, but it has been suggested that this association reflects intrusion of the symbolic artifacts from the overlying protoaurignacian and/or of the nean ... | 2011 | 21738702 |
| ecogeographic variation in neandertal dietary habits: evidence from occlusal molar microwear texture analysis. | in the late middle and early late pleistocene, neandertals inhabited a wide variety of ecological zones across western eurasia during both glacial and interglacial times. to elucidate the still poorly understood effects of climatic change on neandertal subsistence patterns, this study employs dental microwear texture analysis to reconstruct the diets of neandertal individuals from various sites across their wide temporal and geographic ranges. the results of this study reveal environmentally-dri ... | 2011 | 21719068 |
| the implications of the working memory model for the evolution of modern cognition. | what distinguishes the cognition of biologically modern humans from that of more archaic populations such as neandertals? the norm in paleoanthropology has been to emphasize the role of language and symbolism. but the modern mind is more than just an archaic mind enhanced by symbol use. it also possesses an important problem solving and planning component. in cognitive neuroscience these advanced planning abilities have been extensively investigated through a formal model known as working memory ... | 2011 | 21716664 |
| paleoneurology of two new neandertal occipitals from el sidrón (asturias, spain) in the context of homo endocranial evolution. | the endocranial surface description and comparative analyses of two new neandertal occipital fragments (labelled sd-1149 and sd-370a) from the el sidrón site (asturias, spain) reveal new aspects of neandertal brain morphological asymmetries. the dural sinus drainage pattern, as observed on the sagittal-transverse system, as well as the cerebral occipito-petalias, point out a slightly differential configuration of the neandertal brain when compared to other homo species, especially h. sapiens. th ... | 2011 | 21714107 |
| the roc de marsal neandertal child: a reassessment of its status as a deliberate burial. | whether neandertals buried their dead has considerable bearing on the debate concerning the nature of their cultural behavior. among the claims for intentional neandertal burial in europe, the child from roc de marsal has long been one of the less contentious examples because its articulated skeleton was found in what has become widely accepted as an intentionally excavated pit. however, what is known about the context of the roc de marsal remains from the original descriptions, coupled with new ... | 2011 | 21664649 |
| morphology, body proportions, and postcranial hypertrophy of a female neandertal from the sima de las palomas, southeastern spain. | considerations of neandertal geographical variation have been hampered by the dearth of remains from mediterranean europe and the absence there of sufficiently complete associated postcrania. the 2006 and 2007 excavation of an articulated partial skeleton of a small adult female neandertal at the sima de las palomas, murcia, southeastern spain (sima de las palomas 96) provides substantial and secure information on body proportions among southern european neandertals, as well as further documenti ... | 2011 | 21646528 |
| late mousterian persistence near the arctic circle. | palaeolithic sites in russian high latitudes have been considered as upper palaeolithic and thus representing an arctic expansion of modern humans. here we show that at byzovaya, in the western foothills of the polar urals, the technological structure of the lithic assemblage makes it directly comparable with mousterian middle palaeolithic industries that so far have been exclusively attributed to the neandertal populations in europe. radiocarbon and optical-stimulated luminescence dates on bone ... | 2011 | 21566192 |
| archaeology. did neandertals linger in russia's far north? | | 2011 | 21566168 |
| a new brain endocast of homo erectus from hulu cave, nanjing, china. | a new brain endocast of homo erectus from hulu cave, tangshan, nanjing is described and compared with a broad sample of endocasts of h. erectus, neanderthals, and recent modern humans. the nanjing 1 endocast is reconstructed based on two portions of endocranial casts taken from the original fossil fragments. the fossil was discovered in 1993, near nanjing, south china and is dated to ∼ 0.58-0.62 ma. the cranial capacity is ∼ 876 cc, as determined by endocast water displacement. there are some co ... | 2011 | 21541930 |
| diffusion coefficient of modern humans outcompeting neanderthals. | a nonlinear mathematical model is used to describe neanderthals extinction about 35,000 years before present. using archaeological data, radiocarbon re-calibrate speed among others, we show that the diffusion coefficient describing modern humans spread corresponds to 1596 km(2)/yr. the model is well established since all archaeological parameters, including neanderthal-modern interaction coefficient, become estimated. | 2011 | 21540038 |
| palaeogenetic research at the el sidrón neanderthal site. | el sidrón (asturias, north of spain) is a subterranean karstic system, where the remains of a contemporaneous social neanderthal group dated to about 49,000 years ago have been being excavated since their accidental discovery in 1994. due to the particular preservation conditions of this site, all individuals identified so far have preserved dna, and the anticontamination measures implemented during the excavation have made palaeogenetic studies possible on all individuals. the el sidrón samples ... | 2012 | 21482084 |
| palaeoenvironment and palaeoclimate of the mousterian-aurignacian transition in northern iberia: the small-vertebrate assemblage from cueva del conde (santo adriano, asturias). | the transition from the middle palaeolithic (mousterian) to the upper palaeolithic (aurignacian) has been one of the prominent themes in the archaeology of the european palaeolithic for more than 20 years. one of the most controversial questions concerning this period is the extinction of the neanderthals and their replacement by modern humans. in this context, cueva del conde, located in the northern part of the iberian peninsula, is an archaeo-palaeontological site that records the mousterian ... | 2011 | 21481919 |
| inconclusive evidence for patrilocality in neandertals. | | 2011 | 21478435 |
| neandertal postcranial remains from the sima de las palomas del cabezo gordo, murcia, southeastern spain. | the sima de las palomas, southeastern spain, has yielded a series of neandertal postcranial remains, including immature and mature isolated elements and the fragmentary partial skeleton of a young adult (palomas 92). the remains largely conform to the general late archaic/neandertal morphological pattern in terms of humeral diaphyseal shape, pectoralis major tuberosity size and pillar thickness, ulnar coronoid process height, manual middle phalangeal epiphyseal breadth, manual distal phalangeal ... | 2011 | 21404228 |
| testing for ancient admixture between closely related populations. | one enduring question in evolutionary biology is the extent of archaic admixture in the genomes of present-day populations. in this paper, we present a test for ancient admixture that exploits the asymmetry in the frequencies of the two nonconcordant gene trees in a three-population tree. this test was first applied to detect interbreeding between neandertals and modern humans. we derive the analytic expectation of a test statistic, called the d statistic, which is sensitive to asymmetry under a ... | 2011 | 21325092 |
| bone remodelling in neanderthal mandibles from the el sidrón site (asturias, spain). | skull morphology results from the bone remodelling mechanism that underlies the specific bone growth dynamics. histological study of the bone surface from neanderthal mandible specimens of el sidrón (spain) provides information about the distribution of the remodelling fields (bone remodelling patterns or brp) indicative of the bone growth directions. in comparison with other primate species, brp shows that neanderthal mandibles from the el sidrón (spain) sample present a specific brp. the inter ... | 2011 | 21307043 |
| new evidence of dental pathology in 40,000-year-old neandertals. | | 2011 | 21191125 |
| genetic history of an archaic hominin group from denisova cave in siberia. | using dna extracted from a finger bone found in denisova cave in southern siberia, we have sequenced the genome of an archaic hominin to about 1.9-fold coverage. this individual is from a group that shares a common origin with neanderthals. this population was not involved in the putative gene flow from neanderthals into eurasians; however, the data suggest that it contributed 4-6% of its genetic material to the genomes of present-day melanesians. we designate this hominin population 'denisovans ... | 2010 | 21179161 |
| genetic evidence for patrilocal mating behavior among neandertal groups. | the remains of 12 neandertal individuals have been found at the el sidrón site (asturias, spain), consisting of six adults, three adolescents, two juveniles, and one infant. archaeological, paleontological, and geological evidence indicates that these individuals represent all or part of a contemporaneous social group of neandertals, who died at around the same time and later were buried together as a result of a collapse of an underground karst. we sequenced phylogenetically informative positio ... | 2011 | 21173265 |
| out with a bang. volcanic eruptions may have wiped out the neandertals. | | 2010 | 21141354 |
| neanderthal symbolism and ornament manufacture: the bursting of a bubble? | | 2010 | 21078972 |
| paleoanthropology. neandertal brain growth shows a head start for moderns. | | 2010 | 21071640 |
| brain development after birth differs between neanderthals and modern humans. | | 2010 | 21056830 |
| revisiting the question of neandertal regional variability: a view from the rhône valley corridor. | we compared the dental assemblage of the rhône valley corridor (rvc) with that of european neandertals dating to mois 7-4 using two linear measurements and three indices. to test if the rvc population was significantly different from western european neandertals, we preformed a multi-tiered approached. first, we tested for the normality of the variables using a shapiro-wilks test. if the variables were normal, a stepwise discriminant function analysis (dfa) (using mahalanobis distances) was perf ... | 2010 | 20977063 |
| archaeology. reanalysis of french cave could deal setback to neandertal smarts. | | 2010 | 20966227 |
| the costal skeleton of homo antecessor: preliminary results. | the lower pleistocene td6 level at the gran dolina site in the sierra de atapuerca (burgos, spain) has yielded nine ribs that represent a minimum of three individuals of the species, homo antecessor. we present a detailed morphological and metric study of these costal elements, including the siding and anatomical position of all of the rib remains. the adult or nearly adult ribs are also metrically compared with other fossil hominins and with modern comparative samples. the costal elements recov ... | 2010 | 20965547 |
| the spy vi child: a newly discovered neandertal infant. | spy cave (jemeppe-sur-sambre, belgium) is reputed for the two adult neandertal individuals discovered in situ in 1886. recent reassessment of the spy collections has allowed direct radiocarbon dating of these individuals. the sorting of all of the faunal collections has also led to the discovery of the remains of a neandertal child, spy vi. this individual is represented by two mandibular corpus fragments. the left fragment is the most complete and both sides preserve the mental foramen. four de ... | 2010 | 20934740 |
| brief communication: identification reassessment of the isolated tooth krapina d58 through occlusal fingerprint analysis. | high variability in the dentition of homo can create uncertainties in the correct identification of isolated teeth. for instance, standard tooth identification criteria cannot determine with absolute certainty if an isolated tooth is a second or third maxillary molar. in this contribution, using occlusal fingerprint analysis, we reassess the identification of krapina d58 (homo neanderthalensis), which is catalogued as a third maxillary molar. we have hypothesized that the presence/absence of the ... | 2010 | 20853483 |
| our neandertal brethren. | | 2010 | 20684369 |
| brief communication: subvertical grooves on interproximal wear facets from the el sidrón (asturias, spain) neandertal dental sample. | the distribution of subvertical grooves on interproximal wear dental facets from the el sidrón (asturias, spain) neandertals is described and analyzed. out of 93 teeth, 64.5% present subvertical grooves, including a high frequency (50%) on the anterior dentition. contrary to some studies, subvertical grooves from adjacent facets perfectly overlap each other and do not interdigitate, probably forming small channels. both the facet and the groove surface share the same polished appearance, suggest ... | 2011 | 20623604 |
| alternatives to the wright-fisher model: the robustness of mitochondrial eve dating. | methods of calculating the distributions of the time to coalescence depend on the underlying model of population demography. in particular, the models assuming deterministic evolution of population size may not be applicable to populations evolving stochastically. therefore the study of coalescence models involving stochastic demography is important for applications. one interesting approach which includes stochasticity is the o'connell limit theory of genealogy in branching processes. our paper ... | 2010 | 20600209 |
| our inner neandertal. | | 2010 | 20583654 |
| stratigraphic context and direct dating of the neandertal mandible from cova del gegant (sitges, barcelona). | stratigraphic study of the cova del gegant's sedimentary fill revealed different cycles of accumulation of typical interior cave and delta facies. a precise chronology for these deposits, the faunal remains and stone tools contained therein was obtained by radiocarbon, u-th and osl. our results indicate that the upper pleistocene archaeological sequence dates between 49.3 +/- 1.8 ka bp, the u-th age of the overlying flowstone, and 60.0 +/- 3.9 ka bp, the osl age of the basal deposits. we have al ... | 2010 | 20570316 |
| possible paleohydrologic and paleoclimatic effects on hominin migration and occupation of the levantine middle paleolithic. | this paper explores the impact of major glacial/interglacial paleohydrologic variations in the middle-paleolithic levant on hominin migration and occupation. the climatic reconstruction is based primarily on the most straight-forward paleohydrologic records recently published. these terrestrial proxies convey direct paleoenvironmental signals of effective precipitation and aquifer recharge. the two main proxies are temporal changes of terminal lake levels in the dead sea basin and periods of dep ... | 2011 | 20541789 |
| did neandertals think like us? | | 2010 | 20521483 |
| a new model for calculating the lumbar lordosis angle in early hominids and in the spine of the neanderthal from kebara. | the debate over the posture of early hominids is longstanding, perhaps because the absence of a reliable method for reconstructing the lumbar lordosis angle (la) in early hominid spines has made it difficult to determine whether their posture resembled or differed from that of modern humans. we have developed a new model for predicting the lordotic curvature of the lumbar spine of early hominids based on the relationship between the lordotic curvature and the orientation of the articular process ... | 2010 | 20340096 |
| pego do diabo (loures, portugal): dating the emergence of anatomical modernity in westernmost eurasia. | neandertals and the middle paleolithic persisted in the iberian peninsula south of the ebro drainage system for several millennia beyond their assimilation/replacement elsewhere in europe. as only modern humans are associated with the later stages of the aurignacian, the duration of this persistence pattern can be assessed via the dating of diagnostic occurrences of such stages. | 2010 | 20111705 |
| the middle-to-upper palaeolithic transition in cova gran (catalunya, spain) and the extinction of neanderthals in the iberian peninsula. | the excavations carried out in cova gran de santa linya (southeastern prepyrenees, catalunya, spain) have unearthed a new archaeological sequence attributable to the middle palaeoloithic/upper palaeolithic (mp/up) transition. this article presents data on the stratigraphy, archaeology, and (14)c ams dates of three early upper palaeolithic and four late middle palaeolithic levels excavated in cova gran. all these archaeological levels fall within the 34-32 ka time span, the temporal frame in whic ... | 2010 | 20097404 |
| morphology and function of the lumbar spine of the kebara 2 neandertal. | the morphology of the lumbar spine is crucial for upright posture and bipedal walking in hominids. the excellent preservation of the lumbar spine of kebara 2 provides us a rare opportunity to observe a complete spine and explore its functionally relevant morphology. the lumbar spine of kebara 2 is analyzed and compared with the lumbar spines of modern humans and late pleistocene hominids. although no size differences between the vertebral bodies and pedicles of kebara 2 and modern humans are fou ... | 2010 | 20091808 |
| archaeology. neandertal jewelry shows their symbolic smarts. | | 2010 | 20075218 |
| population genomics of secondary contact. | one common form of reticulate evolution arises as a consequence of secondary contact between previously allopatric populations. using extensive coalescent simulations, we describe the conditions for, and extent of, the introgression of genetic material into the genome of a colonizing population from an endemic population. the simulated coalescent histories are sampled from models that describe the evolution of entire chromosomes, thereby allowing the expected length of introgressed haplotypes to ... | 2010 | 24710014 |
| krapina neanderthal museum as a well of medical information. | the new krapina neanderthal museum consists of two sections: a section reconstructing the life of the krapina neanderthal and a section bringing the latest knowledge about the evolution of life on earth. it is a well of scientific information, a teaching tool, and the world's largest find of neanderthal fossil remains. this article briefly reports a tour visit of members of the croatian scientific society for the history of health culture to the museum, describes the facets of the exhibition, an ... | 2010 | 21682056 |
| removal of deaminated cytosines and detection of in vivo methylation in ancient dna. | dna sequences determined from ancient organisms have high error rates, primarily due to uracil bases created by cytosine deamination. we use synthetic oligonucleotides, as well as dna extracted from mammoth and neandertal remains, to show that treatment with uracil-dna-glycosylase and endonuclease viii removes uracil residues from ancient dna and repairs most of the resulting abasic sites, leaving undamaged parts of the dna fragments intact. neandertal dna sequences determined with this protocol ... | 2010 | 20028723 |
| neandertal mandibles from the sima de las palomas del cabezo gordo, murcia, southeastern spain. | the middle paleolithic levels of the sima de las palomas have yielded eight partial mandibles (palomas 1, 6, 7, 23, 49, 59, 80, and 88). palomas 7, 49, 80, and 88 are immature, and palomas 49, 59, 80, and 88 are among the latest neandertals (approximately 40,000 cal bp). palomas 1 is geologically older (approximately 50,000-60,000 cal bp), and the other three were found ex situ. the mandibles exhibit a suite of characteristics that align them with the neandertals among later pleistocene humans, ... | 2010 | 20014182 |
| archaeology. did neandertals dine in? | | 2009 | 19965403 |
| archaeology. better homes and hearths, neandertal-style. | | 2009 | 19965402 |
| technological responses of neanderthals to macroclimatic variations (240,000-40,000 bp). | using a database of 499 archaeological assemblages from 332 sites in europe, we statistically test a model of the economic reactivity of the hunter-gatherer production system to climatic variations. this model predicts an increase in the diversity of lithic tools during harsh cold periods, in order to maintain carrying capacity, and a reduction during favorable climatic periods. diversity was measured from the variations in flint tool distributions in traditional bordes typological categories, u ... | 2009 | 19943748 |
| survival of the weakest: why neanderthals went extinct. | | 2009 | 19911761 |
| a comparative study of frontal bone morphology among pleistocene hominin fossil groups. | features of the frontal bone that are conventionally used to distinguish among fossil hominin groups were quantitatively examined. fifty-five fossil crania dating from the early to the late pleistocene were analyzed. using a modified pantograph, outlines of the frontal bone were collected along the midsagittal and two parasagittal planes. the profile from nasion to bregma, as well as two profiles above the medial and lateral sections of the orbit, respectively, extending from the orbital margin ... | 2009 | 19878968 |
| comparative morphology and morphometric assessment of the neandertal occipital remains from the el sidrón site (asturias, spain: years 2000-2008). | this paper analyses the occipital remains recovered from the el sidrón (asturias, spain) neandertal site between the years of 2000-2008. the sample is represented by three specimens, sd-1219, sd-1149, and sd-370a. descriptive morphology, linear measurements, 3d geometric morphometrics, and virtual anthropological methods were employed to address the morphological, morphometric, and phylogenetic affinities of these fossils. the fossils display neandertal autapomorphies (e.g., bilaterally protrudi ... | 2010 | 19836056 |
| paleoanthropology. new work may complicate history of neandertals and h. sapiens. | | 2009 | 19815751 |
| primer extension capture: targeted sequence retrieval from heavily degraded dna sources. | we present a method of targeted dna sequence retrieval from dna sources which are heavily degraded and contaminated with microbial dna, as is typical of ancient bones. the method greatly reduces sample destruction and sequencing demands relative to direct pcr or shotgun sequencing approaches. we used this method to reconstruct the complete mitochondrial dna (mtdna) genomes of five neandertals from across their geographic range. the mtdna genetic diversity of the late neandertals was approximatel ... | 2009 | 19730410 |
| did we kill the neanderthals? | | 2009 | 19728428 |
| new neandertal remains from the grotte du bison at arcy-sur-cure, france. | | 2009 | 19683787 |
| bitter taste perception in neanderthals through the analysis of the tas2r38 gene. | the bitter taste perception (associated with the ability or inability to taste phenylthiocarbamide) is mediated by the tas2r38 gene. most of the variation in this gene is explained by three common amino-acid polymorphisms at positions 49 (encoding proline or alanine), 262 (alanine or valine) and 296 (valine or isoleucine) that determine two common isoforms: proline-alanine-valine (pav) and alanine-valine-isoleucine (avi). pav is the major taster haplotype (heterozygote and homozygote) and avi is ... | 2009 | 19675003 |
| twilight of the neandertals. | | 2009 | 19634561 |
| new flutes document the earliest musical tradition in southwestern germany. | considerable debate surrounds claims for early evidence of music in the archaeological record. researchers universally accept the existence of complex musical instruments as an indication of fully modern behaviour and advanced symbolic communication but, owing to the scarcity of finds, the archaeological record of the evolution and spread of music remains incomplete. although arguments have been made for neanderthal musical traditions and the presence of musical instruments in middle palaeolithi ... | 2009 | 19553935 |
| to what extent did neanderthals and modern humans interact? | neanderthals represent an extinct hominid lineage that existed in europe and asia for nearly 400,000 years. they thrived in these regions for much of this time, but declined in numbers and went extinct around 30,000 years ago. interestingly, their disappearance occurred subsequent to the arrival of modern humans into these areas, which has prompted some to argue that neanderthals were displaced by better suited and more adaptable modern humans. still others have postulated that neanderthals were ... | 2009 | 19391204 |
| genetic evidence of geographical groups among neanderthals. | the neanderthals are a well-distinguished middle pleistocene population which inhabited a vast geographical area extending from europe to western asia and the middle east. since the 1950s paleoanthropological studies have suggested variability in this group. different sub-groups have been identified in western europe, in southern europe and in the middle east. on the other hand, since 1997, research has been published in paleogenetics, carried out on 15 mtdna sequences from 12 neanderthals. in t ... | 2009 | 19367332 |
| optimization of 454 sequencing library preparation from small amounts of dna permits sequence determination of both dna strands. | to increase the yield of dna sequence generated by the 454 technology from small amounts of starting dna, we investigated the efficiency of each step in the 454 library preparation process. we find that the last step, when the single-stranded library is released by naoh, is inefficient and highly variable. when this step is replaced with heat treatment, library amounts dramatically increase. furthermore, when sequencing templates are first isolated by naoh treatment and subsequently by heat trea ... | 2009 | 19301622 |
| neandertal genomics. a neandertal primer. | | 2009 | 19213890 |
| neandertal genomics. wanted: clean neandertal dna. | | 2009 | 19213889 |
| [from neandertal to therapeutic education]. | therapeutic education will be part of every patient's care. it is not an additional tool in the medical care but a new way to consider the relationship between patients and physicians. in therapeutic education, the medical knowledge transfer is essential but probably insufficient to obtain a real change in the patient's behaviour. looking back, the origins of the words may help patients and physicians understand the real issues of therapeutic education and therefore, render it more efficient. | 2009 | 19195741 |
| neanderthal extinction by competitive exclusion. | despite a long history of investigation, considerable debate revolves around whether neanderthals became extinct because of climate change or competition with anatomically modern humans (amh). | 2008 | 19107186 |
| gibraltar data are too sparse to inform on neanderthal exploitation of coastal resources. | | 2008 | 19088185 |
| comparing models on the genealogical relationships among neandertal, cro-magnoid and modern europeans by serial coalescent simulations. | populations of anatomically archaic (neandertal) and early modern (cro-magnoid) humans are jointly documented in the european fossil record, in the period between 40 000 and 25 000 years bp, but the large differences between their cultures, morphologies and dnas suggest that the two groups were not close relatives. however, it is still unclear whether any genealogical continuity between them can be ruled out. here, we simulated a broad range of demographic scenarios by means of a serial coalesce ... | 2009 | 18971954 |
| mathematical analysis techniques of frontal sinus morphology, with emphasis on homo. | of all the paranasal sinuses, frontal sinus (fs) morphology, volumes, outlines, and cross-sectional areas vary most and so their statistical noise presents particular challenges. to assess and control this statistical noise requires a suite of mathematical techniques that: model their volume and cross-sectional area ontogeny, determine the uniqueness and fractal dimensions of their outlines (useful in forensics), smooth their outlines via singular value decomposition (svd), and model their expan ... | 2008 | 18951491 |
| new insights into mid-late pleistocene fossil hominin paranasal sinus morphology. | mid-late pleistocene fossil hominins such as homo neanderthalensis and h. heidelbergensis are often described as having extensively pneumatized crania compared with modern humans. however, the significance of pneumatization in recognizing patterns of phyletic diversification and/or functional specialization has remained controversial. here, we test the null hypothesis that the paranasal sinuses of fossil and extant humans and great apes can be understood as biological spandrels, i.e., their morp ... | 2008 | 18951483 |
| at the end of the 14c time scale--the middle to upper paleolithic record of western eurasia. | the dynamics of change underlying the demographic processes that led to the replacement of neandertals by anatomically modern humans (amh) and the emergence of what are recognized as upper paleolithic technologies and behavior can only be understood with reference to the underlying chronological framework. this paper examines the european chronometric (mainly radiocarbon-based) record for the period between ca. 40 and 30 ka 14c bp and proposes a relatively rapid transition within some 2,500 year ... | 2008 | 18930513 |
| radiocarbon dating the late middle paleolithic and the aurignacian of the swabian jura. | many lines of evidence point to the period between roughly 40 and 30 ka bp as the period in which modern humans arrived in europe and displaced the indigenous neandertal populations. at the same time, many innovations associated with the upper paleolithic--including new stone and organic technologies, use of personal ornaments, figurative art, and musical instruments--are first documented in the european archaeological record. dating the events of this period is challenging for several reasons. ... | 2008 | 18926559 |
| a 14c age calibration curve for the last 60 ka: the greenland-hulu u/th timescale and its impact on understanding the middle to upper paleolithic transition in western eurasia. | this paper combines the data sets available today for 14c-age calibration of the last 60 ka. by stepwise synchronization of paleoclimate signatures, each of these sets of 14c-ages is compared with the u/th-dated chinese hulu cave speleothem records, which shows global paleoclimate change in high temporal resolution. by this synchronization we have established an absolute-dated greenland-hulu chronological framework, against which global paleoclimate data can be referenced, extending the 14c-age ... | 2008 | 18922563 |
| chronological, environmental, and climatic precisions on the neanderthal site of the cova del gegant (sitges, barcelona, spain). | | 2008 | 18789810 |
| paleoanthropology. brainy babies and risky births for neandertals. | | 2008 | 18787138 |
| evolutionary genomics: our neanderthal cousins. | | 2008 | 21491640 |
| statistical analysis of post mortem dna damage-derived miscoding lesions in neandertal mitochondrial dna. | we have analysed the distribution of post mortem dna damage derived miscoding lesions from the datasets of seven published neandertal specimens that have extensive cloned sequence coverage over the mitochondrial dna (mtdna) hypervariable region 1 (hvs1). the analysis was restricted to c-->t and g-->a miscoding lesions (the predominant manifestation of post mortem damage) that are seen at a frequency of more than one clone among sequences from a single pcr, but do not represent the true endogenou ... | 2008 | 18710493 |
| genome sequences from extinct relatives. | next-generation sequencing methods use massively parallel detection of short sequencing reactions, making them ideal for the analysis of ancient dna. in this issue, green et al. (2008) exploit this feature to infer the complete mitochondrial genome sequence of one neanderthal and place bounds on its time of common ancestry with modern humans. | 2008 | 18692462 |
| the omo i hominin clavicle: archaic or modern? | assessment of clavicular curvatures projected onto two perpendicular planes to decompose the three dimensional shape into cranial and dorsal primary curvatures has shown that two morphological groups of clavicle exist within the genus homo. the first one includes all species from homo habilis to neandertals, while the second includes only upper paleolithic remains and more recent modern humans. these morphological differences are associated with different shoulder architectures. the morphology o ... | 2008 | 18692220 |
| ancient fossil specimens of extinct species are genetically more distant to an outgroup than extant sister species are. | there exists a remarkable correlation between genetic distance as measured by protein or dna dissimilarity and time of species divergence as inferred from fossil records. this observation has provoked the molecular clock hypothesis. however, data inconsistent with the hypothesis have steadily accumulated in recent years from studies of extant organisms. here the published dna and protein sequences from ancient fossil specimens were examined to see if they would support the molecular clock hypoth ... | 2016 | 18600632 |
| mad neanderthal disease? some comments on "a potential role for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in neanderthal extinction". | | 2008 | 18524493 |
| new hominin remains from uzbekistan. | although the paleolithic occupations of uzbekistan and the neighboring foothill regions of tajikistan and kazakhstan are well-documented, almost no hominin fossil material has been discovered in the area since teshik-tash 1 in 1938. here we describe and offer a preliminary comparative framework for hominin remains that were recovered in 2003 from two middle paleolithic sites in uzbekistan, obi-rakhmat grotto and anghilak cave. the description of teshik-tash as a neandertal and the preponderance ... | 2008 | 18499228 |
| excavation protocol of bone remains for neandertal dna analysis in el sidrón cave (asturias, spain). | | 2008 | 18485447 |
| engineered polymerases amplify the potential of ancient dna. | the generation of genomic data from mammoths and neanderthals has reinvigorated discussion about whether extinct species could be brought back within the foreseeable future. however, post-mortem dna decay rapidly reduces the number and quality of surviving dna fragments, consequently increasing rates of sequencing error and forming a significant obstacle to accurate sequence reconstruction. recent work has shown that it is possible to engineer a polymerase capable of using even highly damaged fr ... | 2008 | 18440082 |
| neanderthal man's mc1r plays fair. | | 2008 | 18433423 |
| [the oldest treated bone fracture in croatia--130,000 years ago]. | numerous hypotheses canibalismus on the cause of neanderthal death have been proposed, including injury and inappropriate medical trreatment. we aimed to determine the etiology and pathogenesis of the neanderthal by comparison of historical information with current clinicopathologic knowledge. | 2008 | 18365508 |
| brief communication: paleopathology of the kiik-koba 1 neandertal. | the kiik-koba 1 neandertal partial skeleton (canine, partial hands, partial leg, and feet), of a approximately 40-year-old probable male, exhibits a suite of pathological lesions, including hypercementosis, minor fibrous ossifications, pedal phalangeal fracture, and pronounced enthesopathies on the patella and calcanei in the context of no articular degenerations. the first two sets of lesions are related to age in the context of advanced dental attrition and physical strains. the third lesion j ... | 2008 | 18357583 |
| the lumbar spine in neanderthals shows natural kyphosis. | nowadays, lumbar spondylosis is one of the most frequent causes of lower back pain. in order to improve our understanding of the lumbar spine anatomy and functionality over time, we compared the lumbar vertebrae of neanderthals with those of anatomically modern humans. the fossil record reports on only two neanderthal skeletons (i.e., kebara 2 and shanidar 3, both predating the appearance of modern humans) with full preservation of the entire lumbar spine. examination of these early hominids sho ... | 2008 | 18301930 |
| paleoneurology of an "early" neandertal: endocranial size, shape, and features of saccopastore 1. | the saccopastore 1 cranium was found near rome in 1929, and its most probable age is about 120 ka (ois 5e). the neandertal morphology of the specimen was recognized just after the discovery by the italian anthropologist s. sergi, and subsequently confirmed by several authors. the present paper provides a complete description and analysis of the endocranial shape and features of this specimen, considering anatomical traits, metrics, and landmark data. the main endocranial diameters and the vascul ... | 2008 | 18178238 |
| from micrograms to picograms: quantitative pcr reduces the material demands of high-throughput sequencing. | current efforts to recover the neandertal and mammoth genomes by 454 dna sequencing demonstrate the sensitivity of this technology. however, routine 454 sequencing applications still require microgram quantities of initial material. this is due to a lack of effective methods for quantifying 454 sequencing libraries, necessitating expensive and labour-intensive procedures when sequencing ancient dna and other poor dna samples. here we report a 454 sequencing library quantification method based on ... | 2008 | 18084031 |
| paleontology. dental evidence suggests neandertals matured faster than we do. | | 2007 | 18063768 |
| hammer or crescent wrench? stone-tool form and function in the aurignacian of southwest germany. | the early upper paleolithic of europe is associated with the appearance of blade/bladelet technology (e.g., aurignacian). these industries include a wider range of formal tool types than seen in the middle paleolithic. greater diversity in tool types is often interpreted as specialized tools created for specific tasks. this, in turn, is said to reflect dramatic behavioral shifts between neandertals and modern humans. in order to test previous interpretations, it is necessary to have a detailed u ... | 2008 | 18035398 |
| a melanocortin 1 receptor allele suggests varying pigmentation among neanderthals. | the melanocortin 1 receptor (mc1r) regulates pigmentation in humans and other vertebrates. variants of mc1r with reduced function are associated with pale skin color and red hair in humans of primarily european origin. we amplified and sequenced a fragment of the mc1r gene (mc1r) from two neanderthal remains. both specimens have a mutation that was not found in approximately 3700 modern humans analyzed. functional analyses show that this variant reduces mc1r activity to a level that alters hair ... | 2007 | 17962522 |
| neanderthals in central asia and siberia. | morphological traits typical of neanderthals began to appear in european hominids at least 400,000 years ago and about 150,000 years ago in western asia. after their initial appearance, such traits increased in frequency and the extent to which they are expressed until they disappeared shortly after 30,000 years ago. however, because most fossil hominid remains are fragmentary, it can be difficult or impossible to determine unambiguously whether a fossil is of neanderthal origin. this limits the ... | 2007 | 17914357 |
| is the late neandertal mandibular sample from vindija cave (croatia) biased? | the late neandertal sample from vindija (croatia) has been described as transitional between the earlier central european neandertals from krapina (croatia) and modern humans. however, the morphological differences indicating this transition may rather be the result of different sex and/or age compositions between the samples. this study tests the hypothesis that the metric differences between the krapina and vindija mandibular samples are due to sample bias. mandibles are the focus of this pape ... | 2007 | 17847911 |
| patterns of damage in genomic dna sequences from a neandertal. | high-throughput direct sequencing techniques have recently opened the possibility to sequence genomes from pleistocene organisms. here we analyze dna sequences determined from a neandertal, a mammoth, and a cave bear. we show that purines are overrepresented at positions adjacent to the breaks in the ancient dna, suggesting that depurination has contributed to its degradation. we furthermore show that substitutions resulting from miscoding cytosine residues are vastly overrepresented in the dna ... | 2007 | 17715061 |
| comparative morphometrics of the primate apical tuft. | the relationship between the structure and function of the primate apical tuft is poorly understood. this study addresses several hypotheses about apical tuft morphology using a large modern primate comparative sample. two indices of tuft size are employed: expansion and robusticity. first, comparisons of relative apical tuft size were drawn among extant nonhuman primate groups in terms of locomotion and phylogenetic category. both of these factors appear to play a role in apical tuft size among ... | 2007 | 17657781 |