| size variation in early human mandibles and molars from klasies river, south africa: comparison with other middle and late pleistocene assemblages and with modern humans. | previous studies of the middle stone age human remains from klasies river have concluded that they exhibited more sexual dimorphism than extant populations, but these claims have not been assessed statistically. we evaluate these claims by comparing size variation in the best-represented elements at the site, namely the mandibular corpora and m(2)s, to that in samples from three recent human populations using resampling methods. we also examine size variation in these same elements from seven ad ... | 2009 | 19382177 |
| why do humans have such a prominent nose? the final result of phylogenesis: a significant reduction of the splanchocranium on account of the neurocranium. | during the last few decades several authors tried to clarify the anthropological aspects of the shape of the human nose and why it has so emphasized projection. our hypothesis suggests the essentiality of the role of morphologic changes of the human skull which occurred during the phylogenesis. it seems that erectile posture of the man caused remarkable morphological changes of the skull base shape thus being a part of morphologic evolution. the changes in the shape of the human spine from birth ... | 2009 | 19442453 |
| when did the modern human pattern of childbirth arise? new insights from an old neandertal pelvis. | | 2009 | 19497869 |
| the first neanderthal tooth found north of the carpathian mountains. | an upper second permanent molar from a human was found alongside numerous tools of the micoquian tradition and was excavated in stajnia cave, which is located over 100 km north of the carpathian mountains in southern poland. the age of these finds has been established within a time-span of late saalian to early weichselian, most likely to ois 5c or 5a, according to the palaeontological, geological, archaeological and absolute dating of the layer from which they were obtained. an examination of t ... | 2010 | 20107973 |
| the ontogeny of holocene and late pleistocene human postcranial strength. | while a wide variety of studies have focused on population variation in adult cross-sectional properties, relatively little is known about population variation in postcranial robusticity in immature individuals. furthermore, the age at which the population differences readily detected in adults manifest during growth is also unknown. this research addresses these gaps in our current understanding through the analysis of immature humeral and femoral long bone strength. cross-sectional geometry wa ... | 2010 | 19530138 |
| did viral disease of humans wipe out the neandertals? | neandertals were an anatomically distinct hominoid species inhabiting a vast geographical area ranging from portugal to western siberia and from northern europe to the middle east. the species became extinct 28,000 years ago, coinciding with the arrival of anatomically modern humans (amhs) in europe 40,000 years ago. there has been considerable debate surrounding the main causes of the extinction of neandertals. after at least 200,000 years of successful adaption to the climate, flora and fauna ... | 2010 | 20172660 |
| targeted retrieval and analysis of five neandertal mtdna genomes. | analysis of neandertal dna holds great potential for investigating the population history of this group of hominins, but progress has been limited due to the rarity of samples and damaged state of the dna. we present a method of targeted ancient dna sequence retrieval that greatly reduces sample destruction and sequencing demands and use this method to reconstruct the complete mitochondrial dna (mtdna) genomes of five neandertals from across their geographic range. we find that mtdna genetic div ... | 2009 | 19608918 |
| mechanical impact of incisor loading on the primate midfacial skeleton and its relevance to human evolution. | the midfacial skeleton in the human lineage demonstrates a wide spectrum of variation that may be the consequence of different environmental and mechanical selective pressures. however, different facial configurations may develop under comparable selective regimes. for example, the neanderthal high and projected face and the inuit broad and flat face are hypothesized to be the consequence of (1) life in a cold climate, and (2) excessive paramasticatory stresses focused on the anterior dentition. ... | 2010 | 20235317 |
| shanidar 3 neandertal rib puncture wound and paleolithic weaponry. | since its discovery and initial description in the 1960s, the penetrating lesion to the left ninth rib of the shanidar 3 neandertal has been a focus for discussion about interpersonal violence and weapon technology in the middle paleolithic. recent experimental studies using lithic points on animal targets suggest that aspects of weapon system dynamics can be inferred from the form of the bony lesions they produce. thus, to better understand the circumstances surrounding the traumatic injury suf ... | 2009 | 19615713 |
| homo floresiensis: a cladistic analysis. | the announcement of a new species, homo floresiensis, a primitive hominin that survived until relatively recent times is an enormous challenge to paradigms of human evolution. until this announcement, the dominant paradigm stipulated that: 1) only more derived hominins had emerged from africa, and 2) h. sapiens was the only hominin since the demise of homo erectus and homo neanderthalensis. resistance to h. floresiensis has been intense, and debate centers on two sets of competing hypotheses: 1) ... | 2009 | 19628252 |
| the neandertal genome and ancient dna authenticity. | recent advances in high-thoughput dna sequencing have made genome-scale analyses of genomes of extinct organisms possible. with these new opportunities come new difficulties in assessing the authenticity of the dna sequences retrieved. we discuss how these difficulties can be addressed, particularly with regard to analyses of the neandertal genome. we argue that only direct assays of dna sequence positions in which neandertals differ from all contemporary humans can serve as a reliable means to ... | 2009 | 19661919 |
| out of africa: modern human origins special feature: isotopic evidence for the diets of european neanderthals and early modern humans. | we report here on the direct isotopic evidence for neanderthal and early modern human diets in europe. isotopic methods indicate the sources of dietary protein over many years of life, and show that neanderthals had a similar diet through time (approximately 120,000 to approximately 37,000 cal bp) and in different regions of europe. the isotopic evidence indicates that in all cases neanderthals were top-level carnivores and obtained all, or most, of their dietary protein from large herbivores. i ... | 2009 | 19706482 |
| the prehistory of handedness: archaeological data and comparative ethology. | 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, later ... | 2009 | 19758680 |
| the homo sapiens 'hemibun': its developmental pattern and the problem of homology. | the occipital bun is widely considered a neanderthal feature. its homology to the 'hemibun' observed in some european upper palaeolithic anatomically modern humans is a current problem. this study quantitatively evaluates the degree of occipital plane convexity in african and australian modern human crania to analyse a relationship between this feature and some neurocranial variables. neanderthal and european upper palaeolithic homo sapiens crania were included in the analysis as well. the resul ... | 2009 | 19781697 |
| paleogenetics. cloned neandertals still in the realm of sci-fi. | | 2010 | 20448164 |
| a draft sequence of the neandertal genome. | neandertals, the closest evolutionary relatives of present-day humans, lived in large parts of europe and western asia before disappearing 30,000 years ago. we present a draft sequence of the neandertal genome composed of more than 4 billion nucleotides from three individuals. comparisons of the neandertal genome to the genomes of five present-day humans from different parts of the world identify a number of genomic regions that may have been affected by positive selection in ancestral modern hu ... | 2010 | 20448178 |
| targeted investigation of the neandertal genome by array-based sequence capture. | it is now possible to perform whole-genome shotgun sequencing as well as capture of specific genomic regions for extinct organisms. however, targeted resequencing of large parts of nuclear genomes has yet to be demonstrated for ancient dna. here we show that hybridization capture on microarrays can successfully recover more than a megabase of target regions from neandertal dna even in the presence of approximately 99.8% microbial dna. using this approach, we have sequenced approximately 14,000 p ... | 2010 | 20448179 |
| the microcephalin ancestral allele in a neanderthal individual. | the high frequency (around 0.70 worldwide) and the relatively young age (between 14,000 and 62,000 years) of a derived group of haplotypes, haplogroup d, at the microcephalin (mcph1) locus led to the proposal that haplogroup d originated in a human lineage that separated from modern humans >1 million years ago, evolved under strong positive selection, and passed into the human gene pool by an episode of admixture circa 37,000 years ago. the geographic distribution of haplogroup d, with marked di ... | 2010 | 20498832 |
| using genetic evidence to evaluate four palaeoanthropological hypotheses for the timing of neanderthal and modern human origins. | a better understanding of the evolutionary relationship between modern humans and neanderthals is essential for improving the resolution of hominin phylogenetic hypotheses. currently, four distinct chronologies for the timing of population divergence are available, ranging from the late middle pleistocene to the late early pleistocene, each based on different interpretations of hominin taxonomy. genetic data can present an independent estimate of the evolutionary timescale involved, making it po ... | 2010 | 20510437 |
| neandertal genome: the ins and outs of african genetic diversity. | analysis of the neandertal genome indicates gene flow between neandertals and modern humans of eurasia but not africa. this surprising result is difficult to reconcile with current models of human origins and might have to do with insufficient african sampling. | 2010 | 20620905 |
| evolution of middle-late pleistocene human cranio-facial form: a 3-d approach. | 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 exclus ... | 2010 | 20708775 |
| brief communication: population data support the adaptive nature of hacns1 sapiens/neandertal-chimpanzee differences in a limb expression domain. | the 546-base pair enhancer of limb expression hacns1, which is highly constrained in all terrestrial vertebrates, has accumulated 16 human-specific changes after the human-chimpanzee split. there has been discussion whether this process was driven by positive selection or biased gene conversion, without considering population data. we studied 83 south amerindian, 11 eskimo, 35 europeans, 37 bantu, and non-bantu sub-saharan speakers, and 28 brazilian mestizo samples and found no variation in this ... | 2010 | 20717978 |
| out of africa: modern human origins special feature: the origin of neandertals. | western eurasia yielded a rich middle (mp) and late pleistocene (lp) fossil record documenting the evolution of the neandertals that can be analyzed in light of recently acquired paleogenetical data, an abundance of archeological evidence, and a well-known environmental context. their origin likely relates to an episode of recolonization of western eurasia by hominins of african origin carrying the acheulean technology into europe around 600 ka. an enhancement of both glacial and interglacial ph ... | 2009 | 19805257 |
| antonio ascenzi (1915-2000), a pathologist devoted to anthropology and paleopathology. | antonio ascenzi is well known within the scientific community for his original contributions to morbid anatomy and in particular for his studies on the fields of bone biology, bone biomechanics, haematology and congenital heart disease. additionally, ascenzi was also interested in human evolution and applied his deep knowledge of pathology to ancient human remains, conducting research in paleoanthropology on fossilized neanderthal specimens found in italy. the name of ascenzi is linked with the ... | 2010 | 20731247 |
| out of africa: modern human origins special feature: the meaning of neandertal skeletal morphology. | a procedure is outlined for distinguishing among competing hypotheses for fossil morphology and then used to evaluate current views on the meaning of neandertal skeletal morphology. three explanations have dominated debates about the meaning of neandertal cranial features: climatic adaptation, anterior dental loading, and genetic drift. neither climatic adaptation nor anterior dental loading are well supported, but genetic drift is consistent with the available evidence. climatic adaptation and ... | 2009 | 19805258 |
| temporal nature of periradicular bands ('striae periradicales') on mammalian tooth roots. | periradicular bands, or fine circumferential lines on tooth roots, have received attention recently due to their prominence on hominin fossils and their potential utility for informing studies of root formation. in 1938, komai and miyauti [dtsch zahn mund kieferheilkd 1938;5:791-795] demonstrated that periradicular bands are related to dentine growth rather than cementum, suggesting that they were equal to accentuated lines in dentine ('dentine lamellae' or 'contour lines'). more recent indirect ... | 2009 | 19828976 |
| out of the north sea: the zeeland ridges neandertal. | in 2001, a portion of human frontal bone was discovered in sediments extracted from the bottom of the north sea, 15km off the coast of the netherlands. the extraction zone is located in the so-called zeeland ridges area located at 51 degrees 40' northern latitude and 3 degrees 20' eastern longitude. the specimen was dredged up from sediments containing late pleistocene faunal remains and middle palaeolithic artefacts, including well-finished small handaxes and levallois flakes. the details of th ... | 2009 | 19853278 |
| allometric scaling of infraorbital surface topography in homo. | infraorbital morphology is often included in phylogenetic and functional analyses of homo. the inclusion of distinct infraorbital configurations, such as the "canine fossa" in homo sapiens or the "inflated" maxilla in neandertals, is generally based on either descriptive or qualitative assessments of this morphology, or simple linear chord and subtense measurements. however, the complex curvilinear surface of the infraorbital region has proven difficult to quantify through these traditional meth ... | 2009 | 19118866 |
| chronology of the grotte du renne (france) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the châtelperronian. | there is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into western europe, around 35,000-40,000 b.p. the site of the grotte du renne (at arcy-sur-cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among neanderthals. a range of ornaments and tools usually associated with modern human industries, such as the aurignacian, were ... | 2010 | 20956292 |
| the ucsc genome browser database: update 2011. | the university of california, santa cruz genome browser (http://genome.ucsc.edu) offers online access to a database of genomic sequence and annotation data for a wide variety of organisms. the browser also has many tools for visualizing, comparing and analyzing both publicly available and user-generated genomic data sets, aligning sequences and uploading user data. among the features released this year are a gene search tool and annotation track drag-reorder functionality as well as support for ... | 2010 | 20959295 |
| a functional test of neandertal and modern human mitochondrial targeting sequences. | targeting of nuclear-encoded proteins to different organelles, such as mitochondria, is a process that can result in the redeployment of proteins to new intracellular destinations during evolution. with the sequencing of the neandertal genome, it has become possible to identify amino acid substitutions that occurred on the modern human lineage since its separation from the neandertal lineage. here we analyze the function of two substitutions in mitochondrial targeting sequences that occurred and ... | 2010 | 20977882 |
| digit ratios predict polygyny in early apes, ardipithecus, neanderthals and early modern humans but not in australopithecus. | social behaviour of fossil hominoid species is notoriously difficult to predict owing to difficulties in estimating body size dimorphism from fragmentary remains and, in hominins, low canine size dimorphism. recent studies have shown that the second-to-fourth digit ratio (2d : 4d), a putative biomarker for prenatal androgen effects (paes), covaries with intra-sexual competition and social systems across haplorrhines; non-pair-bonded polygynous taxa have significantly lower 2d : 4d ratios (high p ... | 2010 | 21047863 |
| is the suprainiac fossa a neandertal autapomorphy? a complementary external and internal investigation. | the occipital bone of neandertals contains an association of morphological features that is considered characteristic of this fossil human population. one of the possible autapomorphic traits of neandertals is the presence of a suprainiac fossa, a horizontal oval-shaped depression located on the occipital plane. the question of whether suprainiac depressions observed on neandertals and in other human samples are homologous has been widely discussed. the present study provides a detailed anatomic ... | 2010 | 19896701 |
| the evolution of handedness in humans and great apes: a review and current issues. | population-level right-handedness is a defining characteristic of humans. despite extensive research, we still do not know the conditions or timing of its emergence in human evolution. we present a review of research into the origins of handedness, based on fossil and archaeological data for hand preference and great ape hand-use. the data show that skeletal asymmetries in arm and hand bones supporting a rightsided dominance were present at least in the genus homo, although data are more robust ... | 2008 | 19934467 |
| brief communication: the distribution of perikymata on qafzeh anterior teeth. | recent studies have suggested that neandertals and modern humans differ in the distribution of perikymata (enamel growth increments) over their permanent anterior tooth crowns. in modern humans, perikymata become increasingly more compact toward the cervix than they do in neandertals. previous studies have suggested that a more homogeneous distribution of perikymata, like that of neandertals, characterizes the anterior teeth of homo heidelbergensis and homo erectus as well. here, we investigated ... | 2010 | 19902531 |
| a complete mtdna genome of an early modern human from kostenki, russia. | the recovery of dna sequences from early modern humans (emhs) could shed light on their interactions with archaic groups such as neandertals and their relationships to current human populations. however, such experiments are highly problematic because present-day human dna frequently contaminates bones [1, 2]. for example, in a recent study of mitochondrial (mt) dna from neolithic european skeletons, sequence variants were only taken as authentic if they were absent or rare in the present popula ... | 2010 | 20045327 |
| is homo heidelbergensis a distinct species? new insight on the mauer mandible. | the discovery of new fossils in africa, asia, and europe, and the recognition of a greater diversity in the middle pleistocene fossil record, has led to a reconsideration of the species homo heidelbergensis. this nomen, formulated by schoetensack in 1908 to describe the mauer jaw (germany), was almost forgotten during most of the past century. numerous fossils have been attributed to it but no consensus has arisen concerning their classification. the holotype anatomical traits are still poorly u ... | 2009 | 19249816 |
| evolution of m1 crown size and cusp proportions in the genus homo. | previous research into tooth crown dimensions and cusp proportions has proved to be a useful way to identify taxonomic differences in pliocene and pleistocene fossil hominins. the present study has identified changes in both m(1) crown size and cusp proportions within the genus homo, with m(1) overall crown size reduction apparently occurring in two main stages. the first stage (a reduction of ca. 17%) is associated with the emergence of homo ergaster and homo erectus sensu stricto. the second s ... | 2009 | 19438761 |
| kebara 2: new insights regarding the most complete neandertal thorax. | in this study, we present a new analysis of the costal skeleton of the kebara 2 neandertal that challenges the original description of the fossil remains. in addition to correcting an erroneous rib rejoin, we document that kebara 2 shows significant metric and morphological differences in comparison to a wide range of modern human comparative samples. moreover, kebara 2's thorax is large, but it is not an isometrically scaled version of a modern human thorax. we also present updated information ... | 2009 | 19540563 |
| comparative 3d quantitative analyses of trapeziometacarpal joint surface curvatures among living catarrhines and fossil hominins. | comparisons of joint surface curvature at the base of the thumb have long been made to discern differences among living and fossil primates in functional capabilities of the hand. however, the complex shape of this joint makes it difficult to quantify differences among taxa. the purpose of this study is to determine whether significant differences in curvature exist among selected catarrhine genera and to compare these genera with hominin fossils in trapeziometacarpal curvature. two 3d approache ... | 2010 | 19544574 |
| linkage disequilibrium extends across putative selected sites in foxp2. | polymorphism data in humans suggest that the gene encoding the transcription factor foxp2, which influences speech and language development, has been subject to a selective sweep within the last 260,000 years. it has been proposed that one or both of two substitutions that occurred on the human evolutionary lineage and changed amino acids were the targets for selection. in apparent contradiction to this is the observation that these substitutions are present in neandertals who diverged from huma ... | 2009 | 19608635 |
| the complete mitochondrial dna genome of an unknown hominin from southern siberia. | with the exception of neanderthals, from which dna sequences of numerous individuals have now been determined, the number and genetic relationships of other hominin lineages are largely unknown. here we report a complete mitochondrial (mt) dna sequence retrieved from a bone excavated in 2008 in denisova cave in the altai mountains in southern siberia. it represents a hitherto unknown type of hominin mtdna that shares a common ancestor with anatomically modern human and neanderthal mtdnas about 1 ... | 2010 | 20336068 |
| interactions of neanderthals and modern humans: what can be inferred from mitochondrial dna? | this paper reviews the state-of-the-art knowledge concerning the relationship between neanderthals and upper paleolithic modern humans. the branching-process method is applied to infer the upper limit of hypothetical neanderthal admixture, consistent with the evidence based on mitochon- drial dna sequences of contemporary modern humans, as well as neanderthal and early modern european h. sapiens fossils. as a result, a maximum value of 15% admixture is obtained. this estimate is discussed in the ... | 2005 | 20369935 |
| effects of brain and facial size on basicranial form in human and primate evolution. | understanding variation in the basicranium is of central importance to paleoanthropology because of its fundamental structural role in skull development and evolution. among primates, encephalisation is well known to be associated with flexion between midline basicranial elements, although it has been proposed that the size or shape of the face influences basicranial flexion. in particular, brain size and facial size are hypothesized to act as antagonists on basicranial flexion. one important an ... | 2010 | 20378153 |
| analysis of ancient human genomes: using next generation sequencing, 20-fold coverage of the genome of a 4,000-year-old human from greenland has been obtained. | high-capacity sequencing technologies have dramatically reduced both the cost and time required to generate complete human genome sequences. besides expanding our knowledge about existing diversity, the nature of these technologies makes it possible to extend knowledge in yet another dimension: time. recently, the complete genome sequence of a 4,000-year-old human from the saqqaq culture of greenland was determined to 20-fold coverage. these data make it possible to investigate the population af ... | 2010 | 20414896 |
| neanderthal genomics and the evolution of modern humans. | humans possess unique physical and cognitive characteristics relative to other primates. comparative analyses of the human and chimpanzee genomes are beginning to reveal sequence changes on the human lineage that may have contributed to the evolution of human traits. however, these studies cannot identify the genetic differences that distinguish modern humans from archaic human species. here, i will discuss efforts to obtain genomic sequence from neanderthal, the closest known relative of modern ... | 2010 | 20439435 |
| colloquium paper: terrestrial apes and phylogenetic trees. | the image that best expresses darwin's thinking is the tree of life. however, darwin's human evolutionary tree lacked almost everything because only the neanderthals were known at the time and they were considered one extreme expression of our own species. darwin believed that the root of the human tree was very deep and in africa. it was not until 1962 that the root was shown to be much more recent in time and definitively in africa. on the other hand, some neo-darwinians believed that our fami ... | 2010 | 20445090 |
| a comprehensive functional analysis of ancestral human signal peptides. | with the sequencing of the neandertal genome, it has become possible to identify amino acid substitutions that occurred on the human lineage since its separation from the neandertal lineage. conceptually, it will therefore be possible to functionally analyze all such amino acid substitutions in the future. here, we analyze the function of substitutions that occurred during recent human evolution in n-terminal signal peptides. we develop a high-throughput flow cytometry-based assay to analyze sig ... | 2011 | 20798139 |
| right handed neandertals: vindija and beyond. | seven vindija (croatia) neandertal teeth, dated about 32,000 years ago, were analyzed to determine patterning of scratches on the anterior teeth. oblique scratches exclusively on the labial faces of incisors and canines represent a distinctive pattern, characteristic of hand directed, non-masticatory activities. at vindija and elsewhere these scratches reveal activities, which were performed primarily with the right hand. the late neandertals from vindija, combined with other studies, show that ... | 2010 | 20834053 |
| middle pleistocene lower back and pelvis from an aged human individual from the sima de los huesos site, spain. | we report a nearly complete lumbar spine from the middle pleistocene site of the sima de los huesos (sh) that is assigned to the previously published sh male pelvis 1 [arsuaga jl, et al. (1999). nature 399: 255-258]. the "sh pelvis 1 individual" is a unique nearly complete lumbo-pelvic complex from the human middle pleistocene fossil record, and offers a rare glimpse into the anatomy and past lifeways of homo heidelbergensis. a revised reconstruction of pelvis 1, together with the current fossil ... | 2010 | 20937858 |
| dental maturational sequence and dental tissue proportions in the early upper paleolithic child from abrigo do lagar velho, portugal. | neandertals differ from recent and terminal pleistocene human populations in their patterns of dental development, endostructural (internal structure) organization, and relative tissue proportions. although significant changes in craniofacial and postcranial morphology have been found between the middle paleolithic and earlier upper paleolithic modern humans of western eurasia and the terminal pleistocene and holocene inhabitants of the same region, most studies of dental maturation and structur ... | 2010 | 20080622 |
| femoral curvature in neanderthals and modern humans: a 3d geometric morphometric analysis. | since their discovery, neanderthals have been described as having a marked degree of anteroposterior curvature of the femoral shaft. although initially believed to be pathological, subsequent discoveries of neanderthal remains lead femoral curvature to be considered as a derived neanderthal feature. a recent study on neanderthals and middle and early upper palaeolithic modern humans found no differences in femoral curvature, but did not consider size-corrected curvature. therefore, the objective ... | 2011 | 21411122 |
| symbolic use of marine shells and mineral pigments by iberian neandertals. | two sites of the neandertal-associated middle paleolithic of iberia, dated to as early as approximately 50,000 years ago, yielded perforated and pigment-stained marine shells. at cueva de los aviones, three umbo-perforated valves of acanthocardia and glycymeris were found alongside lumps of yellow and red colorants, and residues preserved inside a spondylus shell consist of a red lepidocrocite base mixed with ground, dark red-to-black fragments of hematite and pyrite. a perforated pecten shell, ... | 2010 | 20080653 |
| drafting human ancestry: what does the neanderthal genome tell us about hominid evolution? commentary on green et al. (2010). | ten years after the first draft versions of the human genome were announced, technical progress in both dna sequencing and ancient dna analyses has allowed a research team around ed green and svante pääbo to complete this task from infinitely more difficult hominid samples: a few pieces of bone originating from our closest, albeit extinct, relatives, the neanderthals. pulling the neanderthal sequences out of a sea of contaminating environmental dna impregnating the bones and at the same time avo ... | 2011 | 21453001 |
| testing the hypothesis of fire use for ecosystem management by neanderthal and upper palaeolithic modern human populations. | it has been proposed that a greater control and more extensive use of fire was one of the behavioral innovations that emerged in africa among early modern humans, favouring their spread throughout the world and determining their eventual evolutionary success. we would expect, if extensive fire use for ecosystem management were a component of the modern human technical and cognitive package, as suggested for australia, to find major disturbances in the natural biomass burning variability associat ... | 2010 | 20161786 |
| lower limb entheseal morphology in the neandertal krapina population (croatia, 130 000 bp). | although the neandertal locomotor system has been shown to differ from homo sapiens, characteristics of neandertal entheses, the skeletal attachments for muscles, tendons, ligaments and joint capsules, have never been specifically investigated. here, we analyse lower limb entheses of the krapina neandertal bones (croatia, 130 000 bp) with the aim of determining how they compare with modern humans, using a standard developed by our research group for describing modern human entheseal variability. ... | 2011 | 21481920 |
| technical note: morphometric maps of long bone shafts and dental roots for imaging topographic thickness variation. | qualitative and quantitative characterization through functional imaging of mineralized tissues is of potential value in the study of the odontoskeletal remains. this technique, widely developed in the medical field, allows the bi-dimensional, planar representation of some local morphometric properties, i.e., topographic thickness variation, of a three-dimensional object, such as a long bone shaft. nonetheless, the use of morphometric maps is still limited in (paleo)anthropology, and their feasi ... | 2010 | 20229503 |
| comparison of dental measurement systems for taxonomic assignment of first molars. | morphometrics of the molar crown is based traditionally on diameter measurements but is nowadays more often based on 2d image analysis of crown outlines. an alternative approach involves measurements at the level of the cervical line. we compare the information content of the two options in a three-dimensional (3d) digital sample of lower and upper first molars (m(1) and m(1) ) of modern human and neanderthal teeth. the cervical outline for each tooth was created by digitizing the cervical line ... | 2010 | 21302262 |
| a human mandible (bh-1) from the pleistocene deposits of mala balanica cave (sićevo gorge, niš, serbia). | neandertals and their immediate predecessors are commonly considered to be the only humans inhabiting europe in the middle and early late pleistocene. most middle pleistocene western european specimens show evidence of a developing neandertal morphology, supporting the notion that these traits evolved at the extreme west of the continent due, at least partially, to the isolation produced by glacial events. the recent discovery of a mandible, bh-1, from mala balanica (serbia), with primitive char ... | 2011 | 21507461 |
| what lies beneath? an evaluation of lower molar trigonid crest patterns based on both dentine and enamel expression. | the nearly ubiquitous presence of a continuous crest connecting the protoconid and metaconid of the lower molars (often referred to as the middle trigonid crest), is one of several dental traits that distinguish homo neanderthalensis from homo sapiens. this study examined variation in trigonid crest patterns on the enamel and dentine surfaces to (1) evaluate the concordance between the morphology of trigonid crests at the inner dentine and the outer enamel surfaces; (2) examine their development ... | 2011 | 21312178 |
| mandibular molar root morphology in neanderthals and late pleistocene and recent homo sapiens. | neanderthals have a distinctive suite of dental features, including large anterior crown and root dimensions and molars with enlarged pulp cavities. yet, there is little known about variation in molar root morphology in neanderthals and other recent and fossil members of homo. here, we provide the first comprehensive metric analysis of permanent mandibular molar root morphology in middle and late pleistocene homo neanderthalensis, and late pleistocene (aterian) and recent homo sapiens. we specif ... | 2010 | 20719359 |
| the development of dna sequencing: from the genome of a bacteriophage to that of a neanderthal. | | 2010 | 20862760 |
| triangulation of the human, chimpanzee, and neanderthal genome sequences identifies potentially compensated mutations. | triangulation of the human, chimpanzee, and neanderthal genome sequences with respect to 44,348 disease-causing or disease-associated missense mutations and 1,712 putative regulatory mutations listed in the human gene mutation database was employed to identify genetic variants that are apparently pathogenic in humans but which may represent a "compensated" wild-type state in at least one of the other two species. of 122 such "potentially compensated mutations" (pcms) identified, 88 were deemed " ... | 2010 | 21064102 |
| comparison of dental measurement systems for taxonomic assignment of neanderthal and modern human lower second deciduous molars. | traditional morphometric approaches for taxonomic assignment of neanderthal and modern human dental remains are mainly characterized by caliper measurements of tooth crowns. several studies have recently described differences in dental tissue proportions and enamel thickness between neanderthal and modern human teeth. at least for the lower second deciduous molar (dm(2)), a three-dimensional lateral relative enamel thickness index has been proposed for separating the two taxa. this index has the ... | 2011 | 21624638 |
| dental evidence for ontogenetic differences between modern humans and neanderthals. | humans have an unusual life history, with an early weaning age, long childhood, late first reproduction, short interbirth intervals, and long lifespan. in contrast, great apes wean later, reproduce earlier, and have longer intervals between births. despite 80 y of speculation, the origins of these developmental patterns in homo sapiens remain unknown. because they record daily growth during formation, teeth provide important insights, revealing that australopithecines and early homo had more rap ... | 2010 | 21078988 |
| genome digging: insight into the mitochondrial genome of homo. | a fraction of the neanderthal mitochondrial genome sequence has a similarity with a 5,839-bp nuclear dna sequence of mitochondrial origin (numt) on the human chromosome 1. this fact has never been interpreted. although this phenomenon may be attributed to contamination and mosaic assembly of neanderthal mtdna from short sequencing reads, we explain the mysterious similarity by integration of this numt (mtancestor-1) into the nuclear genome of the common ancestor of neanderthals and modern humans ... | 2010 | 21151557 |
| the neanderthal face is not cold adapted. | many morphological features of the pleistocene fossil hominin homo neanderthalensis, including the reputed large size of its paranasal sinuses, have been interpreted as adaptations to extreme cold, as some neanderthals lived in europe during glacial periods. this interpretation of sinus evolution rests on two assumptions: that increased craniofacial pneumatization is an adaptation to lower ambient temperatures, and that neanderthals have relatively large sinuses. analysis of humans, other primat ... | 2010 | 21183202 |
| microfossils in calculus demonstrate consumption of plants and cooked foods in neanderthal diets (shanidar iii, iraq; spy i and ii, belgium). | the nature and causes of the disappearance of neanderthals and their apparent replacement by modern humans are subjects of considerable debate. many researchers have proposed biologically or technologically mediated dietary differences between the two groups as one of the fundamental causes of neanderthal disappearance. some scenarios have focused on the apparent lack of plant foods in neanderthal diets. here we report direct evidence for neanderthal consumption of a variety of plant foods, in t ... | 2010 | 21187393 |
| late pleistocene adult mortality patterns and modern human establishment. | the establishment of modern humans in the late pleistocene, subsequent to their emergence in eastern africa, is likely to have involved substantial population increases, during their initial dispersal across southern asia and their subsequent expansions throughout africa and into more northern eurasia. an assessment of younger (20-40 y) versus older (>40 y) adult mortality distributions for late archaic humans (principally neandertals) and two samples of early modern humans (middle paleolithic a ... | 2011 | 21220336 |
| gorilla and orangutan brains conform to the primate cellular scaling rules: implications for human evolution. | gorillas and orangutans are primates at least as large as humans, but their brains amount to about one third of the size of the human brain. this discrepancy has been used as evidence that the human brain is about 3 times larger than it should be for a primate species of its body size. in contrast to the view that the human brain is special in its size, we have suggested that it is the great apes that might have evolved bodies that are unusually large, on the basis of our recent finding that the ... | 2011 | 21228547 |
| a reassessment of the neanderthal teeth from taddeo cave (southern italy). | the middle paleolithic fossil human teeth from taddeo cave in southwestern italy were discovered in 1967, but to date only scanty and partially incorrect information has been published about them. the teeth were recovered in a reddish sandy layer from the cave's floor, which is attributed either to an early phase of w++rm i (ois 5c or 5d) or a transition phase between w++rm i and w++rm ii (ois 5a). in this paper, we present a revised morphological description and morphometric comparisons of the ... | 2011 | 21683429 |
| an x-linked haplotype of neandertal origin is present among all non-african populations. | recent work on the neandertal genome has raised the possibility of admixture between neandertals and the expanding population of homo sapiens who left africa between 80 and 50 kya (thousand years ago) to colonize the rest of the world. here, we provide evidence of a notable presence (9% overall) of a neandertal-derived x chromosome segment among all contemporary human populations outside africa. our analysis of 6,092 x-chromosomes from all inhabited continents supports earlier contentions that a ... | 2011 | 21266489 |
| calcaneus length determines running economy: implications for endurance running performance in modern humans and neandertals. | the endurance running (er) hypothesis suggests that distance running played an important role in the evolution of the genus homo. most researchers have focused on er performance in modern humans, or on reconstructing er performance in homo erectus, however, few studies have examined er capabilities in other members of the genus homo. here, we examine skeletal correlates of er performance in modern humans in order to evaluate the energetics of running in neandertals and early homo sapiens. recent ... | 2011 | 21269660 |
| nasopharyngeal carcinoma as a paradigm of cancer genetics. | the unusual incidence patterns for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (npc) in china, northeast india, arctic inuit, peninsular and island southeast asia, polynesian islanders, and north africans indicate a role for npc risk genes in chinese, chinese-related, and not-obviously chinese-related populations. renewed interest in npc genetic risk has been stimulated by a hypothesis that npc population patterns originated in bai-yue / pre-austronesian-speaking aborigines and were dispersed during the last glaci ... | 2011 | 21272439 |
| the stem species of our species: a place for the archaic human cranium from ceprano, italy. | one of the present challenges in the study of human evolution is to recognize the hominin taxon that was ancestral to homo sapiens. some researchers regard h. heidelbergensis as the stem species involved in the evolutionary divergence leading to the emergence of h. sapiens in africa, and to the evolution of the neandertals in europe. nevertheless, the diagnosis and hypodigm of h. heidelbergensis still remain to be clarified. here we evaluate the morphology of the incomplete cranium (calvarium) k ... | 2011 | 21533096 |
| the postcranial dimensions of the la chapelle-aux-saints 1 neandertal. | the la chapelle-aux-saints 1 neandertal has figured prominently in considerations of neandertal body size and proportions. in this context, a reassessment of its major long bones and a reassembly of its principal pelvic elements (sacrum and right ilium) was undertaken. there are secure measurements for its humeral and radial lengths and its femoral head diameter, but the femoral and tibial lengths were almost certainly greater than previous values. the resultant humeral, femoral and tibial lengt ... | 2011 | 21541931 |
| relationship between cusp size and occlusal wear pattern in neanderthal and homo sapiens first maxillary molars. | tooth wear studies in mammals have highlighted the relationship between wear facets (attritional areas produced during occlusion by the contact between opposing teeth) and physical properties of the ingested food. however, little is known about the influence of tooth morphology on the formation of occlusal wear facets. we analyzed the occlusal wear patterns of first maxillary molars (m(1) s) in neanderthals, early homo sapiens, and contemporary modern humans. we applied a virtual method to analy ... | 2010 | 21337711 |
| evolution, revolution or saltation scenario for the emergence of modern cultures? | crucial questions in the debate on the origin of quintessential human behaviours are whether modern cognition and associated innovations are unique to our species and whether they emerged abruptly, gradually or as the result of a discontinuous process. three scenarios have been proposed to account for the origin of cultural modernity. the first argues that modern cognition is unique to our species and the consequence of a genetic mutation that took place approximately 50 ka in africa among alrea ... | 2011 | 21357228 |
| DARC alleles and Duffy phenotypes in African Americans. | BACKGROUND: The DARC (Duffy blood group, chemokine receptor) gene encodes for a transmembrane glycoprotein that functions as a chemokine transporter, is a receptor for Plasmodium vivax and P. knowlesi, and expresses the Duffy blood group antigens (Fy). The Fy(a-b-) phenotype found in people of African descent is typically associated with a -67t>c mutation in the 5'-untranslated region (UTR), which prevents red blood cells being invaded by P. vivax and P. knowlesi. The aim of this study was to es ... | 2011 | 22082243 |
| MicroRNA expression and regulation in human, chimpanzee, and macaque brains. | Among other factors, changes in gene expression on the human evolutionary lineage have been suggested to play an important role in the establishment of human-specific phenotypes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these expression changes are largely unknown. Here, we have explored the role of microRNA (miRNA) in the regulation of gene expression divergence among adult humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques, in two brain regions: prefrontal cortex and cerebellum. Using a combination ... | 2011 | 22022286 |
| late neandertals and the intentional removal of feathers as evidenced from bird bone taphonomy at fumane cave 44 ky b.p., italy. | a large and varied avifaunal bone assemblage from the final mousterian levels of grotta di fumane, northern italy, reveals unusual human modifications on species that are not clearly relatable to feeding or utilitarian uses (i.e., lammergeier, eurasian black vulture, golden eagle, red-footed falcon, common wood pigeon, and alpine chough). cut, peeling, and scrape marks, as well as diagnostic fractures and a breakthrough, are observed exclusively on wings, indicating the intentional removal of la ... | 2011 | 21368129 |
| The Vindija Neanderthal scapular glenoid fossa: Comparative shape analysis suggests evo-devo changes among Neanderthals. | Although the shape of the scapular glenoid fossa (SGF) may be influenced by epigenetic and developmental factors, there appears to be strong genetic control over its overall form, such that variation within and between hominin taxa in SGF shape may contain information about their evolutionary histories. Here we present the results of a geometric morphometric study of the SGF of the Neanderthal Vi-209 from Vindjia Cave (Croatia), relative to samples of Plio-Pleistocene, later Pleistocene, and rec ... | 2011 | 22197062 |
| on the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in europe. | the timing of the human control of fire is a hotly debated issue, with claims for regular fire use by early hominins in africa at ~ 1.6 million y ago. these claims are not uncontested, but most archaeologists would agree that the colonization of areas outside africa, especially of regions such as europe where temperatures at time dropped below freezing, was indeed tied to the use of fire. our review of the european evidence suggests that early hominins moved into northern latitudes without the h ... | 2011 | 21402905 |
| revised age of late neanderthal occupation and the end of the middle paleolithic in the northern caucasus. | advances in direct radiocarbon dating of neanderthal and anatomically modern human (amh) fossils and the development of archaeostratigraphic chronologies now allow refined regional models for neanderthal-amh coexistence. in addition, they allow us to explore the issue of late neanderthal survival in regions of western eurasia located within early routes of amh expansion such as the caucasus. here we report the direct radiocarbon ((14)c) dating of a late neanderthal specimen from a late middle pa ... | 2011 | 21555570 |
| are homo sapiens nonsupranuchal fossa and neanderthal suprainiac fossa convergent traits? | the autapomorphic status of the neanderthal suprainiac fossa was recently confirmed. this was a result of a detailed analysis of the internal bone composition in the area of the suprainiac depression on neanderthal and homo sapiens specimens. however, while anatomical differences between neanderthal suprainiac fossa and the depression in the inion region of the occipital bone of fossil and recent homo sapiens have been discussed in detail, the etiology of these structures has not been resolved. ... | 2010 | 21404232 |
| middle pleistocene dental remains from qesem cave (israel). | this study presents a description and comparative analysis of middle pleistocene permanent and deciduous teeth from the site of qesem cave (israel). all of the human fossils are assigned to the acheulo-yabrudian cultural complex (aycc) of the late lower paleolithic. the middle pleistocene age of the qesem teeth (400-200 ka) places them chronologically earlier than the bulk of fossil hominin specimens previously known from southwest asia. three permanent mandibular teeth (c(1) -p(4) ) were found ... | 2010 | 21404234 |
| Articulatory capacity of Neanderthals, a very recent and human-like fossil hominin. | Scientists seek to use fossil and archaeological evidence to constrain models of the coevolution of human language and tool use. We focus on Neanderthals, for whom indirect evidence from tool use and ancient DNA appears consistent with an adaptation to complex vocal-auditory communication. We summarize existing arguments that the articulatory apparatus for speech had not yet come under intense positive selection pressure in Neanderthals, and we outline some recent evidence and analyses that chal ... | 2012 | 22106429 |
| evolution of the base of the brain in highly encephalized human species. | the increase of brain size relative to body size-encephalization-is intimately linked with human evolution. however, two genetically different evolutionary lineages, neanderthals and modern humans, have produced similarly large-brained human species. thus, understanding human brain evolution should include research into specific cerebral reorganization, possibly reflected by brain shape changes. here we exploit developmental integration between the brain and its underlying skeletal base to test ... | 2011 | 22158443 |
| beyond the caveman: rethinking masculinity in relation to men's help-seeking. | statistically, men make less use of health-care services than women. this has been interpreted as the result of the 'hegemonic' masculine code in which 'real' men are understood to be physically fit, uninterested in their health and self-reliant. however, less attention has been paid to understanding how hegemonic masculinity intersects with the wider western socio-cultural contexts of men's help-seeking, particularly the valorization of health as a form of social achievement. this article prese ... | 2011 | 21602248 |
| Stature estimation from complete long bones in the Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sima de los Huesos, Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain). | Systematic excavations at the site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) have allowed us to reconstruct 27 complete long bones of the human species Homo heidelbergensis. The SH sample is used here, together with a sample of 39 complete Homo neanderthalensis long bones and 17 complete early Homo sapiens (Skhul/Qafzeh) long bones, to compare the stature of these three different human species. Stature is estimated for each bone using race- and sex-independent reg ... | 2011 | 22196156 |
| why do humans have chins? testing the mechanical significance of modern human symphyseal morphology with finite element analysis. | the modern human mandibular symphysis differs from those of all other primates in being vertically orientated and possessing a chin, but the functional significance of this unique morphology is not well understood. some hypotheses propose that it is an adaptation to specific loads occurring during masticatory function. this study uses finite element analysis to examine these symphyseal loads in a model of a modern human mandible. by modifying the symphyseal cross-sectional form, the mechanical s ... | 2010 | 21404235 |
| archaic human ancestry in east asia. | recent studies of ancient genomes have suggested that gene flow from archaic hominin groups to the ancestors of modern humans occurred on two separate occasions during the modern human expansion out of africa. at the same time, decreasing levels of human genetic diversity have been found at increasing distance from africa as a consequence of human expansion out of africa. we analyzed the signal of archaic ancestry in modern human populations, and we investigated how serial founder models of huma ... | 2011 | 22042846 |
| Learning about human population history from ancient and modern genomes. | Genome-wide data, both from SNP arrays and from complete genome sequencing, are becoming increasingly abundant and are now even available from extinct hominins. These data are providing new insights into population history; in particular, when combined with model-based analytical approaches, genome-wide data allow direct testing of hypotheses about population history. For example, genome-wide data from both contemporary populations and extinct hominins strongly support a single dispersal of mode ... | 2011 | 21850041 |
| cross-comparison of the genome sequences from human, chimpanzee, neanderthal and a denisovan hominin identifies novel potentially compensated mutations. | the recent publication of the draft genome sequences of the neanderthal and a ~50,000-year-old archaic hominin from denisova cave in southern siberia has ushered in a new age in molecular archaeology. we previously cross-compared the human, chimpanzee and neanderthal genome sequences with respect to a set of disease-causing/disease-associated missense and regulatory mutations (human gene mutation database) and succeeded in identifying genetic variants which, although apparently pathogenic in hum ... | 2011 | 21807602 |
| on characterizing adaptive events unique to modern humans. | ever since the first draft of the human genome was completed in 2001 there has been increased interest in identifying genetic changes that are uniquely human, which could account for our distinct morphological and cognitive capabilities with respect to other apes. recently, draft sequences of two extinct hominin genomes, a neanderthal and denisovan, have been released. these two genomes provide a much greater resolution to identify human-specific genetic differences than the chimpanzee, our clos ... | 2011 | 21803765 |
| tenfold population increase in western europe at the neandertal-to-modern human transition. | european neandertals were replaced by modern human populations from africa ~40,000 years ago. archaeological evidence from the best-documented region of europe shows that during this replacement human populations increased by one order of magnitude, suggesting that numerical supremacy alone may have been a critical factor in facilitating this replacement. | 2011 | 21798948 |
| homo neanderthalensis; first documented benign intraosseous tumor in maxillofacial skeleton. | this report deals with the first benign intraosseous tumor of the maxillofacial skeleton ever documented in a species of the homo genus, to our knowledge. the lower jaw, which belonged to a representative of homo neanderthalensis, indicated that expansive processes with bone remodeling were already present in ancient times, showing no difference with similar disease patterns found daily in modern homo sapiens. | 2011 | 21798647 |
| ancient origin of a deletion in human bst2/tetherin that confers protection against viral zoonoses. | bst2/tetherin is an antiviral factor that blocks the release of enveloped virions from infected cells. recent data suggest that efficient bst2 antagonism was a prerequisite for the global spread of hiv/aids. most simian immunodeficiency viruses (sivs), including the direct precursors of hiv, use their nef protein to antagonize bst2 of their respective host species. human bst2, however, contains a five amino acid deletion in its cytoplasmic domain that confers resistance to nef. thus, this antivi ... | 2011 | 21796732 |
| antimicrobial functions of lactoferrin promote genetic conflicts in ancient primates and modern humans. | lactoferrin is a multifunctional mammalian immunity protein that limits microbial growth through sequestration of nutrient iron. additionally, lactoferrin possesses cationic protein domains that directly bind and inhibit diverse microbes. the implications for these dual functions on lactoferrin evolution and genetic conflicts with microbes remain unclear. here we show that lactoferrin has been subject to recurrent episodes of positive selection during primate divergence predominately at antimicr ... | 2016 | 27203426 |
| contrasted patterns of variation and evolutionary convergence at the antiviral oas1 gene in old world primates. | the oligoadenylate synthetase 1 (oas1) enzyme acts as an innate sensor of viral infection and plays a major role in the defense against a wide diversity of viruses. polymorphisms at oas1 have been shown to correlate with differential susceptibility to several infections of great public health significance, including hepatitis c virus, sars coronavirus, and west nile virus. population genetics analyses in hominoids have revealed interesting evolutionary patterns. in central african chimpanzee, oa ... | 2015 | 26156123 |