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Temporal shifts in the distribution of murine rodent body size classes at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia) reveal new insights into the paleoecology of Homo floresiensis and associated fauna. J Hum Evol 2019; 130:45-60. [PMID: 31010543 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2018] [Revised: 02/14/2019] [Accepted: 02/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Liang Bua, the type locality of Homo floresiensis, is a limestone cave located in the western part of the Indonesian island of Flores. The relatively continuous stratigraphic sequence of the site spans the past ∼190 kyr and contains ∼275,000 taxonomically identifiable vertebrate skeletal elements, ∼80% of which belong to murine rodent taxa (i.e., rats). Six described genera are present at Liang Bua (Papagomys, Spelaeomys, Hooijeromys, Komodomys, Paulamys, and Rattus), one of which, Hooijeromys, is newly recorded in the site deposits, being previously known only from Early to Middle Pleistocene sites in central Flores. Measurements of the proximal femur (n = 10,212) and distal humerus (n = 1186) indicate five murine body size classes ranging from small (mouse-sized) to giant (common rabbit-sized) are present. The proportions of these five classes across successive stratigraphic units reveal two major changes in murine body size distribution due to significant shifts in the abundances of more open habitat-adapted medium-sized murines versus more closed habitat-adapted smaller-sized ones. One of these changes suggests a modest increase in available open habitats occurred ∼3 ka, likely the result of anthropogenic changes to the landscape related to farming by modern human populations. The other and more significant change occurred ∼60 ka suggesting a rapid shift from more open habitats to more closed conditions at this time. The abrupt reduction of medium-sized murines, along with the disappearance of H. floresiensis, Stegodon florensis insularis (an extinct proboscidean), Varanus komodoensis (Komodo dragon), Leptoptilos robustus (giant marabou stork), and Trigonoceps sp. (vulture) at Liang Bua ∼60-50 ka, is likely the consequence of these animals preferring and tracking more open habitats to elsewhere on the island. If correct, then the precise timing and nature of the extinction of H. floresiensis and its contemporaries must await new discoveries at Liang Bua or other as yet unexcavated sites on Flores.
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The spatio-temporal distribution of archaeological and faunal finds at Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia) in light of the revised chronology for Homo floresiensis. J Hum Evol 2018; 124:52-74. [PMID: 30173885 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2018] [Accepted: 07/04/2018] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Liang Bua, the type site of Homo floresiensis, is a limestone cave on the Indonesian island of Flores with sedimentary deposits currently known to range in age from about 190 thousand years (ka) ago to the present. Recent revision of the stratigraphy and chronology of this depositional sequence suggests that skeletal remains of H. floresiensis are between ∼100 and 60 ka old, while cultural evidence of this taxon occurs until ∼50 ka ago. Here we examine the compositions of the faunal communities and stone artifacts, by broad taxonomic groups and raw materials, throughout the ∼190 ka time interval preserved in the sequence. Major shifts are observed in both the faunal and stone artifact assemblages that reflect marked changes in paleoecology and hominin behavior, respectively. Our results suggest that H. floresiensis and Stegodon florensis insularis, along with giant marabou stork (Leptoptilos robustus) and vulture (Trigonoceps sp.), were likely extinct by ∼50 ka ago. Moreover, an abrupt and statistically significant shift in raw material preference due to an increased use of chert occurs ∼46 thousand calibrated radiocarbon (14C) years before present (ka cal. BP), a pattern that continues through the subsequent stratigraphic sequence. If an increased preference for chert does, in fact, characterize Homo sapiens assemblages at Liang Bua, as previous studies have suggested (e.g., Moore et al., 2009), then the shift observed here suggests that modern humans arrived on Flores by ∼46 ka cal. BP, which would be the earliest cultural evidence of modern humans in Indonesia.
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An early modern human presence in Sumatra 73,000–63,000 years ago. Nature 2017; 548:322-325. [DOI: 10.1038/nature23452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 144] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/29/2017] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Balzeau A, Charlier P. What do cranial bones of LB1 tell us about Homo floresiensis? J Hum Evol 2016; 93:12-24. [PMID: 27086053 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.12.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2014] [Revised: 11/04/2015] [Accepted: 12/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Cranial vault thickness (CVT) of Liang Bua 1, the specimen that is proposed to be the holotype of Homo floresiensis, has not yet been described in detail and compared with samples of fossil hominins, anatomically modern humans or microcephalic skulls. In addition, a complete description from a forensic and pathological point of view has not yet been carried out. It is important to evaluate scientifically if features related to CVT bring new information concerning the possible pathological status of LB1, and if it helps to recognize affinities with any hominin species and particularly if the specimen could belong to the species Homo sapiens. Medical examination of the skull based on a micro-CT examination clearly brings to light the presence of a sincipital T (a non-metrical variant of normal anatomy), a scar from an old frontal trauma without any evident functional consequence, and a severe bilateral hyperostosis frontalis interna that may have modified the anterior morphology of the endocranium of LB1. We also show that LB1 displays characteristics, related to the distribution of bone thickness and arrangements of cranial structures, that are plesiomorphic traits for hominins, at least for Homo erectus s.l. relative to Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. All the microcephalic skulls analyzed here share the derived condition of anatomically modern H. sapiens. Cranial vault thickness does not help to clarify the definition of the species H. floresiensis but it also does not support an attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens. We conclude that there is no support for the attribution of LB1 to H. sapiens as there is no evidence of systemic pathology and because it does not have any of the apomorphic traits of our species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Balzeau
- Équipe de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR 7194 du CNRS, Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France; Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, B-3080 Tervuren, Belgium.
| | - Philippe Charlier
- Section of Medical and Forensic Anthropology, UFR of Health Sciences (UVSQ/Paris-Descartes University, AP-HP), Montigny-Le-Bretonneux, France
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Sutikna T, Tocheri MW, Morwood MJ, Saptomo EW, Jatmiko, Awe RD, Wasisto S, Westaway KE, Aubert M, Li B, Zhao JX, Storey M, Alloway BV, Morley MW, Meijer HJM, van den Bergh GD, Grün R, Dosseto A, Brumm A, Jungers WL, Roberts RG. Revised stratigraphy and chronology for Homo floresiensis at Liang Bua in Indonesia. Nature 2016; 532:366-9. [DOI: 10.1038/nature17179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 206] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2015] [Accepted: 01/28/2016] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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6
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KAIFU YOUSUKE, KONO REIKOT, SUTIKNA THOMAS, SAPTOMO EWAHYU, JATMIKO, AWE ROKUSDUE, BABA HISAO. Descriptions of the dental remains of Homo floresiensis. ANTHROPOL SCI 2015. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.150501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- YOUSUKE KAIFU
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba-shi
- Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo
| | - REIKO T. KONO
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba-shi
| | - THOMAS SUTIKNA
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong
- The National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology, Jakarta
| | - E. WAHYU SAPTOMO
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong
- The National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology, Jakarta
| | - JATMIKO
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong
- The National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology, Jakarta
| | - ROKUS DUE AWE
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong
- The National Research and Development Centre for Archaeology, Jakarta
| | - HISAO BABA
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tsukuba-shi
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A Brief Overview of the Last 10 Years of Major Late Pleistocene Discoveries in the Old World: Homo floresiensis, Neanderthal, and Denisovan. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014. [DOI: 10.1155/2014/581689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
In the last ten years, new fossil, archaeological, and genetic data have significantly altered our understanding of the peopling of the Old World in the Late Pleistocene. Scholars have long been challenged to define humanity’s place in evolution and to trace our phylogeny. Differences in the skeletal morphology of hominin fossils have often led to the naming of distinct new species, but recent genetic findings have challenged the traditional perspective by demonstrating that modern human DNA contains genes inherited from Neanderthals and Denisovans, thus questioning their status as separate species. The recent discovery of Homo floresiensis from Flores Island has also raised interesting queries about how much genetic and morphological diversity was present during the Late Pleistocene. This paper discusses the nature and implications of the evidence with respect to Homo floresiensis, Neanderthals, and Denisovans and briefly reviews major Late Pleistocene discoveries from the last ten years of research in the Old World and their significance to the study of human evolution.
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Is LB1 diseased or modern? A review of the proposed pathologies. Gene 2013; 528:12-20. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2013.06.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2013] [Revised: 06/05/2013] [Accepted: 06/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Orr CM, Tocheri MW, Burnett SE, Awe RD, Saptomo EW, Sutikna T, Jatmiko, Wasisto S, Morwood MJ, Jungers WL. New wrist bones of Homo floresiensis from Liang Bua (Flores, Indonesia). J Hum Evol 2013; 64:109-29. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/20/2012] [Revised: 06/13/2012] [Accepted: 10/19/2012] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Forth G. Are legendary hominoids worth looking for? Views from ethnobiology and palaeoanthropology (Respond to this article at http://www.therai.org.uk/at/debate). ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY 2012. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2012.00861.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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11
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Brown P. LB1 and LB6 Homo floresiensis are not modern human (Homo sapiens) cretins. J Hum Evol 2012; 62:201-24. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.10.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2011] [Revised: 10/09/2011] [Accepted: 10/12/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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12
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Craniofacial morphology of Homo floresiensis: Description, taxonomic affinities, and evolutionary implication. J Hum Evol 2011; 61:644-82. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2011.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2010] [Revised: 08/19/2011] [Accepted: 08/21/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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13
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Jungers WL, Kaifu Y. On dental wear, dental work, and oral health in the type specimen (LB1) of Homo floresiensis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2011; 145:282-9. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2010] [Accepted: 12/28/2010] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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14
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Reich D, Green RE, Kircher M, Krause J, Patterson N, Durand EY, Viola B, Briggs AW, Stenzel U, Johnson PLF, Maricic T, Good JM, Marques-Bonet T, Alkan C, Fu Q, Mallick S, Li H, Meyer M, Eichler EE, Stoneking M, Richards M, Talamo S, Shunkov MV, Derevianko AP, Hublin JJ, Kelso J, Slatkin M, Pääbo S. Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature 2011; 468:1053-60. [PMID: 21179161 DOI: 10.1038/nature09710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 873] [Impact Index Per Article: 67.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2010] [Accepted: 11/30/2010] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
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' and suggest that it may have been widespread in Asia during the Late Pleistocene epoch. A tooth found in Denisova Cave carries a mitochondrial genome highly similar to that of the finger bone. This tooth shares no derived morphological features with Neanderthals or modern humans, further indicating that Denisovans have an evolutionary history distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Reich
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.
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Aiello LC. Five years of Homo floresiensis. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2010; 142:167-79. [PMID: 20229502 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
Since Homo floresiensis was first described in October 2004 there has been a lively debate over its status. Is it a late surviving species of early Homo or merely a modern individual afflicted with disordered growth and one of the many syndromes resulting in microchephaly? Recently the discovery team has published a series of articles providing detailed descriptions of the hominin material, its geomorphological context, and the associated archaeology and faunal material (Morwood and Jungers: J Hum Evol 57 (2009) 437-648). In addition, other researchers have put forward new hypotheses for possible pathologies including Laron's Syndrome and Myxoedematous Endemic (ME) Cretinism. Here I review this new information and conclude that the evidence supports the hypothesis that Homo floresiensis is a late-surviving species of early Homo with its closest morphological affinities to early African pre-erectus/ergaster hominins. Although this hypothesis requires fundamental paradigm changes in our understanding of human evolution, it provides a more economical explanation for H. floresiensis than do the alternatives. None of the current explanations for microcephaly and disordered growth account for the range of features observed in H. floresiensis. Neither do they provide explanations for why a pathological condition in modern humans would mimic so closely the morphology observed in earlier hominins. This conclusion is based on the current evidence for H. floresiensis and on the particular pathological explanations that have appeared in the literature. There is no doubt that controversy over H. floresiensis will continue until new and conclusive evidence is available to settle the debate one way or another.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leslie C Aiello
- Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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Roberts R, Westaway K, Zhao JX, Turney C, Bird M, Rink W, Fifield L. Geochronology of cave deposits at Liang Bua and of adjacent river terraces in the Wae Racang valley, western Flores, Indonesia: a synthesis of age estimates for the type locality of Homo floresiensis. J Hum Evol 2009; 57:484-502. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 11/18/2008] [Accepted: 01/21/2009] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Reconstructing the geomorphic history of Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia: a stratigraphic interpretation of the occupational environment. J Hum Evol 2009; 57:465-83. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 01/09/2009] [Accepted: 01/11/2009] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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18
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Moore M, Sutikna T, Jatmiko, Morwood M, Brumm A. Continuities in stone flaking technology at Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia. J Hum Evol 2009; 57:503-26. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 07/25/2008] [Accepted: 10/14/2008] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Westaway K, Roberts R, Sutikna T, Morwood M, Drysdale R, Zhao JX, Chivas A. The evolving landscape and climate of western Flores: an environmental context for the archaeological site of Liang Bua. J Hum Evol 2009; 57:450-64. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.01.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 01/09/2009] [Accepted: 01/11/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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The Liang Bua faunal remains: a 95k.yr. sequence from Flores, East Indonesia. J Hum Evol 2008; 57:527-37. [PMID: 19058833 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 118] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Revised: 05/27/2008] [Accepted: 08/20/2008] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Excavations at Liang Bua, a limestone cave on the island of Flores, East Indonesia, have yielded a well-dated archaeological and faunal sequence spanning the last 95k.yr., major climatic fluctuations, and two human species -H. floresiensis from 95 to 17k.yr.(1), and modern humans from 11k.yr. to the present. The faunal assemblage comprises well-preserved mammal, bird, reptile and mollusc remains, including examples of island gigantism in small mammals and the dwarfing of large taxa. Together with evidence from Early-Middle Pleistocene sites in the Soa Basin, it confirms the long-term isolation, impoverishment, and phylogenetic continuity of the Flores faunal community. The accumulation of Stegodon and Komodo dragon remains at the site in the Pleistocene is attributed to Homo floresiensis, while predatory birds, including an extinct species of owl, were largely responsible for the accumulation of the small vertebrates. The disappearance from the sequence of the two large-bodied, endemic mammals, Stegodon florensis insularis and Homo floresiensis, was associated with a volcanic eruption at 17 ka and precedes the earliest evidence for modern humans, who initiated use of mollusc and shell working, and began to introduce a range of exotic animals to the island. Faunal introductions during the Holocene included the Sulawesi warty pig (Sus celebensis) at about 7ka, followed by the Eurasian pig (Sus scrofa), Long-tailed macaque, Javanese porcupine, and Masked palm civet at about 4ka, and cattle, deer, and horse - possibly by the Portuguese within historic times. The Holocene sequence at the site also documents local faunal extinctions - a result of accelerating human population growth, habitat loss, and over-exploitation.
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