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Conde-Valverde M, Martínez I, Quam R, Arsuaga JL. The ear of the Sima de los Huesos hominins (Atapuerca, Spain). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024; 307:2410-2424. [PMID: 36825485 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/25/2023]
Abstract
Previous studies on the morphology of the inner ear (semicircular canals and cochlea) in the Sima de los Huesos hominin sample have provided important results on the evolution of these structures in the Neandertal lineage. Similarly, studies of the anatomy of the external and middle ear cavities of the Sima de los Huesos hominins have also provided important data on the auditory capacities of this European Middle Pleistocene population. The present contribution provides unpublished data on three new middle ear variables from the Sima de los Huesos fossils and compares these data with values from samples of Pan troglodytes, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. The results of this analysis are combined with those obtained in previous studies to characterize the anatomy of the outer, middle and inner ear in the Sima de los Huesos fossils, as well as to establish the order of appearance of the features that characterize Neandertal ears. As in other cranial structures, the ear region in the Sima de los Huesos show a mosaic evolutionary pattern that includes primitive traits, others shared exclusively with Neandertals, and others that are specific to the Sima de los Huesos hominins. Neandertals and Sima de los Huesos hominins share two exclusive features of the middle ear that are among the first characteristics of the Neandertal lineage: a long tympanic cavity and a large entrance and exit of the mastoid antrum. Along with these traits, the Sima de los Huesos hominins present two specialized features: large volumes of the tympanic cavity and the mastoid antrum. Finally, the middle ear of the Neandertals is characterized by the presence of small angles between the tympanic axis and the plane of the oval window.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes Conde-Valverde
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), New York, USA
- Centro de Investigación Francisco Javier Muñiz, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Francisco Javier Muñiz, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Rolf Quam
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Alcalá de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), New York, USA
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Martínez I, Conde-Valverde M, Quam R, Arsuaga JL. Fusion of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis as a developmental marker in the Sima de los Huesos Crania (Atapuerca, Spain). Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2024; 307:2425-2436. [PMID: 37909253 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
The basicranium contains multiple synchondroses potentially informative for estimating the developmental stage of individuals. The basilar synchondrosis has been routinely used for this purpose in bioarchaeological, forensic and paleoanthropological research, and studies carried out in modern human populations have shown a close relationship between the fusion of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis and developmental processes. This synchondrosis articulates the jugular process of the occipital bone with the jugular surface of the temporal bone. As the process of fusion of the synchondrosis progresses, the jugular surface undergoes a series of alterations whose study allows to establish the state of fusion of the synchondrosis when the individual died. The extraordinary preservation of the jugular surface in a large number of individuals represented in the fossil hominin sample from the middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos (SH) has made it possible to carry out the first systematic study to assess the usefulness of occipitomastoidal synchondrosis in the establishment of the state of development in fossil hominins. Our results show that the complete closure of the occipitomastoidal synchondrosis occurred toward the end of the growth period in the SH fossils. This result opens up the possibility of using it to determine the developmental stage of fossil hominins for which no other information is available, such as the state of the dentition or the degree of closure of the basilar synchondrosis. This has allowed us to infer a state of development for three SH crania where it could not previously be established with certainty.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ignacio Martínez
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
| | - Mercedes Conde-Valverde
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, New York, USA
| | - Rolf Quam
- Universidad de Alcalá, Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Catedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcala), Alcala de Henares, Spain
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, New York, USA
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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Conde-Valverde M, Martínez I, Quam RM, Rosa M, Velez AD, Lorenzo C, Jarabo P, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Carbonell E, Arsuaga JL. Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar auditory and speech capacities. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:609-615. [PMID: 33649543 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01391-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The study of audition in fossil hominins is of great interest given its relationship with intraspecific vocal communication. While the auditory capacities have been studied in early hominins and in the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins, less is known about the hearing abilities of the Neanderthals. Here, we provide a detailed approach to their auditory capacities. Relying on computerized tomography scans and a comprehensive model from the field of auditory bioengineering, we have established sound power transmission through the outer and middle ear and calculated the occupied bandwidth in Neanderthals. The occupied bandwidth is directly related to the efficiency of the vocal communication system of a species. Our results show that the occupied bandwidth of Neanderthals was greater than the Sima de los Huesos hominins and similar to extant humans, implying that Neanderthals evolved the auditory capacities to support a vocal communication system as efficient as modern human speech.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes Conde-Valverde
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rolf M Quam
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY, USA.,Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Manuel Rosa
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Alex D Velez
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Pilar Jarabo
- Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.,Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
| | - Eudald Carbonell
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.,Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Comunicación, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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