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Fan Y, Fehringer LK, Liao W, Liang H, Wang W, Ungar PS. Dental microwear and diets of mainland fossil Pongo from the Mid-Pleistocene of southern China. J Hum Evol 2024; 193:103565. [PMID: 38964281 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2023] [Revised: 06/07/2024] [Accepted: 06/12/2024] [Indexed: 07/06/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Yaobin Fan
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Leah K Fehringer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
| | - Wei Liao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Hua Liang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China.
| | - Peter S Ungar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA.
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2
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Yi Z, Zanolli C, Liao W, Liang H, Yao Y, Tian C, Wang K, Xu G, Wang W. Enamel thickness in the deciduous postcanine dentition of fossil and extant Pongo. J Hum Evol 2024; 191:103493. [PMID: 38714076 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2024.103493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2023] [Revised: 01/01/2024] [Accepted: 01/02/2024] [Indexed: 05/09/2024]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhixing Yi
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, 530007, China
| | - Clément Zanolli
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33600, Pessac, France
| | - Wei Liao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Hua Liang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Yanyan Yao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; Anthropology Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, 530012, China
| | - Chun Tian
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Kun Wang
- School of Resources and Geosciences, China University of Mining and Technology, Xuzhou, 221116, China
| | - Guilin Xu
- Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Nanning, 530007, China; Key Laboratory of Beibu Gulf Environment Change and Resources Utilization of Ministry of Education, Nanning Normal University, Nanning, 530001, China.
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China.
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3
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Smith TM, Arora M, Austin C, Nunes Ávila J, Duval M, Lim TT, Piper PJ, Vaiglova P, de Vos J, Williams IS, Zhao JX, Green DR. Oxygen isotopes in orangutan teeth reveal recent and ancient climate variation. eLife 2024; 12:RP90217. [PMID: 38457350 PMCID: PMC10942278 DOI: 10.7554/elife.90217] [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] [Indexed: 03/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Studies of climate variation commonly rely on chemical and isotopic changes recorded in sequentially produced growth layers, such as in corals, shells, and tree rings, as well as in accretionary deposits-ice and sediment cores, and speleothems. Oxygen isotopic compositions (δ18O) of tooth enamel are a direct method of reconstructing environmental variation experienced by an individual animal. Here, we utilize long-forming orangutan dentitions (Pongo spp.) to probe recent and ancient rainfall trends on a weekly basis over ~3-11 years per individual. We first demonstrate the lack of any consistent isotopic enrichment effect during exclusive nursing, supporting the use of primate first molar teeth as environmental proxies. Comparisons of δ18O values (n=2016) in twelve molars from six modern Bornean and Sumatran orangutans reveal a high degree of overlap, with more consistent annual and bimodal rainfall patterns in the Sumatran individuals. Comparisons with fossil orangutan δ18O values (n=955 measurements from six molars) reveal similarities between modern and late Pleistocene fossil Sumatran individuals, but differences between modern and late Pleistocene/early Holocene Bornean orangutans. These suggest drier and more open environments with reduced monsoon intensity during this earlier period in northern Borneo, consistent with other Niah Caves studies and long-term speleothem δ18O records in the broader region. This approach can be extended to test hypotheses about the paleoenvironments that early humans encountered in southeast Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tanya M Smith
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
| | - Manish Arora
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
| | - Christine Austin
- Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount SinaiNew YorkUnited States
| | - Janaína Nunes Ávila
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- School of the Environment, The University of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia
| | - Mathieu Duval
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)BurgosSpain
- Palaeoscience Labs, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe UniversityMelbourneAustralia
| | - Tze Tshen Lim
- Department of Geology, Universiti MalayaKuala LumpurMalaysia
| | - Philip J Piper
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralia
| | - Petra Vaiglova
- Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralia
| | - John de Vos
- Department of Geology, Naturalis Biodiversity CenterLeidenNetherlands
| | - Ian S Williams
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National UniversityCanberraAustralia
| | - Jian-xin Zhao
- Radiogenic Isotope Facility, School of the Environment, The University of QueenslandBrisbaneAustralia
| | - Daniel R Green
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversitySouthportAustralia
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard UniversityCambridgeUnited States
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4
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Cepeda AS, Mello B, Pacheco MA, Luo Z, Sullivan SA, Carlton JM, Escalante AA. The Genome of Plasmodium gonderi: Insights into the Evolution of Human Malaria Parasites. Genome Biol Evol 2024; 16:evae027. [PMID: 38376987 PMCID: PMC10901558 DOI: 10.1093/gbe/evae027] [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: 08/30/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Plasmodium species causing malaria in humans are not monophyletic, sharing common ancestors with nonhuman primate parasites. Plasmodium gonderi is one of the few known Plasmodium species infecting African old-world monkeys that are not found in apes. This study reports a de novo assembled P. gonderi genome with complete chromosomes. The P. gonderi genome shares codon usage, syntenic blocks, and other characteristics with the human parasites Plasmodium ovale s.l. and Plasmodium malariae, also of African origin, and the human parasite Plasmodium vivax and species found in nonhuman primates from Southeast Asia. Using phylogenetically aware methods, newly identified syntenic blocks were found enriched with conserved metabolic genes. Regions outside those blocks harbored genes encoding proteins involved in the vertebrate host-Plasmodium relationship undergoing faster evolution. Such genome architecture may have facilitated colonizing vertebrate hosts. Phylogenomic analyses estimated the common ancestor between P. vivax and an African ape parasite P. vivax-like, within the Asian nonhuman primates parasites clade. Time estimates incorporating P. gonderi placed the P. vivax and P. vivax-like common ancestor in the late Pleistocene, a time of active migration of hominids between Africa and Asia. Thus, phylogenomic and time-tree analyses are consistent with an Asian origin for P. vivax and an introduction of P. vivax-like into Africa. Unlike other studies, time estimates for the clade with Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal human malaria parasite, coincide with their host species radiation, African hominids. Overall, the newly assembled genome presented here has the quality to support comparative genomic investigations in Plasmodium.
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Affiliation(s)
- Axl S Cepeda
- Biology Department/Institute of Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM), Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122-1801, USA
| | - Beatriz Mello
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - M Andreína Pacheco
- Biology Department/Institute of Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM), Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122-1801, USA
| | - Zunping Luo
- Center for Genomics & Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Steven A Sullivan
- Center for Genomics & Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Jane M Carlton
- Center for Genomics & Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA
| | - Ananias A Escalante
- Biology Department/Institute of Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine (iGEM), Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122-1801, USA
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5
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Hamilton R, Amano N, Bradshaw CJA, Saltré F, Patalano R, Penny D, Stevenson J, Wolfhagen J, Roberts P. Forest mosaics, not savanna corridors, dominated in Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2311280120. [PMID: 38147645 PMCID: PMC10769823 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2311280120] [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: 07/03/2023] [Accepted: 11/07/2023] [Indexed: 12/28/2023] Open
Abstract
The dominant paradigm is that large tracts of Southeast Asia's lowland rainforests were replaced with a "savanna corridor" during the cooler, more seasonal climates of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (23,000 to 19,000 y ago). This interpretation has implications for understanding the resilience of Asia's tropical forests to projected climate change, implying a vulnerability to "savannization". A savanna corridor is also an important foundation for archaeological interpretations of how humans moved through and settled insular Southeast Asia and Australia. Yet an up-to-date, multiproxy, and empirical examination of the palaeoecological evidence for this corridor is lacking. We conducted qualitative and statistical analyses of 59 palaeoecological records across Southeast Asia to test the evidence for LGM savannization and clarify the relationships between methods, biogeography, and ecological change in the region from the start of Late Glacial Period (119,000 y ago) to the present. The pollen records typically show montane forest persistence during the LGM, while δ13C biomarker proxies indicate the expansion of C4-rich grasslands. We reconcile this discrepancy by hypothesizing the expansion of montane forest in the uplands and replacement of rainforest with seasonally dry tropical forest in the lowlands. We also find that smooth forest transitions between 34,000 and 2,000 y ago point to the capacity of Southeast Asia's ecosystems both to resist and recover from climate stressors, suggesting resilience to savannization. Finally, the timing of ecological change observed in our combined datasets indicates an 'early' onset of the LGM in Southeast Asia from ~30,000 y ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Hamilton
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- School of Geosciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2050, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia
| | - Noel Amano
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
| | - Corey J. A. Bradshaw
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia
- Global Ecology | Partuyarta Ngadluku Wardli Kuu, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA5001, Australia
| | - Frédérik Saltré
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia
- Global Ecology | Partuyarta Ngadluku Wardli Kuu, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA5001, Australia
| | - Robert Patalano
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences, School of Health and Behavioral Sciences, Bryant University, Smithfield, RI02917
| | - Dan Penny
- School of Geosciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW2050, Australia
| | - Janelle Stevenson
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, NSW2522, Australia
- School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT2601, Australia
| | - Jesse Wolfhagen
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, College of Liberal Arts, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN47907
| | - Patrick Roberts
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena07745, Germany
- School of Archaeology, University of the Philippines, Quezon City1101, The Philippines
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6
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Zhang Y, Westaway KE, Haberle S, Lubeek JK, Bailey M, Ciochon R, Morley MW, Roberts P, Zhao JX, Duval M, Dosseto A, Pan Y, Rule S, Liao W, Gully GA, Lucas M, Mo J, Yang L, Cai Y, Wang W, Joannes-Boyau R. The demise of the giant ape Gigantopithecus blacki. Nature 2024; 625:535-539. [PMID: 38200315 PMCID: PMC10794149 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06900-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024]
Abstract
The largest ever primate and one of the largest of the southeast Asian megafauna, Gigantopithecus blacki1, persisted in China from about 2.0 million years until the late middle Pleistocene when it became extinct2-4. Its demise is enigmatic considering that it was one of the few Asian great apes to go extinct in the last 2.6 million years, whereas others, including orangutan, survived until the present5. The cause of the disappearance of G. blacki remains unresolved but could shed light on primate resilience and the fate of megafauna in this region6. Here we applied three multidisciplinary analyses-timing, past environments and behaviour-to 22 caves in southern China. We used 157 radiometric ages from six dating techniques to establish a timeline for the demise of G. blacki. We show that from 2.3 million years ago the environment was a mosaic of forests and grasses, providing ideal conditions for thriving G. blacki populations. However, just before and during the extinction window between 295,000 and 215,000 years ago there was enhanced environmental variability from increased seasonality, which caused changes in plant communities and an increase in open forest environments. Although its close relative Pongo weidenreichi managed to adapt its dietary preferences and behaviour to this variability, G. blacki showed signs of chronic stress and dwindling populations. Ultimately its struggle to adapt led to the extinction of the greatest primate to ever inhabit the Earth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Kira E Westaway
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Simon Haberle
- School of Culture, History and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Juliën K Lubeek
- School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Marian Bailey
- GARG, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Russell Ciochon
- Department of Anthropology and Museum of Natural History, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
| | - Mike W Morley
- College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Patrick Roberts
- isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Jian-Xin Zhao
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Mathieu Duval
- National Research Centre on Human Evolution CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - Anthony Dosseto
- Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yue Pan
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Sue Rule
- School of Culture, History and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Wei Liao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Grant A Gully
- College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Mary Lucas
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
| | - Jinyou Mo
- Natural History Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, China
| | - Liyun Yang
- Chongzuo Zhuang Ethnological Musuem, Chongzuo, China
| | - Yanjun Cai
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- GARG, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia.
- Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
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7
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Foister TIF, Žliobaitė I, Wilson OE, Fortelius M, Tallavaara M. Homo heterogenus: Variability in early Pleistocene Homo environments. Evol Anthropol 2023; 32:373-385. [PMID: 37877200 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22005] [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: 07/08/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
To understand the ecological dominance of Homo sapiens, we need to investigate the origins of the plasticity that has enabled our colonization of the planet. We can approach this by exploring the variability of habitats to which different hominin populations have adapted over time. In this article, we draw upon and synthesize the current research on habitats of genus Homo during the early Pleistocene. We examined 121 published environmental reconstructions from 74 early Pleistocene sites or site phases to assess the balance of arguments in the research community. We found that, while grasslands and savannahs were prominent features of Homo habitats in the early Pleistocene, current research does not place early Pleistocene Homo, in any single environmental type, but in a wide variety of environments, ranging from open grasslands to forests. Our analysis also suggests that the first known dispersal of Homo out of Africa was accompanied by niche expansion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tegan I F Foister
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Indrė Žliobaitė
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Computer Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, LUOMUS, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Oscar E Wilson
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Mikael Fortelius
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Finnish Museum of Natural History, LUOMUS, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Miikka Tallavaara
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
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8
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Teng SN, Svenning JC, Xu C. Large mammals and trees in eastern monsoonal China: anthropogenic losses since the Late Pleistocene and restoration prospects in the Anthropocene. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2023; 98:1607-1632. [PMID: 37102332 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12968] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2022] [Revised: 04/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/28/2023]
Abstract
Massive human-induced declines of large-sized animals and trees (megabiota) from the Late Pleistocene to the Anthropocene have resulted in downsized ecosystems across the globe, in which components and functions have been greatly simplified. In response, active restoration projects of extant large-sized species or functional substitutes are needed at large scales to promote ecological processes that are important for ecosystem self-regulation and biodiversity maintenance. Despite the desired global scope of such projects, they have received little attention in East Asia. Here, we synthesise the biogeographical and ecological knowledge of megabiota in ancient and modern China, with relevant data mostly located in eastern monsoonal China (EMC), aiming to assess its potential for restoring functionally intact ecosystems modulated by megabiota. We found that during the Late Pleistocene, 12 mammalian megafaunal (carnivores ≥15 kg and herbivores ≥500 kg) species disappeared from EMC: one carnivore Crocuta ultima (East Asian spotted hyena) and 11 herbivores including six megaherbivores (≥1000 kg). The relative importance of climate change and humans in driving these losses remains debated, despite accumulating evidence in favour of the latter. Later massive depletion of megafauna and large-sized (45-500 kg) herbivores has been closely associated with agricultural expansion and societal development, especially during the late Holocene. While forests rich in large timber trees (33 taxa in written records) were common in the region 2000-3000 years ago, millennial-long logging has resulted in considerable range contractions and at least 39 threatened species. The wide distribution of C. ultima, which likely favoured open or semi-open habitats (like extant spotted hyenas), suggests the existence of mosaic open and closed vegetation in the Late Pleistocene across EMC, in line with a few pollen-based vegetation reconstructions and potentially, or at least partially, reflecting herbivory by herbivorous megafauna. The widespread loss of megaherbivores may have strongly compromised seed dispersal for both megafruit (fleshy fruits with widths ≥40 mm) and non-megafruit plant species in EMC, especially in terms of extra-long-distance (>10 km) dispersal, which is critical for plant species that rely on effective biotic agents to track rapid climate change. The former occurrence of large mammals and trees have translated into rich material and non-material heritages passed down across generations. Several reintroduction projects have been implemented or are under consideration, with the case of Elaphurus davidianus a notable success in recovering wild populations in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, although trophic interactions with native carnivorous megafauna have not yet been restored. Lessons of dealing with human-wildlife conflicts are key to public support for maintaining landscapes shared with megafauna and large herbivores in the human-dominated Anthropocene. Meanwhile, potential human-wildlife conflicts, e.g. public health risks, need to be scientifically informed and effectively reduced. The Chinese government's strong commitment to improved policies of ecological protection and restoration (e.g. ecological redlines and national parks) provides a solid foundation for a scaling-up contribution to the global scope needed for solving the crisis of biotic downsizing and ecosystem degradation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuqing N Teng
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere (ECONOVO) & Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, 8000, Denmark
| | - Chi Xu
- School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China
- Key Laboratory of Restoration and Reconstruction of Degraded Ecosystems in northwestern China of Ministry of Education, Ningxia University, Yinchuan, 750021, China
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9
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Bacon AM, Bourgon N, Dufour E, Demeter F, Zanolli C, Westaway KE, Joannes-Boyau R, Duringer P, Ponche JL, Morley MW, Suzzoni E, Frangeul S, Boesch Q, Antoine PO, Boualaphane S, Sichanthongtip P, Sihanam D, Huong NTM, Tuan NA, Fiorillo D, Tombret O, Patole-Edoumba E, Zachwieja A, Luangkhoth T, Souksavatdy V, Dunn TE, Shackelford L, Hublin JJ. Palaeoenvironments and hominin evolutionary dynamics in southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2023; 13:16165. [PMID: 37758744 PMCID: PMC10533506 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-43011-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2023] [Accepted: 09/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Secure environmental contexts are crucial for hominin interpretation and comparison. The discovery of a Denisovan individual and associated fauna at Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra) Cave, Laos, dating back to 164-131 ka, allows for environmental comparisons between this (sub)tropical site and the Palearctic Denisovan sites of Denisova Cave (Russia) and Baishiya Karst Cave (China). Denisovans from northern latitudes foraged in a mix of forested and open landscapes, including tundra and steppe. Using stable isotope values from the Cobra Cave assemblage, we demonstrate that, despite the presence of nearby canopy forests, the Denisovan individual from Cobra Cave primarily consumed plants and/or animals from open forests and savannah. Using faunal evidence and proxy indicators of climates, results herein highlight a local expansion of rainforest at ~ 130 ka, raising questions about how Denisovans responded to this local climate change. Comparing the diet and habitat of the archaic hominin from Cobra Cave with those of early Homo sapiens from Tam Pà Ling Cave (46-43 ka), Laos, it appears that only our species was able to exploit rainforest resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marie Bacon
- Université Paris Cité, CNRS, BABEL UMR 8045, 75012, Paris, France.
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- IsoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, 07745, Jena, Germany
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elise Dufour
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique, Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Eco-anthropologie (EA), MNHN, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Musée de l'Homme, 75016, Paris, France
| | - Clément Zanolli
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, 33600, Pessac, France
| | - Kira E Westaway
- 'Traps' Luminescence Dating Facility, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group (GARG), Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, Australia
| | - Philippe Duringer
- Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Jean-Luc Ponche
- Laboratoire Image, Ville Environnement, UMR 7362 UdS CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Mike W Morley
- Flinders Microarchaeology Laboratory, Archaeology, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, Adelaide, SA, 5042, Australia
| | - Eric Suzzoni
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle en Vercors, France
| | - Sébastien Frangeul
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle en Vercors, France
| | - Quentin Boesch
- Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg, UMR 7516 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Pierre-Olivier Antoine
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier, Univ Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | | | | | - Daovee Sihanam
- Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao PDR
| | | | | | - Denis Fiorillo
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique, Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique, Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, MNHN, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Elise Patole-Edoumba
- Muséum d'histoire naturelle de La Rochelle, UMRU 24140 Dynamiques, interactions, interculturalité asiatiques (UBM, LRUniv), La Rochelle, France
| | - Alexandra Zachwieja
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School Duluth, Duluth, USA
| | | | | | - Tyler E Dunn
- Anatomical Sciences Education Center, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Laura Shackelford
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
- Carle Illinois College of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
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10
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Liang H, Harrison T, Shao Q, Bahain JJ, Zhao J, Bae CJ, Liao W, Wang W. Middle Pleistocene Pongo from Ganxian Cave in southern China with implications for understanding dental size evolution in orangutans. J Hum Evol 2023; 178:103348. [PMID: 36966597 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2022] [Revised: 02/24/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/03/2023]
Abstract
The Pongo fossil record of China extends from the Early Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, but to date, no late Middle Pleistocene samples of Pongo with precise absolute dating have been identified in southern China. Here, we report the recovery of 106 fossil teeth of Pongo from Ganxian Cave in the Bubing Basin, Guangxi, southern China. We dated the speleothems using Uranium-series and dated the two rhinoceros teeth using coupled electron spin resonance/Uranium-series dating methods to between 168.9 ± 2.4 ka and 362 ± 78 ka, respectively. These dates are consistent with the biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic age estimates. We further describe the fossil teeth from Ganxian Cave and compare them metrically to samples of fossil Pongo (i.e., Pongo weidenreichi, Pongo duboisi, Pongo palaeosumatrensis, Pongo javensis, and Pongo sp.) from the Early, Middle, and Late Pleistocene and to extant Pongo (i.e., Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) from Southeast Asia. Based on overall dental size, a high frequency of lingual cingulum remnants on the upper molars, and a low frequency of moderate to heavy wrinkling on the molars, we attribute the Ganxian fossils to P. weidenreichi. Compared with Pongo fossils from other mainland Southeast Asia sites, those from Ganxian confirm that dental size reduction of Pongo occurred principally during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. From the Middle to Late Pleistocene, all teeth except the P3 show little change in occlusal area, indicating that the size of these teeth remained relatively stable over time. The evolutionary trajectory of the Pongo dentition through time may be more complex than previously thought. More orangutan fossils with precise dating constraints are the keys to solving this issue.
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11
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Leichliter JN, Lüdecke T, Foreman AD, Bourgon N, Duprey NN, Vonhof H, Souksavatdy V, Bacon AM, Sigman DM, Tütken T, Martínez-García A. Tooth enamel nitrogen isotope composition records trophic position: a tool for reconstructing food webs. Commun Biol 2023; 6:373. [PMID: 37029186 PMCID: PMC10082005 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04744-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen isotopes are widely used to study the trophic position of animals in modern food webs; however, their application in the fossil record is severely limited by degradation of organic material during fossilization. In this study, we show that the nitrogen isotope composition of organic matter preserved in mammalian tooth enamel (δ15Nenamel) records diet and trophic position. The δ15Nenamel of modern African mammals shows a 3.7‰ increase between herbivores and carnivores as expected from trophic enrichment, and there is a strong positive correlation between δ15Nenamel and δ15Nbone-collagen values from the same individuals. Additionally, δ15Nenamel values of Late Pleistocene fossil teeth preserve diet and trophic level information, despite complete diagenetic loss of collagen in the same specimens. We demonstrate that δ15Nenamel represents a powerful geochemical proxy for diet that is applicable to fossils and can help delineate major dietary transitions in ancient vertebrate lineages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer N Leichliter
- Organic Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
- Institute of Geosciences, Department of Applied and Analytical Paleontology, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
| | - Tina Lüdecke
- Organic Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
- Emmy Noether Group for Hominin Meat Consumption, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany.
- Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre, 60325, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Alan D Foreman
- Organic Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nicolas N Duprey
- Organic Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Hubert Vonhof
- Inorganic Gas Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Viengkeo Souksavatdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, 0100 Setthathirath Road, Vientiane Capital, Lao People's Democratic Republic
| | | | - Daniel M Sigman
- Department of Geosciences, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
| | - Thomas Tütken
- Institute of Geosciences, Department of Applied and Analytical Paleontology, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55128, Mainz, Germany
| | - Alfredo Martínez-García
- Organic Isotope Geochemistry Group, Climate Geochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, 55128, Mainz, Germany
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12
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Husson L, Salles T, Lebatard AE, Zerathe S, Braucher R, Noerwidi S, Aribowo S, Mallard C, Carcaillet J, Natawidjaja DH, Bourlès D, Bourlès D, Keddadouche K. Javanese Homo erectus on the move in SE Asia circa 1.8 Ma. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19012. [PMID: 36347897 PMCID: PMC9643487 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-23206-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2022] [Accepted: 10/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The migration of Homo erectus in Southeast Asia during Early Pleistocene is cardinal to our comprehension of the evolution of the genus Homo. However, the limited consideration of the rapidly changing physical environment, together with controversial datings of hominin bearing sites, make it challenging to secure the robust timeline needed to unveil the behavior of early humans. Here, we reappraise the first appearance datum of Javanese H. erectus by adding the most reliable age constraints based on cosmogenic nuclides [Formula: see text]Be and [Formula: see text]Al produced in situ to a compilation of earlier estimates. We find that H. erectus reached Java and dwelled at Sangiran, Java, ca. 1.8 Ma. Using this age as a baseline, we develop a probabilistic approach to reconstruct their dispersal routes, coupling ecological movement simulations to landscape evolution models forced by reconstructed geodynamic and climatic histories. We demonstrate that the hospitable terra firma conditions of Sundaland facilitated the prior dispersal of hominins to the edge of Java, where they conversely could not settle until the Javanese archipelago emerged from the sea and connected to Sundaland. The dispersal of H. erectus across Sundaland occurred over at least tens to hundreds kyr, a time scale over which changes in their physical environment, whether climatic or physiographic, may have become primary forcings on their behavior. Our comprehensive reconstruction method to unravel the peopling timeline of SE Asia provides a novel framework to evaluate the evolution of early humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurent Husson
- grid.450307.50000 0001 0944 2786ISTerre, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Tristan Salles
- grid.1013.30000 0004 1936 834XSchool of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Anne-Elisabeth Lebatard
- grid.5399.60000 0001 2176 4817CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université CNRS-IRD-Collège de France-INRAE, Technopôle de l’Environnement Arbois-Méditerrannée, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Swann Zerathe
- grid.450307.50000 0001 0944 2786ISTerre, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Régis Braucher
- grid.5399.60000 0001 2176 4817CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université CNRS-IRD-Collège de France-INRAE, Technopôle de l’Environnement Arbois-Méditerrannée, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Sofwan Noerwidi
- Research Center for Archaeometry, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - Sonny Aribowo
- grid.450307.50000 0001 0944 2786ISTerre, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France ,Research Center for Geological Disasters, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Bandung, Indonesia
| | - Claire Mallard
- grid.1013.30000 0004 1936 834XSchool of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
| | - Julien Carcaillet
- grid.450307.50000 0001 0944 2786ISTerre, CNRS, IRD, Univ. Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Danny H. Natawidjaja
- Research Center for Geological Disasters, National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Bandung, Indonesia
| | - Didier Bourlès
- grid.5399.60000 0001 2176 4817CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université CNRS-IRD-Collège de France-INRAE, Technopôle de l’Environnement Arbois-Méditerrannée, 13545 Aix-en-Provence, France
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13
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Amir Z, Moore JH, Negret PJ, Luskin MS. Megafauna extinctions produce idiosyncratic Anthropocene assemblages. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2022; 8:eabq2307. [PMID: 36269822 PMCID: PMC9586473 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abq2307] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The "trophic downgrading of planet Earth" refers to the systematic decline of the world's largest vertebrates. However, our understanding of why megafauna extinction risk varies through time and the importance of site- or species-specific factors remain unclear. Here, we unravel the unexpected variability in remaining terrestrial megafauna assemblages across 10 Southeast Asian tropical forests. Consistent with global trends, every landscape experienced Holocene and/or Anthropocene megafauna extirpations, and the four most disturbed landscapes experienced 2.5 times more extirpations than the six least disturbed landscapes. However, there were no consistent size- or guild-related trends, no two tropical forests had identical assemblages, and the abundance of four species showed positive relationships with forest degradation and humans. Our results suggest that the region's megafauna assemblages are the product of a convoluted geoclimatic legacy interacting with modern disturbances and that some megafauna may persist in degraded tropical forests near settlements with sufficient poaching controls.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Amir
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Jonathan H. Moore
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Pablo Jose Negret
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
| | - Matthew Scott Luskin
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
- Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia
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14
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Two Late Pleistocene human femora from Trinil, Indonesia: Implications for body size and behavior in Southeast Asia. J Hum Evol 2022; 172:103252. [PMID: 36162353 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103252] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2022] [Revised: 08/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Late Pleistocene hominin postcranial specimens from Southeast Asia are relatively rare. Here we describe and place into temporal and geographic context two partial femora from the site of Trinil, Indonesia, which are dated stratigraphically and via Uranium-series direct dating to ca. 37-32 ka. The specimens, designated Trinil 9 and 10, include most of the diaphysis, with Trinil 9 being much better preserved. Microcomputed tomography is used to determine cross-sectional diaphyseal properties, with an emphasis on midshaft anteroposterior to mediolateral bending rigidity (Ix/Iy), which has been shown to relate to both body shape and activity level in modern humans. The body mass of Trinil 9 is estimated from cortical area and reconstructed length using new equations based on a Pleistocene reference sample. Comparisons are carried out with a large sample of Pleistocene and Holocene East Asian, African, and European/West Asian femora. Our results show that Trinil 9 has a high Ix/Iy ratio, most consistent with a relatively narrow-bodied male from a mobile hunting-gathering population. It has an estimated body mass of 55.4 kg and a stature of 156 cm, which are small relative to Late Pleistocene males worldwide, but larger than the penecontemporaneous Deep Skull femur from Niah Cave, Malaysia, which is very likely female. This suggests the presence of small-bodied active hunter-gatherers in Southeast Asia during the later Late Pleistocene. Trinil 9 also contrasts strongly in morphology with earlier partial femora from Trinil dating to the late Early-early Middle Pleistocene (Femora II-V), and to a lesser extent with the well-known complete Femur I, most likely dating to the terminal Middle-early Late Pleistocene. Temporal changes in morphology among femoral specimens from Trinil parallel those observed in Homo throughout the Old World during the Pleistocene and document these differences within a single site.
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15
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Isarankura Na Ayudhya J, Merceron G, Wannaprasert T, Jaeger JJ, Chaimanee Y, Shoocongdej R, Suraprasit K. Dental mesowear and microwear for the dietary reconstruction of Quaternary Southeast Asian serows and gorals. Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.1000168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Serows and gorals (Bovidae, Caprinae) are emblematic antelopes distributed in Southeast Asia. They all are nearly threaten or vulnerable species nowadays despite having a more widespread distribution during the Pleistocene. Fossils of three native caprine species, i.e., a Sumatran serow Capricornis sumatraensis, Chinese goral Naemorhedus griseus, and Himalayan goral Naemorhedus goral, were recovered from four Pleistocene paleontological and archeological sites in Thailand, namely Pha Bong, Khok Sung, Tham Wiman Nakin, and Tham Lod Rockshelter. To investigate dietary changes of these Southeast Asian serows and gorals through the Quaternary, differences in feeding habits and habitat preferences between the Pleistocene and extant populations were examined using the hypsodonty index (HI) together with the mesowear II method and the dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA). The HI and mesowear-II results showed that Pleistocene and extant caprines were mixed feeders. For the Pleistocene caprine populations, the DMTA results suggested more browsing signals for C. sumatraensis than both Naemorhedus species that were mixed feeders similar to their extant populations. The DMTA demonstrated a considerable dietary overlap among the Pleistocene sympatric caprine populations. The dental microwear results also revealed that the extant C. sumatraensis is a leaf-dominant browser, while the extant N. griseus possibly feeds on seeds or tough food items. These data combined with previous stable carbon isotope analyses reinforce the idea that the restricted ranges of habitats for these extant serow and goral populations have possibly been driven by the Holocene climatic and environmental changes as well as the negative effects of human activities.
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16
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Liao W, Harrison T, Yao Y, Liang H, Tian C, Feng Y, Li S, Bae CJ, Wang W. Evidence for the latest fossil Pongo in southern China. J Hum Evol 2022; 170:103233. [PMID: 36030625 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Revised: 06/30/2022] [Accepted: 07/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Pongo fossils with precise absolute age brackets are rare, limiting our understanding of their taxonomy and spatiotemporal distribution in southern China during the Late Pleistocene. Twenty-four isolated teeth of fossil orangutans were recently discovered during excavations at Yicun Cave in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. Here, we dated the fossil-bearing layer using Uranium-series dating of the associated flowstone and soda straw stalactites. Our results date the Yicun orangutan fossils to between 66 ± 0.32 ka and 57 ± 0.26 ka; thus, these fossils currently represent the last appearance datum of Pongo in southern China. We further conducted a detailed morphological comparison of the Yicun fossil teeth with large samples of fossil (n = 2454) and extant (n = 441) orangutans from mainland and island Southeast Asia to determine their taxonomic position. Compared to other fossil and extant orangutan samples, the Yicun Pongo assemblage has larger teeth and displays greater variation in occlusal structure. Based on the high frequency of cingular remnants and light to moderate enamel wrinkling of the molars, we assigned the Yicun fossils to Pongo weidenreichi, a species that was widespread in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. Lastly, we used published stable carbon isotope data of Early to Late Pleistocene mammalian fossil teeth from mainland Southeast Asia to reconstruct changes in the paleoenvironment and to interpret dental size variation of Pongo assemblages in a broader temporal and environmental context. The carbon isotope data show that dental size reduction in Pongo is associated with environmental changes. These morphological changes in Pongo appear to coincide with the expansion of savannah biomes and the contraction of forest habitats from the Middle Pleistocene onward. The variation in dental size of forest-dwelling Pongo in mainland Southeast Asia may have resulted from habitat differentiation during the Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wei Liao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Terry Harrison
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA
| | - Yanyan Yao
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China; Anthropology Museum of Guangxi, Nanning, 530012, China
| | - Hua Liang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Chun Tian
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Yuexing Feng
- Radiogenic Isotope Facility, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Sheng Li
- No.3 Institute of Geological & Mineral Resources Survey of Henan Geological Bureau, Zhengzhou 450000, China
| | - Christopher J Bae
- Department of Anthropology, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2424 Maile Way, 346 Saunders Hall, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA.
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, 72 Jimo-Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, China.
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17
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Habinger SG, Chavasseau O, Jaeger JJ, Chaimanee Y, Soe AN, Sein C, Bocherens H. Evolutionary ecology of Miocene hominoid primates in Southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2022; 12:11841. [PMID: 35821257 PMCID: PMC9276763 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15574-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The evolutionary history and palaeoecology of orangutans remains poorly understood until today. The restricted geographic distribution of extant Pongo indicates specific ecological needs. However, it is not clear whether these needs were shared by the great diversity of fossil pongines known from the Miocene to the Pleistocene. Here we show how niche modelling of stable carbon and oxygen isotope data of the carbonate fraction of dental enamel can be used to reconstruct the paleoecology of fossil and modern pongines and associated mammal communities. We focus on Khoratpithecus ayeyarwadyensis, a Late Miocene pongine from Myanmar and the sister clade to extant orangutans, and compare it to its associated mammal fauna and other fossil and extant pongines. The results are consistent with a vertical position high up in the canopy of a forested habitat with purely C3 vegetation for K. ayeyarwadyensis as well as the contemporaneous Sivapithecus. Although their positions in the modelled isotopic niche space look similar to the ecological niche occupied by modern Pongo, a comparison of the modelled niches within the pongine clade revealed possible differences in the use of microhabitats by the Miocene apes.
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Affiliation(s)
- S G Habinger
- Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. .,Laboratoire PALEVOPRIM, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France.
| | - O Chavasseau
- Laboratoire PALEVOPRIM, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - J-J Jaeger
- Laboratoire PALEVOPRIM, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Y Chaimanee
- Laboratoire PALEVOPRIM, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - A N Soe
- Mandalay University of Distance Education, Mandalay, Myanmar
| | - C Sein
- Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education, Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar
| | - H Bocherens
- Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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18
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Scerri EML, Roberts P, Yoshi Maezumi S, Malhi Y. Tropical forests in the deep human past. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200500. [PMID: 35249383 PMCID: PMC8899628 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0500] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Since Darwin, studies of human evolution have tended to give primacy to open 'savannah' environments as the ecological cradle of our lineage, with dense tropical forests cast as hostile, unfavourable frontiers. These perceptions continue to shape both the geographical context of fieldwork as well as dominant narratives concerning hominin evolution. This paradigm persists despite new, ground-breaking research highlighting the role of tropical forests in the human story. For example, novel research in Africa's rainforests has uncovered archaeological sites dating back into the Pleistocene; genetic studies have revealed very deep human roots in Central and West Africa and in the tropics of Asia and the Pacific; an unprecedented number of coexistent hominin species have now been documented, including Homo erectus, the 'Hobbit' (Homo floresiensis), Homo luzonensis, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest members of our own species to reach South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and the tropical Americas have shown an unexpected rapidity in their adaptation to even some of the more 'extreme' tropical settings. This includes the early human manipulation of species and even habitats. This volume builds on these currently disparate threads and, for the first time, draws together a group of interdisciplinary, agenda-setting papers that firmly places a broader spectrum of tropical environments at the heart of the deep human past. This article is part of the theme issue 'Tropical forests in the deep human past'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, Malta.,Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50931 Cologne, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany.,School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - S Yoshi Maezumi
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, 1098 XH Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yadvinder Malhi
- Environmental Change Institute, School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK
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19
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Louys J, Duval M, Price GJ, Westaway K, Zaim Y, Rizal Y, Aswan, Puspaningrum M, Trihascaryo A, Breitenbach SFM, Kwiecien O, Cai Y, Higgins P, Albers PCH, de Vos J, Roberts P. Speleological and environmental history of Lida Ajer cave, western Sumatra. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200494. [PMID: 35249388 PMCID: PMC8922409 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Some of the earliest evidence for the presence of modern humans in rainforests has come from the fossil deposits of Lida Ajer in Sumatra. Two human teeth from this cave were estimated to be 73–63 thousand years old, which is significantly older than some estimates of modern human migration out of Africa based on genetic data. The deposits were interpreted as being associated with a rainforest environment based largely on the presence of abundant orangutan fossils. As well as the main fossil-bearing chamber, fossil-bearing passages are present below a sinkhole, although the relationship between the different fossil deposits has only been tenuously established. Here, we provide significant new sedimentological, geochronological and palaeoecological data aimed at reconstructing the speleological and environmental history of the cave and the clastic and fossil deposits therein. Our data suggest that the Lida Ajer fossils were deposited during Marine Isotope Stage 4, with fossils from the lower passages older than the main fossil chamber. Our use of stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of mammalian tooth enamel demonstrates that early humans probably occupied a closed-canopy forest very similar to those present in the region today, although the fossil orangutans may have occupied a slightly different niche. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Louys
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane 4111 Australia
| | - Mathieu Duval
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane 4111 Australia.,Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos 09002, Spain
| | - Gilbert J Price
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Kira Westaway
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Yahdi Zaim
- Geology Study Program, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jawa Barat 40132, Indonesia
| | - Yan Rizal
- Geology Study Program, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jawa Barat 40132, Indonesia
| | - Aswan
- Geology Study Program, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jawa Barat 40132, Indonesia
| | - Mika Puspaningrum
- Geology Study Program, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jawa Barat 40132, Indonesia
| | - Agus Trihascaryo
- Geology Study Program, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Jawa Barat 40132, Indonesia
| | | | - Ola Kwiecien
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Yanjun Cai
- Institute of Global Environmental Change, Xi'an Jiaotong University, People's Republic of China
| | - Penny Higgins
- EPOCH Isotopes, 6606 E Townline Road, Williamson, NY 14589, USA
| | | | - John de Vos
- Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Patrick Roberts
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072, Brisbane, Australia.,Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany
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20
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A Review of Human-Elephant Ecological Relations in the Malay Peninsula: Adaptations for Coexistence. DIVERSITY 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/d14010036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the relationship between humans and elephants is of particular interest for reducing conflict and encouraging coexistence. This paper reviews the ecological relationship between humans and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the rainforests of the Malay Peninsula, examining the extent of differentiation of spatio-temporal and trophic niches. We highlight the strategies that people and elephants use to partition an overlapping fundamental niche. When elephants are present, forest-dwelling people often build above-the-ground shelters; and when people are present, elephants avoid open areas during the day. People are able to access several foods that are out of reach of elephants or inedible; for example, people use water to leach poisons from tubers of wild yams, use blowpipes to kill arboreal game, and climb trees to access honey. We discuss how the transition to agriculture affected the human–elephant relationship by increasing the potential for competition. We conclude that the traditional foraging cultures of the Malay Peninsula are compatible with wildlife conservation.
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21
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Harrison T, Zhang Y, Yang L, Yuan Z. Evolutionary trend in dental size in fossil orangutans from the Pleistocene of Chongzuo, Guangxi, southern China. J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103090. [PMID: 34781087 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/28/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
More than 800 isolated teeth of fossil Pongo have been recovered from cave sites in the vicinity of Chongzuo in Guangxi, southern China, ranging from the Early to Late Pleistocene (2.0-0.1 Ma). These collections provide a unique regional window into the evolutionary history of orangutans over a two-million-year period at the northernmost extent of their former geographic range. Here we investigate the nature and timing of the evolutionary change in the dental size of fossil orangutans from Chongzuo. Fossil tooth size (mesiodistal length∗buccolingual breadth) was compared against an extant Pongo pygmaeus standard (n = 106 individuals). During the course of the Pleistocene, orangutans from southern China exhibited a progressive reduction in overall dental size. Early Pleistocene Pongo has cheek teeth with occlusal areas that are 38.1% larger than those of extant P. pygmaeus. Those from the Middle and Late Pleistocene are 25.2% and 18.9% larger, respectively. Previously, the size difference in dentition between the Early to Middle Pleistocene and Middle to Late Pleistocene samples was used to differentiate time-successive species of Pongo, namely Pongo weidenreichi and Pongo devosi. However, with access to larger samples and better representation of populations through time, the evidence in support of this taxonomic arrangement requires reconsideration. Diminution of the teeth now appears to be a gradual evolutionary transformation rather than a punctuated event. Moreover, the morphological features that distinguish the Chongzuo fossil orangutans from extant Pongo spp. remain uniform throughout the Pleistocene. Retaining P. weidenreichi and P. devosi as anagenetic species remains an option, but, given the current evidence, we consider it preferable to assign all of the fossil orangutans from Chongzuo to P. weidenreichi. Beyond resolving questions of alpha taxonomy, the study of fossil orangutan dental size provides a basis for estimating body mass, which has implications for interpreting the paleobiology of Pleistocene Pongo in southern China.
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Affiliation(s)
- Terry Harrison
- Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Yingqi Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, People's Republic of China; CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, People's Republic of China
| | - Liyun Yang
- Zhuang Ethnological Museum of Chongzuo, Chongzuo, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
| | - Zengjian Yuan
- Zhuang Ethnological Museum of Chongzuo, Chongzuo, Guangxi, People's Republic of China
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22
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Bacon AM, Bourgon N, Welker F, Cappellini E, Fiorillo D, Tombret O, Thi Mai Huong N, Anh Tuan N, Sayavonkhamdy T, Souksavatdy V, Sichanthongtip P, Antoine PO, Duringer P, Ponche JL, Westaway K, Joannes-Boyau R, Boesch Q, Suzzoni E, Frangeul S, Patole-Edoumba E, Zachwieja A, Shackelford L, Demeter F, Hublin JJ, Dufour É. A multi-proxy approach to exploring Homo sapiens' arrival, environments and adaptations in Southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:21080. [PMID: 34702921 PMCID: PMC8548499 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-99931-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/05/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The capability of Pleistocene hominins to successfully adapt to different types of tropical forested environments has long been debated. In order to investigate environmental changes in Southeast Asia during a critical period for the turnover of hominin species, we analysed palaeoenvironmental proxies from five late Middle to Late Pleistocene faunas. Human teeth discoveries have been reported at Duoi U'Oi, Vietnam (70-60 ka) and Nam Lot, Laos (86-72 ka). However, the use of palaeoproteomics allowed us to discard the latter, and, to date, no human remains older than ~ 70 ka are documented in the area. Our findings indicate that tropical rainforests were highly sensitive to climatic changes over that period, with significant fluctuations of the canopy forests. Locally, large-bodied faunas were resilient to these fluctuations until the cooling period of the Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4; 74-59 ka) that transformed the overall biotope. Then, under strong selective pressures, populations with new phenotypic characteristics emerged while some other species disappeared. We argue that this climate-driven shift offered new foraging opportunities for hominins in a novel rainforest environment and was most likely a key factor in the settlement and dispersal of our species during MIS 4 in SE Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne-Marie Bacon
- grid.508487.60000 0004 7885 7602UMR 8045 BABEL, CNRS, Université de Paris, Faculté de Chirurgie dentaire, 1 rue Maurice Arnoux, 92120 Montrouge, France
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany ,grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Applied and Analytical Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Frido Welker
- grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XSection for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Enrico Cappellini
- grid.5254.60000 0001 0674 042XSection for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Denis Fiorillo
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Olivier Tombret
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Nguyen Thi Mai Huong
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department, Institute of Archaeology, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Anh Tuan
- Anthropological and Palaeoenvironmental Department, Institute of Archaeology, Hoan Kiem District, Ha Noi, Vietnam
| | - Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Laos
| | - Viengkeo Souksavatdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Laos
| | | | - Pierre-Olivier Antoine
- grid.121334.60000 0001 2097 0141Institut des Sciences de l’Évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Philippe Duringer
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST Géologie), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS) (CNRS/UMR 7516), Institut de Géologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Jean-Luc Ponche
- grid.463965.b0000 0004 0452 6077UMR 7362 Laboratoire Image Ville et Environnement, Institut de Géologie, Strasbourg, France
| | - Kira Westaway
- grid.1004.50000 0001 2158 5405Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Traps’ MQ Luminescence Dating Facility, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- grid.1031.30000000121532610Geoarchaeology & Archaeometry Research Group, Southern Cross University, Lismore, Australia ,grid.458456.e0000 0000 9404 3263Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Quentin Boesch
- grid.11843.3f0000 0001 2157 9291Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST Géologie), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS) (CNRS/UMR 7516), Institut de Géologie, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - Eric Suzzoni
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France
| | - Sébastien Frangeul
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle-en-Vercors, France
| | - Elise Patole-Edoumba
- grid.410350.30000 0001 2174 9334Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, La Rochelle, France
| | - Alexandra Zachwieja
- grid.17635.360000000419368657Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth, MN USA
| | - Laura Shackelford
- grid.35403.310000 0004 1936 9991Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- grid.452548.a0000 0000 9817 5300Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, GLOBE Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark ,UMR 7206 Eco-Anthropologie, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany ,grid.410533.00000 0001 2179 2236Collège de France, Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Paris, France
| | - Élise Dufour
- UMR 7209 Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Paris, France
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23
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Bourgon N, Jaouen K, Bacon AM, Dufour E, McCormack J, Tran NH, Trost M, Fiorillo D, Dunn TE, Zanolli C, Zachwieja A, Duringer P, Ponche JL, Boesch Q, Antoine PO, Westaway KE, Joannes-Boyau R, Suzzoni E, Frangeul S, Crozier F, Aubaile F, Patole-Edoumba E, Luangkhoth T, Souksavatdy V, Boualaphane S, Sayavonkhamdy T, Sichanthongtip P, Sihanam D, Demeter F, Shackelford LL, Hublin JJ, Tütken T. Trophic ecology of a Late Pleistocene early modern human from tropical Southeast Asia inferred from zinc isotopes. J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103075. [PMID: 34655947 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 08/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/30/2021] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
Tam Pà Ling, a cave site in northeastern Laos, has yielded the earliest skeletal evidence of Homo sapiens in mainland Southeast Asia. The reliance of Pleistocene humans in rainforest settings on plant or animal resources is still largely unstudied, mainly due to poor collagen preservation in fossils from tropical environments precluding stable nitrogen isotope analysis, the classical trophic level proxy. However, isotopic ratios of zinc (Zn) in bioapatite constitute a promising proxy to infer trophic and dietary information from fossil vertebrates, even under adverse tropical taphonomic conditions. Here, we analyzed the zinc isotope composition (66Zn/64Zn expressed as δ66Zn value) in the enamel of two teeth of the Late Pleistocene (63-46 ka) H. sapiens individual (TPL1) from Tam Pà Ling, as well as 76 mammal teeth from the same site and the nearby Nam Lot cave. The human individual exhibits relatively low enamel δ66Zn values (+0.24‰) consistent with an omnivorous diet, suggesting a dietary reliance on both plant and animal matter. These findings offer direct evidence of the broad utilization of resources from tropical rainforests by one of the earliest known anatomically modern humans in Southeast Asia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Bourgon
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Applied and Analytical Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany; Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements (AASPE), UMR 7209, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France.
| | - Klervia Jaouen
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Géosciences Environnement Toulouse, Observatoire Midi Pyrénées, 31400 Toulouse, France
| | - Anne-Marie Bacon
- UMR 8045 BABEL, CNRS, Université de Paris, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, 92120 Montrouge, France
| | - Elise Dufour
- Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements (AASPE), UMR 7209, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Jeremy McCormack
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - N-Han Tran
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Manuel Trost
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Denis Fiorillo
- Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques, Environnements (AASPE), UMR 7209, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Tyler E Dunn
- Department of Medical Education, School of Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE 68178, USA
| | - Clément Zanolli
- Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, 33615 Pessac, France
| | - Alexandra Zachwieja
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Duluth, MN 55812-3031, USA
| | - Philippe Duringer
- Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS), UMR 7516 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg, France
| | - Jean-Luc Ponche
- Image Ville et Environnement, UMR 7362, Institut de Géographie, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - Quentin Boesch
- Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre (EOST), Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS), UMR 7516 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, 67084 Strasbourg, France
| | - Pierre-Olivier Antoine
- Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution de Montpellier, Université de Montpellier, CNRS, Institut de Recherche et de Développement (IRD), Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), 34090 Montpellier, France
| | - Kira E Westaway
- Traps-MQ Luminescence Dating Facility, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group (GARG), Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia; Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa
| | - Eric Suzzoni
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, 26420 La Chapelle en Vercors, France
| | - Sébastien Frangeul
- Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, 26420 La Chapelle en Vercors, France
| | | | - Françoise Aubaile
- Laboratoire d'Eco-Anthropologie UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université de Paris, 75016 Paris, France
| | | | - Thonglith Luangkhoth
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Viengkeo Souksavatdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Souliphane Boualaphane
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Thongsa Sayavonkhamdy
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Phonephanh Sichanthongtip
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Daovee Sihanam
- Department of Heritage, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Lao Democratic People's Republic
| | - Fabrice Demeter
- Laboratoire d'Eco-Anthropologie UMR 7206, CNRS, MNHN, Université de Paris, 75016 Paris, France; Lundbeck Foundation, GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, 1350 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Laura L Shackelford
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Paléoanthropologie, Collège de France, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Thomas Tütken
- Applied and Analytical Palaeontology, Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, 55099 Mainz, Germany
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24
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Basumatary SK, Gogoi R, Tripathi S, Ghosh R, Pokharia AK, McDonald HG, Sherpa N, van Asperen EN, Agnihotri R, Chhetri G, Saikia K, Pandey A. Red Panda feces from Eastern Himalaya as a modern analogue for palaeodietary and palaeoecological analyses. Sci Rep 2021; 11:18312. [PMID: 34526605 PMCID: PMC8443643 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97850-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2021] [Accepted: 08/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Modern feces samples of the endangered red panda (Ailurus fulgens) were examined using multiproxy analysis to characterize the dietary patterns in their natural habitat in India. An abundance of Bambusoideae phytoliths and leaves (macrobotanical remains) provide direct evidence of their primary dietary plants. In contrast, Bambusoideae pollen is sporadic or absent in the pollen assemblages. An abundance of Lepisorus spores and its leaves along with broadleaved taxa, Betula, Engelhardtia, and Quercus are indicative of other important food sources. Average δ13C values (- 29.6‰) of the red panda feces indicate typical C3 type of plants as the primary food source, while the, δ15N values vary in narrow range (3.3-5.1‰) but conspicuously reveal a seasonal difference in values most likely due to differing metabolic activities in summer and winter. The multiproxy data can provide a baseline for the reconstruction of the palaeodietary and palaeoecology of extinct herbivores at both regional and global scales.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rajib Gogoi
- Botanical Survey of India, Sikkim Himalaya Regional Centre, Gangtok, Sikkim, India
| | - Swati Tripathi
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Ruby Ghosh
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Anil K Pokharia
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - H Gregory McDonald
- Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office, 2850 Youngfield Street, Lakewood, CO, 80215, USA
| | - Norbu Sherpa
- Botanical Survey of India, Sikkim Himalaya Regional Centre, Gangtok, Sikkim, India
| | - Eline N van Asperen
- School of History, Classics and Archaeology, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
| | - Rajesh Agnihotri
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Geetamani Chhetri
- G. B. Pant, National Institute of Himalayan Environment (NIHE), Gangtok, Sikkim, India
| | - Korobi Saikia
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
| | - Arya Pandey
- Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
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25
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Late Pleistocene human paleoecology in the highland savanna ecosystem of mainland Southeast Asia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:16756. [PMID: 34408215 PMCID: PMC8373907 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96260-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/06/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The late Pleistocene settlement of highland settings in mainland Southeast Asia by Homo sapiens has challenged our species's ability to occupy mountainous landscapes that acted as physical barriers to the expansion into lower-latitude Sunda islands during sea-level lowstands. Tham Lod Rockshelter in highland Pang Mapha (northwestern Thailand), dated between 34,000 and 12,000 years ago, has yielded evidence of Hoabinhian lithic assemblages and natural resource use by hunter-gatherer societies. To understand the process of early settlements of highland areas, we measured stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of Tham Lod human and faunal tooth enamel. Our assessment of the stable carbon isotope results suggests long-term opportunistic behavior among hunter-gatherers in foraging on a variety of food items in a mosaic environment and/or inhabiting an open forest edge during the terminal Pleistocene. This study reinforces the higher-latitude and -altitude extension of a forest-grassland mosaic ecosystem or savanna corridor (farther north into northwestern Thailand), which facilitated the dispersal of hunter-gatherers across mountainous areas and possibly allowed for consistency in a human subsistence strategy and Hoabinhian technology in the highlands of mainland Southeast Asia over a 20,000-year span near the end of the Pleistocene.
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26
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Will M, Krapp M, Stock JT, Manica A. Different environmental variables predict body and brain size evolution in Homo. Nat Commun 2021; 12:4116. [PMID: 34238930 PMCID: PMC8266824 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-24290-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Increasing body and brain size constitutes a key macro-evolutionary pattern in the hominin lineage, yet the mechanisms behind these changes remain debated. Hypothesized drivers include environmental, demographic, social, dietary, and technological factors. Here we test the influence of environmental factors on the evolution of body and brain size in the genus Homo over the last one million years using a large fossil dataset combined with global paleoclimatic reconstructions and formalized hypotheses tested in a quantitative statistical framework. We identify temperature as a major predictor of body size variation within Homo, in accordance with Bergmann's rule. In contrast, net primary productivity of environments and long-term variability in precipitation correlate with brain size but explain low amounts of the observed variation. These associations are likely due to an indirect environmental influence on cognitive abilities and extinction probabilities. Most environmental factors that we test do not correspond with body and brain size evolution, pointing towards complex scenarios which underlie the evolution of key biological characteristics in later Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Mario Krapp
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- GNS Science, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
| | - Jay T Stock
- Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Andrea Manica
- Evolutionary Ecology Group, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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27
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Louys J, Braje TJ, Chang CH, Cosgrove R, Fitzpatrick SM, Fujita M, Hawkins S, Ingicco T, Kawamura A, MacPhee RDE, McDowell MC, Meijer HJM, Piper PJ, Roberts P, Simmons AH, van den Bergh G, van der Geer A, Kealy S, O'Connor S. No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2023005118. [PMID: 33941645 PMCID: PMC8157961 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2023005118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The arrival of modern humans into previously unoccupied island ecosystems is closely linked to widespread extinction, and a key reason cited for Pleistocene megafauna extinction is anthropogenic overhunting. A common assumption based on late Holocene records is that humans always negatively impact insular biotas, which requires an extrapolation of recent human behavior and technology into the archaeological past. Hominins have been on islands since at least the early Pleistocene and Homo sapiens for at least 50 thousand y (ka). Over such lengthy intervals it is scarcely surprising that significant evolutionary, behavioral, and cultural changes occurred. However, the deep-time link between human arrival and island extinctions has never been explored globally. Here, we examine archaeological and paleontological records of all Pleistocene islands with a documented hominin presence to examine whether humans have always been destructive agents. We show that extinctions at a global level cannot be associated with Pleistocene hominin arrival based on current data and are difficult to disentangle from records of environmental change. It is not until the Holocene that large-scale changes in technology, dispersal, demography, and human behavior visibly affect island ecosystems. The extinction acceleration we are currently experiencing is thus not inherent but rather part of a more recent cultural complex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julien Louys
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4111, Australia;
- Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Todd J Braje
- Department of Anthropology, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 5500
| | - Chun-Hsiang Chang
- Department of Geology, National Museum of Natural Science, 404 Taichung City, Taiwan
| | - Richard Cosgrove
- Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
| | - Scott M Fitzpatrick
- Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
- Museum of Natural and Cultural History, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403
| | - Masaki Fujita
- Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 110-8718 Tokyo, Japan
| | - Stuart Hawkins
- Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas Ingicco
- Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle de Paris, UMR 7194, Département Homme et Environnement, Sorbonne Universités, 75005 Paris, France
| | - Ai Kawamura
- Faculty of Education, University of Toyama, 930-8555 Toyama, Japan
| | - Ross D E MacPhee
- Division of Vertebrate Zoology/Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024
| | - Matthew C McDowell
- College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7005, Australia
- Field Museum of Natural History, Science and Education, Earth Sciences, Chicago, IL 60605
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7001, Australia
| | - Hanneke J M Meijer
- University Museum of Bergen, Department of Natural History, University of Bergen, 5007 Bergen Norway
- Human Origins Program, Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20002
| | - Philip J Piper
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
- School of Social Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Alan H Simmons
- Department of Anthropology, University of Nevada and Desert Research Institute, Reno, NV 89512
| | - Gerrit van den Bergh
- Centre for Archaeological Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
| | - Alexandra van der Geer
- Vertebrate Evolution, Development and Ecology, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, 2333 CR Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Shimona Kealy
- Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Sue O'Connor
- Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
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