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Zorrilla-Revilla G, Volpe SL, Prado-Nóvoa O, Howard KR, Laskaridou E, Marinik EL, Ramadoss R, Davy KP, García-González R. Far from the walking pace. Ecological and evolutionary consequences of the suboptimal locomotion speeds in non-adult humans. Am J Hum Biol 2024:e24138. [PMID: 39016420 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.24138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2024] [Revised: 07/05/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Locomotion activities are part of most human daily tasks and are the basis for subsistence activities, particularly for hunter-gatherers. Therefore, differences in speed walking-related variables may have an effect, not only on the mobility of the group, but also on its composition. Some anthropometric parameters related to body length could affect walking speed-related variables and contribute to different human behaviors. However, there is currently little information on the influence of these parameters in nonadult individuals. METHODS Overall, 11 females and 17 male child/adolescents, 8-17 years of age, volunteered to participate in this cross-sectional study. Five different pace walking tests were performed on a treadmill to calculate the optimal locomotion speed (OLS) and U-shaped relationship between the walking energy expenditure and speed (χ2 cost of transport [CoT]) (i.e., energetic walking flexibility). RESULTS The mean OLS was 3.05 ± 0.13 miles per hour (mph), with no differences between sexes. Similarly, there were no sex differences in walking flexibility according to the χ2 CoT. Body height (p < .0001) and femur length (p < .001) were positively correlated with χ2 CoT; however, female child/adolescents mitigated the effect of height and femur length when walking at suboptimal speeds. CONCLUSION Consistent with prior observations in adults, our findings suggest that anthropometric parameters related to body stature are associated with reduced suboptimal walking flexibility in children and adolescents. Taken together, these results suggest that children and adolescents can adapt their pace to the one of taller individuals without a highly energetic penalty, but this flexibility decreases with increasing body size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillermo Zorrilla-Revilla
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
- CIAS-Research Centre for Anthropology and Health, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Stella L Volpe
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Olalla Prado-Nóvoa
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Kristen R Howard
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
- Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Eleni Laskaridou
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Elaina L Marinik
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Rohit Ramadoss
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
| | - Kevin P Davy
- Department of Human Nutrition, Foods, and Exercise, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia, USA
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Sedrati M, Morales JA, Duveau J, M'rini AE, Mayoral E, Díaz-Martínez I, Anthony EJ, Bulot G, Sedrati A, Le Gall R, Santos A, Rivera-Silva J. A Late Pleistocene hominin footprint site on the North African coast of Morocco. Sci Rep 2024; 14:1962. [PMID: 38263453 PMCID: PMC10806055 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-52344-5] [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: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2024] [Indexed: 01/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Footprints represent a relevant vestige providing direct information on the biology, locomotion, and behaviour of the individuals who left them. However, the spatiotemporal distribution of hominin footprints is heterogeneous, particularly in North Africa, where no footprint sites were known before the Holocene. This region is important in the evolution of hominins. It notably includes the earliest currently known Homo sapiens (Jebel Irhoud) and the oldest and richest African Middle Stone Age hominin sites. In this fragmented ichnological record, we report the discovery of 85 human footprints on a Late Pleistocene now indurated beach surface of about 2800 m2 at Larache (Northwest coast of Morocco). The wide range of sizes of the footprints suggests that several individuals from different age groups made the tracks while moving landward and seaward across a semi-dissipative bar-trough sandy beach foreshore. A geological investigation and an optically stimulated luminescence dating of a rock sample extracted from the tracksite places this hominin footprint surface at 90.3 ± 7.6 ka (MIS 5, Late Pleistocene). The Larache footprints are, therefore, the oldest attributed to Homo sapiens in Northern Africa and the Southern Mediterranean.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mouncef Sedrati
- Geo-Ocean, Univ Bretagne Sud, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6538, F- 56000, Vannes, France.
| | - Juan A Morales
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, Huelva, Spain
- Centro Científico Tecnológico de Huelva, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Jérémy Duveau
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies ''Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past'', Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
- UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, CNRS, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia, Paris, France
| | | | - Eduardo Mayoral
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Universidad de Huelva, Campus de El Carmen, Huelva, Spain
- Centro Científico Tecnológico de Huelva, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Ignacio Díaz-Martínez
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra y Física de la Materia Condensada, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cantabria, 39005, Santander, Cantabria, Spain
| | - Edward J Anthony
- CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Coll France, CEREGE, Aix Marseille University, 13545, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Glen Bulot
- Geo-Ocean, Univ Bretagne Sud, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6538, F- 56000, Vannes, France
| | - Anass Sedrati
- Lixus Archaeological Site, Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, Larache, Morocco
| | - Romain Le Gall
- Geo-Ocean, Univ Bretagne Sud, Univ Brest, CNRS, Ifremer, UMR6538, F- 56000, Vannes, France
| | - Ana Santos
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Geología, Universidad de Oviedo, Campus de Llamaquique, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Jorge Rivera-Silva
- Centro de Investigación, Tecnología e Innovación (CITIUS), Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
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3
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Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Kindler L, Roebroeks W. Widespread evidence for elephant exploitation by Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120:e2309427120. [PMID: 38048457 PMCID: PMC10723128 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2309427120] [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: 06/24/2023] [Accepted: 09/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Neanderthals hunted and butchered straight-tusked elephants, the largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene, in a lake landscape on the North European plain, 125,000 years ago, as recently shown by a study of the Last Interglacial elephant assemblage from Neumark-Nord (Germany). With evidence for a remarkable focus on adult males and on their extended utilization, the data from this location are thus far without parallel in the archaeological record. Given their relevance for our knowledge of the Neanderthal niche, we investigated whether the Neumark-Nord subsistence practices were more than a local phenomenon, possibly determined by local characteristics. Analyzing elephant remains from two other Last Interglacial archaeological sites on the North European plain, Gröbern and Taubach, we identified in both assemblages similar butchering patterns as at Neumark-Nord, demonstrating that extended elephant exploitation was a widespread Neanderthal practice during the (early part of the) Last Interglacial. The substantial efforts needed to process these animals, weighing up to 13 metric tons, and the large amounts of food generated suggest that Neanderthals either had ways of storing vast amounts of meat and fat and/or temporarily aggregated in larger groups than commonly acknowledged. The data do not allow us to rule out one of the two explanations, and furthermore both factors, short-term larger group sizes as well as some form of food preservation, may have played a role. What the data do show is that exploitation of large straight-tusked elephants was a widespread and recurring phenomenon amongst Last Interglacial Neanderthals on the North European plain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser
- MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Neuwied56567, Germany
- Institute of Ancient Studies, Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Schönborner Hof, Mainz55116, Germany
| | - Lutz Kindler
- MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution (LEIZA), Neuwied56567, Germany
- Institute of Ancient Studies, Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Schönborner Hof, Mainz55116, Germany
| | - Wil Roebroeks
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2300 RALeiden, The Netherlands
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4
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Hatala KG, Roach NT, Behrensmeyer AK. Fossil footprints and what they mean for hominin paleobiology. Evol Anthropol 2023; 32:39-53. [PMID: 36223539 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2021] [Revised: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 09/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Hominin footprints have not traditionally played prominent roles in paleoanthropological studies, aside from the famous 3.66 Ma footprints discovered at Laetoli, Tanzania in the late 1970s. This contrasts with the importance of trace fossils (ichnology) in the broader field of paleontology. Lack of attention to hominin footprints can probably be explained by perceptions that these are exceptionally rare and "curiosities" rather than sources of data that yield insights on par with skeletal fossils or artifacts. In recent years, however, discoveries of hominin footprints have surged in frequency, shining important new light on anatomy, locomotion, behaviors, and environments from a wide variety of times and places. Here, we discuss why these data are often overlooked and consider whether they are as "rare" as previously assumed. We review new ways footprint data are being used to address questions about hominin paleobiology, and we outline key opportunities for future research in hominin ichnology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin G Hatala
- Department of Biology, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Neil T Roach
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Anna K Behrensmeyer
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
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5
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Mayoral E, Duveau J, Santos A, Ramírez AR, Morales JA, Díaz-Delgado R, Rivera-Silva J, Gómez-Olivencia A, Díaz-Martínez I. New dating of the Matalascañas footprints provides new evidence of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 9-8) hominin paleoecology in southern Europe. Sci Rep 2022; 12:17505. [PMID: 36261474 PMCID: PMC9581921 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22524-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Hominin footprints were recently discovered at Matalascañas (Huelva; South of Iberian Peninsula). They were dated thanks to a previous study in deposits of the Asperillo cliff to 106 ± 19 ka, Upper Pleistocene, making Neandertals the most likely track-makers. In this paper, we report new Optically Stimulated Luminescence dating that places the hominin footprints surface in the range of 295.8 ± 17 ka (MIS 9-MIS 8 transition, Middle Pleistocene). This new age implies that the possible track-makers are individuals more likely from the Neandertal evolutionary lineage. Regardless of the taxon attributed to the Matalascañas footprints, they supplement the existing partial fossil record for the European Middle Pleistocene Hominins being notably the first palaeoanthropological evidence (hominin skeleton or footprints) from the MIS 9 and MIS 8 transition discovered in the Iberian Peninsula, a moment of climatic evolution from warm to cool. Thus, the Matalascañas footprints represent a crucial record for understanding human occupations in Europe in the Pleistocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo Mayoral
- grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Campus de El Carmen, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain ,grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134CCTH - Centro de Investigación Científico Tecnológico, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Jérémy Duveau
- grid.10392.390000 0001 2190 1447DFG Center of Advanced Studies ‘Words, Bones, Genes, Tools’, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany ,UMR 7194 Histoire Naturelle de L’Homme Préhistorique, CNRS, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Université Perpignan Via Domitia, Paris, France
| | - Ana Santos
- grid.10863.3c0000 0001 2164 6351Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Geología, Campus de Llamaquique, Universidad de Oviedo, Oviedo, Spain
| | - Antonio Rodríguez Ramírez
- grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Campus de El Carmen, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain ,grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134CCTH - Centro de Investigación Científico Tecnológico, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Juan A. Morales
- grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Facultad de Ciencias Experimentales, Campus de El Carmen, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain ,grid.18803.320000 0004 1769 8134CCTH - Centro de Investigación Científico Tecnológico, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Ricardo Díaz-Delgado
- grid.418875.70000 0001 1091 6248Estación Biológica de Doñana-CSIC, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Jorge Rivera-Silva
- grid.9224.d0000 0001 2168 1229Centro de Investigación, Tecnología e Innovación (CITIUS), Universidad de Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- grid.11480.3c0000000121671098Dept. Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, UPV/EHU, Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Leioa, Spain ,Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain ,Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Investigación Sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos. Avda. Monforte de Lemos, 5 (Pabellón 14), 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Díaz-Martínez
- Universidad Nacional de Río Negro-IIPG, General Roca, Río Negro Argentina ,grid.507426.2Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología Y Geología (IIPG), CONICET, General Roca, Río Negro Argentina
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6
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Skov L, Peyrégne S, Popli D, Iasi LNM, Devièse T, Slon V, Zavala EI, Hajdinjak M, Sümer AP, Grote S, Bossoms Mesa A, López Herráez D, Nickel B, Nagel S, Richter J, Essel E, Gansauge M, Schmidt A, Korlević P, Comeskey D, Derevianko AP, Kharevich A, Markin SV, Talamo S, Douka K, Krajcarz MT, Roberts RG, Higham T, Viola B, Krivoshapkin AI, Kolobova KA, Kelso J, Meyer M, Pääbo S, Peter BM. Genetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals. Nature 2022; 610:519-525. [PMID: 36261548 PMCID: PMC9581778 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05283-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Genomic analyses of Neanderthals have previously provided insights into their population history and relationship to modern humans1-8, but the social organization of Neanderthal communities remains poorly understood. Here we present genetic data for 13 Neanderthals from two Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia: 11 from Chagyrskaya Cave9,10 and 2 from Okladnikov Cave11-making this one of the largest genetic studies of a Neanderthal population to date. We used hybridization capture to obtain genome-wide nuclear data, as well as mitochondrial and Y-chromosome sequences. Some Chagyrskaya individuals were closely related, including a father-daughter pair and a pair of second-degree relatives, indicating that at least some of the individuals lived at the same time. Up to one-third of these individuals' genomes had long segments of homozygosity, suggesting that the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals were part of a small community. In addition, the Y-chromosome diversity is an order of magnitude lower than the mitochondrial diversity, a pattern that we found is best explained by female migration between communities. Thus, the genetic data presented here provide a detailed documentation of the social organization of an isolated Neanderthal community at the easternmost extent of their known range.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laurits Skov
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Stéphane Peyrégne
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Divyaratan Popli
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Leonardo N M Iasi
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thibaut Devièse
- European Centre for Research and Education in Environmental Geosciences (CEREGE), Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Collège de France, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Viviane Slon
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anatomy and Anthropology Sackler, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- The Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
- Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Elena I Zavala
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mateja Hajdinjak
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Arev P Sümer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Steffi Grote
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alba Bossoms Mesa
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - David López Herráez
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birgit Nickel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah Nagel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julia Richter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elena Essel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marie Gansauge
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Anna Schmidt
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Petra Korlević
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Wellcome Sanger Institute, Hinxton, UK
| | - Daniel Comeskey
- Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Anatoly P Derevianko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Aliona Kharevich
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Sergey V Markin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences Forschungsverbund, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Maciej T Krajcarz
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Richard G Roberts
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
- Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Thomas Higham
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences Forschungsverbund, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bence Viola
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Andrey I Krivoshapkin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Kseniya A Kolobova
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Janet Kelso
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin M Peter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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Navarro-Lorbés P, Ruiz J, Díaz-Martínez I, Isasmendi E, Sáez-Benito P, Viera L, Pereda-Suberbiola X, Torices A. Fast-running theropods tracks from the Early Cretaceous of La Rioja, Spain. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23095. [PMID: 34887437 PMCID: PMC8660891 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02557-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/30/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Theropod behaviour and biodynamics are intriguing questions that paleontology has been trying to resolve for a long time. The lack of extant groups with similar bipedalism has made it hard to answer some of the questions on the matter, yet theoretical biomechanical models have shed some light on the question of how fast theropods could run and what kind of movement they showed. The study of dinosaur tracks can help answer some of these questions due to the very nature of tracks as a product of the interaction of these animals with the environment. Two trackways belonging to fast-running theropods from the Lower Cretaceous Enciso Group of Igea (La Rioja) are presented here and compared with other fast-running theropod trackways published to date. The Lower Cretaceous Iberian fossil record and some features present in these footprints and trackways suggest a basal tetanuran, probably a carcharodontosaurid or spinosaurid, as a plausible trackmaker. Speed analysis shows that these trackways, with speed ranges of 6.5-10.3 and 8.8-12.4 ms-1, testify to some of the top speeds ever calculated for theropod tracks, shedding light on the question of dinosaur biodynamics and how these animals moved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Navarro-Lorbés
- Cátedra Extraordinaria de Paleontología, Departamento de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad de La Rioja (UR), C/Luis de Ulloa, 2, 26004, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain.
| | - Javier Ruiz
- grid.4795.f0000 0001 2157 7667Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Ignacio Díaz-Martínez
- Universidad Nacional de Río Negro-IIPG. Av, Roca 1242, 8332 General Roca, Río Negro Argentina ,Instituto de Investigación en Paleobiología y Geología (IIPG), CONICET. Av. Roca 1242, 8332 General Roca, Río Negro Argentina
| | - Erik Isasmendi
- grid.11480.3c0000000121671098Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena S/N., 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia Spain
| | - Patxi Sáez-Benito
- Centro de Interpretación Paleontológica de la Rioja, Calle Mayor, 10, 26525 Igea, La Rioja Spain
| | - Luis Viera
- Centro de Interpretación Paleontológica de la Rioja, Calle Mayor, 10, 26525 Igea, La Rioja Spain
| | - Xabier Pereda-Suberbiola
- grid.11480.3c0000000121671098Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Barrio Sarriena S/N., 48940 Leioa, Bizkaia Spain
| | - Angélica Torices
- grid.119021.a0000 0001 2174 6969Cátedra Extraordinaria de Paleontología, Departamento de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad de La Rioja (UR), C/Luis de Ulloa, 2, 26004 Logroño, La Rioja Spain
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8
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Murray AA, Erlandson MC. Tibial cortical and trabecular variables together can pinpoint the timing of impact loading relative to menarche in premenopausal females. Am J Hum Biol 2021; 34:e23711. [PMID: 34878660 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Revised: 10/29/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Though relationships between limb bone structure and mechanical loading have provided fantastic opportunities for understanding the lives of prehistoric adults, the lives of children remain poorly understood. Our aim was to determine whether or not adult tibial skeletal variables retain information about childhood/adolescent loading, through assessing relationships between cortical and trabecular bone variables and the timing of impact loading relative to menarche in premenopausal adult females. METHODS Peripheral quantitative computed tomography was used to quantify geometric and densitometric variables from the proximal tibial diaphysis (66% location) and distal epiphysis (4% location) among 81 nulliparous young adult female controls and athletes aged 19-33 years grouped according to intensity of impact loading both pre- and post-menarche: (1) Low:Low (Controls); (2) High:Low; (3) High:High; (4) Moderate:Moderate; (5) Low:Moderate. ANCOVA was used to compare properties among the groups adjusted for age, stature, and body mass. RESULTS Significant increases in diaphyseal total cross-sectional area and strength-strain index were documented among groups with any pre-menarcheal impact loading relative to groups with none, regardless of post-menarcheal loading history (p < .01). In contrast, significantly elevated distal trabecular volumetric bone mineral density was only documented among groups with recent post-menarcheal loading relative to groups with none, regardless of pre-menarcheal impact loading history (p < .01). CONCLUSIONS The consideration of diaphyseal cortical bone geometric and epiphyseal trabecular bone densitometric variables together within the tibia can identify variation in pre-menarcheal and post-menarcheal impact loading histories among premenopausal adult females.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison A Murray
- Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
| | - Marta C Erlandson
- College of Kinesiology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
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Evidence of the use of soft footwear in the Gravettian cave of Cussac (Dordogne, France). Sci Rep 2021; 11:22727. [PMID: 34815459 PMCID: PMC8610977 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02127-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: 07/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans appear to have regularly worn footwear since at least the Early Upper Palaeolithic. However, due to the perishable nature of footwear, the archaeological record of its presence during the Pleistocene is poor. While footwear would have played an essential role in protecting the foot, it could also have been used as ornamentation and/or as a social marker. Footprints may provide the most relevant insight regarding the origin and function of footwear. Here we report the discovery of footprints in Cussac Cave (southwest France) at 28–31 ka cal BP and the results of a multi-focal approach, including experimentation, that demonstrate that Gravettian people most likely wore footwear while moving through the cave. These singular footprints would constitute one of the oldest cases of indirect evidence for this unusual practice in decorated Palaeolithic caves and reinforce the exceptional nature of Cussac already attested by the presence of monumental engravings and funerary deposits.
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Neto de Carvalho C, Belaústegui Z, Toscano A, Muñiz F, Belo J, Galán JM, Gómez P, Cáceres LM, Rodríguez-Vidal J, Cunha PP, Cachão M, Ruiz F, Ramirez-Cruzado S, Giles-Guzmán F, Finlayson G, Finlayson S, Finlayson C. First tracks of newborn straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus). Sci Rep 2021; 11:17311. [PMID: 34531420 PMCID: PMC8445925 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-96754-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Tracks and trackways of newborns, calves and juveniles attributed to straight-tusked elephants were found in the MIS 5 site (Upper Pleistocene) known as the Matalascañas Trampled Surface (MTS) at Huelva, SW Spain. Evidence of a snapshot of social behaviour, especially parental care, can be determined from the concentration of elephant tracks and trackways, and especially from apparently contemporaneous converging trackways, of small juvenile and larger, presumably young adult female tracks. The size frequency of the tracks enabled us to infer body mass and age distribution of the animals that crossed the MTS. Comparisons of the MTS demographic frequency with the morphology of the fore- and hind limbs of extant and fossil proboscideans shed light into the reproductive ecology of the straight-tusked elephant, Palaeloxodon antiquus. The interdune pond habitat appeared to have been an important water and food resource for matriarchal herds of straight-tusked elephants and likely functioned as a reproductive habitat, with only the rare presence of adult and older males in the MTS. The preservation of this track record in across a paleosol surface, although heavily trampled by different animals, including Neanderthals, over a short time frame, permitted an exceptional view into short-term intraspecific trophic interactions occurring in the Last Interglacial coastal habitat. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Neanderthals visited MTS for hunting or scavenging on weakened or dead elephants, and more likely calves.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Neto de Carvalho
- Naturtejo UNESCO Global Geopark, Geology Office of the Municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal
- Instituto D. Luiz, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Zain Belaústegui
- Departament de Dinàmica de la Terra i de L'Oceà, Facultat de Ciències de la Terra, Institut de Recerca de la Biodiversitat (IRBio), Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Antonio Toscano
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Fernando Muñiz
- Departamento de Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - João Belo
- Geosciences Center, University of Coimbra, FlyGIS-UAV Surveys, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Jose María Galán
- Centro Administrativo del Acebuche, Parque Nacional de Doñana, Matalascañas, Huelva, Spain
| | - Paula Gómez
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | - Luis M Cáceres
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain.
| | | | - Pedro Proença Cunha
- Department of Earth Sciences, MARE-Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
| | - Mario Cachão
- Instituto D. Luiz, University of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
- Department of Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Francisco Ruiz
- Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain
| | | | | | - Geraldine Finlayson
- The Gibraltar National Museum, Gibraltar, UK
- Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Stewart Finlayson
- The Gibraltar National Museum, Gibraltar, UK
- Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, UK
| | - Clive Finlayson
- The Gibraltar National Museum, Gibraltar, UK
- Institute of Life and Earth Sciences, University of Gibraltar, Gibraltar, UK
- Department of Life Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Scarborough Campus, Toronto, Canada
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