1
|
Li Q, Chen J, Faux P, Delgado ME, Bonfante B, Fuentes-Guajardo M, Mendoza-Revilla J, Chacón-Duque JC, Hurtado M, Villegas V, Granja V, Jaramillo C, Arias W, Barquera R, Everardo-Martínez P, Sánchez-Quinto M, Gómez-Valdés J, Villamil-Ramírez H, Silva de Cerqueira CC, Hünemeier T, Ramallo V, Wu S, Du S, Giardina A, Paria SS, Khokan MR, Gonzalez-José R, Schüler-Faccini L, Bortolini MC, Acuña-Alonzo V, Canizales-Quinteros S, Gallo C, Poletti G, Rojas W, Rothhammer F, Navarro N, Wang S, Adhikari K, Ruiz-Linares A. Automatic landmarking identifies new loci associated with face morphology and implicates Neanderthal introgression in human nasal shape. Commun Biol 2023; 6:481. [PMID: 37156940 PMCID: PMC10167347 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-04838-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023] Open
Abstract
We report a genome-wide association study of facial features in >6000 Latin Americans based on automatic landmarking of 2D portraits and testing for association with inter-landmark distances. We detected significant associations (P-value <5 × 10-8) at 42 genome regions, nine of which have been previously reported. In follow-up analyses, 26 of the 33 novel regions replicate in East Asians, Europeans, or Africans, and one mouse homologous region influences craniofacial morphology in mice. The novel region in 1q32.3 shows introgression from Neanderthals and we find that the introgressed tract increases nasal height (consistent with the differentiation between Neanderthals and modern humans). Novel regions include candidate genes and genome regulatory elements previously implicated in craniofacial development, and show preferential transcription in cranial neural crest cells. The automated approach used here should simplify the collection of large study samples from across the world, facilitating a cosmopolitan characterization of the genetics of facial features.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qing Li
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Jieyi Chen
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Pierre Faux
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES, Marseille, 13005, France
| | - Miguel Eduardo Delgado
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China
- División Antropología, Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, La Plata, República Argentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, CONICET, Buenos Aires, República Argentina
| | - Betty Bonfante
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES, Marseille, 13005, France
| | - Macarena Fuentes-Guajardo
- Departamento de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, 1000000, Chile
| | - Javier Mendoza-Revilla
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
- Unit of Human Evolutionary Genetics, Institut Pasteur, Paris, 75015, France
| | - J Camilo Chacón-Duque
- Division of Vertebrates and Anthropology, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Malena Hurtado
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
| | - Valeria Villegas
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
| | - Vanessa Granja
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
| | - Claudia Jaramillo
- GENMOL (Genética Molecular), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 5001000, Colombia
| | - William Arias
- GENMOL (Genética Molecular), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 5001000, Colombia
| | - Rodrigo Barquera
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National School of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, 14050, Mexico, 6600, Mexico
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History (MPI-SHH), Jena, 07745, Germany
| | - Paola Everardo-Martínez
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National School of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, 14050, Mexico, 6600, Mexico
| | - Mirsha Sánchez-Quinto
- Forensic Science, Faculty of Medicine, UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México), Mexico City, 06320, Mexico
| | - Jorge Gómez-Valdés
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National School of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, 14050, Mexico, 6600, Mexico
| | - Hugo Villamil-Ramírez
- Unidad de Genomica de Poblaciones Aplicada a la Salud, Facultad de Química, UNAM-Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City, 4510, Mexico
| | | | - Tábita Hünemeier
- Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, 05508-090, Brazil
| | - Virginia Ramallo
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 90040-060, Brazil
- Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Centro Nacional Patagónico, CONICET, Puerto Madryn, U9129ACD, Argentina
| | - Sijie Wu
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Siyuan Du
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Andrea Giardina
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Soumya Subhra Paria
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Mahfuzur Rahman Khokan
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
| | - Rolando Gonzalez-José
- Instituto Patagónico de Ciencias Sociales y Humanas, Centro Nacional Patagónico, CONICET, Puerto Madryn, U9129ACD, Argentina
| | - Lavinia Schüler-Faccini
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 90040-060, Brazil
| | - Maria-Cátira Bortolini
- Departamento de Genética, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 90040-060, Brazil
| | - Victor Acuña-Alonzo
- Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National School of Anthropology and History, Mexico City, 14050, Mexico, 6600, Mexico
| | - Samuel Canizales-Quinteros
- Unidad de Genomica de Poblaciones Aplicada a la Salud, Facultad de Química, UNAM-Instituto Nacional de Medicina Genómica, Mexico City, 4510, Mexico
| | - Carla Gallo
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
| | - Giovanni Poletti
- Laboratorios de Investigación y Desarrollo, Facultad de Ciencias y Filosofía, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, 31, Perú
| | - Winston Rojas
- GENMOL (Genética Molecular), Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, 5001000, Colombia
| | - Francisco Rothhammer
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Arica, 1000000, Chile
| | - Nicolas Navarro
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, 21000, France
- EPHE, PSL University, Paris, 75014, France
| | - Sijia Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China
- CAS Key Laboratory of Computational Biology, Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 320 Yue Yang Road, Shanghai, 200031, China
| | - Kaustubh Adhikari
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom.
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, and UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
| | - Andrés Ruiz-Linares
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Contemporary Anthropology and Collaborative Innovation Center of Genetics and Development, School of Life Sciences and Human Phenome Institute, Fudan University, Yangpu District, Shanghai, 200438, China.
- Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, EFS, ADES, Marseille, 13005, France.
- Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, and UCL Genetics Institute, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Auerbach BM, Savell KRR, Agosto ER. Morphology, evolution, and the whole organism imperative: Why evolutionary questions need multi-trait evolutionary quantitative genetics. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023. [PMID: 37060292 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
Since Washburn's New Physical Anthropology, researchers have sought to understand the complexities of morphological evolution among anatomical regions in human and non-human primates. Researchers continue, however, to preferentially use comparative and functional approaches to examine complex traits, but these methods cannot address questions about evolutionary process and often conflate function with fitness. Moreover, researchers also tend to examine anatomical elements in isolation, which implicitly assumes independent evolution among different body regions. In this paper, we argue that questions asked in primate evolution are best examined using multiple anatomical regions subjected to model-bound methods built from an understanding of evolutionary quantitative genetics. A nascent but expanding number of studies over the last two decades use this approach, examining morphological integration, evolvability, and selection modeling. To help readers learn how to use these methods, we review fundamentals of evolutionary processes within a quantitative genetic framework, explore the importance of neutral evolutionary theory, and explain the basics of evolutionary quantitative genetics, namely the calculation of evolutionary potential for multiple traits in response to selection. Leveraging these methods, we demonstrate their use to understand non-independence in possible evolutionary responses across the limbs, limb girdles, and basicranium of humans. Our results show that model-bound quantitative genetic methods can reveal unexpected genetic covariances among traits that create a novel but measurable understanding of evolutionary complexity among multiple traits. We advocate for evolutionary quantitative genetic methods to be a standard whenever appropriate to keep studies of primate morphological evolution relevant for the next seventy years and beyond.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin M Auerbach
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Kristen R R Savell
- Department of Biology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, Connecticut, USA
| | - Elizabeth R Agosto
- Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Churchill SE, Keys K, Ross AH. Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal-Modern Human Interbreeding. BIOLOGY 2022; 11:1163. [PMID: 36009790 PMCID: PMC9404802 DOI: 10.3390/biology11081163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Ancient DNA from, Neandertal and modern human fossils, and comparative morphological analyses of them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between these lineages and the introgression of Neandertal genes into modern human genomes. Despite substantial increases in our knowledge of these events, the timing and geographic location of hybridization events remain unclear. Six measures of facial size and shape, from regional samples of Neandertals and early modern humans, were used in a multivariate exploratory analysis to try to identify regions in which early modern human facial morphology was more similar to that of Neandertals, which might thus represent regions of greater introgression of Neandertal genes. The results of canonical variates analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis suggest important affinities in facial morphology between both Middle and Upper Paleolithic early modern humans of the Near East with Neandertals, highlighting the importance of this region for interbreeding between the two lineages.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Steven E. Churchill
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA;
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2050, South Africa
| | - Kamryn Keys
- Human Identification & Forensic Analysis Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA;
| | - Ann H. Ross
- Human Identification & Forensic Analysis Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Buck LT, Katz DC, Ackermann RR, Hlusko LJ, Kanthaswamy S, Weaver TD. Effects of hybridization on pelvic morphology: A macaque model. J Hum Evol 2021; 159:103049. [PMID: 34455262 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2020] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Ancient DNA analyses have shown that interbreeding between hominin taxa occurred multiple times. Although admixture is often reflected in skeletal phenotype, the relationship between the two remains poorly understood, hampering interpretation of the hominin fossil record. Direct study of this relationship is often impossible due to the paucity of hominin fossils and difficulties retrieving ancient genetic material. Here, we use a sample of known ancestry hybrids between two closely related nonhuman primate taxa (Indian and Chinese Macaca mulatta) to investigate the effect of admixture on skeletal morphology. We focus on pelvic shape, which has potential fitness implications in hybrids, as mismatches between maternal pelvic and fetal cranial morphology are often fatal to mother and offspring. As the pelvis is also one of the skeletal regions that differs most between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals, investigating the pelvic consequences of interbreeding could be informative regarding the viability of their hybrids. We find that the effect of admixture in M. mulatta is small and proportional to the relatively small morphological difference between the parent taxa. Sexual dimorphism appears to be the main determinant of pelvic shape in M. mulatta. The lack of difference in pelvic shape between Chinese and Indian M. mulatta is in contrast to that between Neanderthals and H. sapiens, despite a similar split time (in generations) between the hybridizing pairs. Greater phenotypic divergence between hominins may relate to adaptations to disparate environments but may also highlight how the unique degree of cultural buffering in hominins allowed for greater neutral divergence. In contrast to some previous work identifying extreme morphologies in first- and second-generation hybrids, here the relationship between pelvic shape and admixture is linear. This linearity may be because most sampled animals have a multigenerational admixture history or because of relatively high constraints on the pelvis compared with other skeletal regions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Laura T Buck
- School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University, UK; Department of Anthropology, University of California Davis, USA.
| | - David C Katz
- Department of Anthropology, University of California Davis, USA; University of Calgary, Cumming School of Medicine, Canada
| | - Rebecca Rogers Ackermann
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Human Evolution Research Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa
| | - Leslea J Hlusko
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, USA; Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Sree Kanthaswamy
- School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Arizona State University, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
5
|
Abstract
Homo erectus is the first hominin species with a truly cosmopolitan distribution and resembles recent humans in its broad spatial distribution. The microevolutionary events associated with dispersal and local adaptation may have produced similar population structure in both species. Understanding the evolutionary population dynamics of H. erectus has larger implications for the emergence of later Homo lineages in the Middle Pleistocene. Quantitative genetics models provide a means of interrogating aspects of long-standing H. erectus population history narratives. For the current study, cranial fossils were sorted into six major palaeodemes from sites across Africa and Asia spanning 1.8-0.1 Ma. Three-dimensional shape data from the occipital and frontal bones were used to compare intraspecific variation and test evolutionary hypotheses. Results indicate that H. erectus had higher individual and group variation than Homo sapiens, probably reflecting different levels of genetic diversity and population history in these spatially disperse species. This study also revealed distinct evolutionary histories for frontal and occipital bone shape in H. erectus, with a larger role for natural selection in the former. One scenario consistent with these findings is climate-driven facial adaptation in H. erectus, which is reflected in the frontal bone through integration with the orbits.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Karen L Baab
- Department of Anatomy, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, AZ 85308, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Steiper ME, Grube NT, Gagnon CM. Elevated diversity in loci linked to facial morphology is consistent with the hypothesis that individual facial recognition is important across hominoids. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 174:785-791. [PMID: 33454958 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24233] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2019] [Revised: 12/31/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES The ability to use visual signals to identify individuals is an important feature of primate social groups, including humans. Sheehan and Nachman (2014) showed that loci linked to facial morphology had elevated levels of diversity and interpreted this as evidence that the human face is under frequency-dependent selection to enhance individual recognition (Nature Communications 5). In our study, we tested whether this pattern is found in non-human ape species, to help understand whether individual recognition might also play a role in species other than humans. MATERIALS AND METHODS We examined levels of genetic diversity in an available population genomic dataset of humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans for three sets of loci, (1) loci linked to facial morphology, (2) loci linked to height, and (3) neutrally evolving regions. We tested whether loci linked to facial morphology were more variable than loci linked to height or neutrally evolving loci in each of these species. RESULTS We found significantly elevated diversity in loci linked to facial morphology in chimpanzees, gorillas, and Sumatran and Bornean orangutans. DISCUSSION Our findings closely parallel those of Sheehan and Nachman and are consistent with the idea that selection for facial diversity and individual recognition has not only shaped the evolution of the human face, but it has similarly shaped the evolution of most of our closest primate relatives. We also discuss alternative hypotheses for this pattern.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael E Steiper
- Department of Anthropology, Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, New York, USA.,Program in Anthropology, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY), New York, New York, USA.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, New York, USA
| | - Natalia T Grube
- Department of Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania, USA
| | | |
Collapse
|
7
|
Buck LT, De Groote I, Hamada Y, Hassett BR, Ito T, Stock JT. Evidence of different climatic adaptation strategies in humans and non-human primates. Sci Rep 2019; 9:11025. [PMID: 31363121 PMCID: PMC6667491 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47202-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2019] [Accepted: 07/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
To understand human evolution it is critical to clarify which adaptations enabled our colonisation of novel ecological niches. For any species climate is a fundamental source of environmental stress during range expansion. Mammalian climatic adaptations include changes in size and shape reflected in skeletal dimensions and humans fit general primate ecogeographic patterns. It remains unclear however, whether there are also comparable amounts of adaptation in humans, which has implications for understanding the relative importance of biological/behavioural mechanisms in human evolution. We compare cranial variation between prehistoric human populations from throughout Japan and ecologically comparable groups of macaques. We compare amounts of intraspecific variation and covariation between cranial shape and ecological variables. Given equal rates and sufficient time for adaptation for both groups, human conservation of non-human primate adaptation should result in comparable variation and patterns of covariation in both species. In fact, we find similar amounts of intraspecific variation in both species, but no covariation between shape and climate in humans, contrasting with strong covariation in macaques. The lack of covariation in humans may suggest a disconnect in climatic adaptation strategies from other primates. We suggest this is due to the importance of human behavioural adaptations, which act as a buffer from climatic stress and were likely key to our evolutionary success.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- L T Buck
- PAVE research group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QG, UK. .,Human Origins Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK. .,Department of Anthropology, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, 95616, CA, USA.
| | - I De Groote
- School of Natural Science and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, James Parsons Building, Byrom Street, Liverpool, L3 3AF, UK
| | - Y Hamada
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
| | - B R Hassett
- Human Origins Research Group, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK.,Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-4 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - T Ito
- Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Inuyama, Aichi, 484-8506, Japan
| | - J T Stock
- PAVE research group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QG, UK.,Department of Anthropology, Western University, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada.,Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, D-07745, Jena, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Murphy E. No Country for Oldowan Men: Emerging Factors in Language Evolution. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1448. [PMID: 31275219 PMCID: PMC6594215 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01448] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Accepted: 06/06/2019] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Language evolution has long been researched. I will review a number of broad, emerging research directions which arguably have the potential to contribute to our understanding of language evolution. Emerging topics in genomics and neurolinguistics are explored, and human-specific levels of braincase globularity - and the broader process of self-domestication within which globularity seems capable of being encapsulated - will be argued to be the central pillars of any satisfactory and interdisciplinary model of language evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elliot Murphy
- Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Prang TC. The African ape-like foot of Ardipithecus ramidus and its implications for the origin of bipedalism. eLife 2019; 8:44433. [PMID: 31038121 PMCID: PMC6491036 DOI: 10.7554/elife.44433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2018] [Accepted: 03/25/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
The ancestral condition from which humans evolved is critical for understanding the adaptive origin of bipedal locomotion. The 4.4 million-year-old hominin partial skeleton attributed to Ardipithecus ramidus preserves a foot that purportedly shares morphometric affinities with monkeys, but this interpretation remains controversial. Here I show that the foot of Ar. ramidus is most similar to living chimpanzee and gorilla species among a large sample of anthropoid primates. The foot morphology of Ar. ramidus suggests that the evolutionary precursor of hominin bipedalism was African ape-like terrestrial quadrupedalism and climbing. The elongation of the midfoot and phalangeal reduction in Ar. ramidus relative to the African apes is consistent with hypotheses of increased propulsive capabilities associated with an early form of bipedalism. This study provides evidence that the modern human foot was derived from an ancestral form adapted to terrestrial plantigrade quadrupedalism. Walking on two legs is considered to be one of the first steps towards becoming human. While some animals are also able to walk on two legs, such as kangaroos, birds, and some rodents, the way they move is nevertheless quite distinct to the way humans walk. How animals evolve traits is influenced by the characteristics of their ancestors. But what exactly was the common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees like? Most primates are suited for a life in the trees. But some also have skeletal characteristics associated with living on the ground. For example, the feet of chimpanzees and gorillas show adaptations that suit life on the ground, such as walking on the sole of the foot with a heel first foot posture. So far, it was unclear whether the ancestor of humans and chimpanzees was primarily adapted to living on the ground or in the trees. To investigate this further, Prang studied the oldest-known fossil foot (4.4 million years) attributed to the hominin Ardipithecus ramidus. This involved using evolutionary models to evaluate the relationship between foot bone proportions and the locomotory behaviour of monkeys and apes. The results revealed that humans evolved from an ancestor that had a foot similar to living chimpanzees and gorillas. The African ape foot is uniquely suited to life on the ground, including shorter toe bones, but also shows some adaptations to life in the trees, such as an elongated, grasping big toe. Therefore, the locomotion of our common ancestor probably bore a strong resemblance to these two ape species. Moreover, if the last common ancestor already had ground-living characteristics, the first step of the evolution of human bipedalism did not involve descending from the trees to the ground, as our ancestors had already achieved this milestone in some form and frequency. This is an important discovery. If this ancestor already had adaptations for life on the ground, why did only humans evolve to walk upright despite the retention of climbing capabilities in the earliest human relatives? A next step could be to investigate what selective pressures favored upright walking in a partly ground-living African ape. This may provide us with more insight into our own evolutionary story as well as the ways in which living primates evolve adaptations in an ecological context.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Cody Prang
- Department of Anthropology, Center for the Study of Human Origins (CSHO), New York University, New York, United states.,New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology (NYCEP), New York, United States
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
von Cramon-Taubadel N. Multivariate morphometrics, quantitative genetics, and neutral theory: Developing a "modern synthesis" for primate evolutionary morphology. Evol Anthropol 2019; 28:21-33. [PMID: 30652384 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2018] [Revised: 08/17/2018] [Accepted: 11/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
Abstract
Anthropologists are increasingly turning to explicit model-bound evolutionary approaches for understanding the morphological diversification of humans and other primate lineages. Such evolutionary morphological analyses rely on three interconnected conceptual frameworks; multivariate morphometrics for quantifying similarity and differences among taxa, quantitative genetics for modeling the inheritance and evolution of morphology, and neutral theory for assessing the likelihood that taxon diversification is due to stochastic processes such as genetic drift. Importantly, neutral theory provides a framework for testing more parsimonious explanations for observed morphological differences before considering more complex adaptive scenarios. However, the consistency with which these concepts are applied varies considerably, which mirrors some of the theoretical obstacles faced during the "modern synthesis" of classical population genetics in the early 20th century. Here, each framework is reviewed and some potential stumbling blocks to the full conceptual integration of multivariate morphometrics, quantitative genetics, and neutral theory are considered.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel
- Department of Anthropology, Buffalo Human Evolutionary Morphology Lab, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, New York
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Abstract
In humans, patterns of cranial variation mirror genetic diversity globally, implicating population history as a key driver of cranial disparity. Here, we demonstrate that the magnitude of genetic diversity within 12 extant ape taxa explains a large proportion of cranial shape variation. Taxa that are more genetically diverse tend to be more cranially diverse also. Our results suggest that neutral evolutionary processes such as mutation, genetic drift, and gene flow are reflected in both genetic and cranial diversity in apes. This work provides a perspective on intraspecific cranial variation in apes which has important implications for interpreting selective and developmental pressures on the cranium and for understanding shape variation in fossil hominin crania. Natural selection, developmental constraint, and plasticity have all been invoked as explanations for intraspecific cranial variation in humans and apes. However, global patterns of human cranial variation are congruent with patterns of genetic variation, demonstrating that population history has influenced cranial variation in humans. Here we show that this finding is not unique to Homo sapiens but is also broadly evident across extant ape species. Specifically, taxa that exhibit greater intraspecific cranial shape variation also exhibit greater genetic diversity at neutral autosomal loci. Thus, cranial shape variation within hominoid taxa reflects the population history of each species. Our results suggest that neutral evolutionary processes such as mutation, gene flow, and genetic drift have played an important role in generating cranial variation within species. These findings are consistent with previous work on human cranial morphology and improve our understanding of the evolutionary processes that generate intraspecific cranial shape diversity within hominoids. This work has implications for the analysis of selective and developmental pressures on the cranium and for interpreting shape variation in fossil hominin crania.
Collapse
|
12
|
Abstract
The cavity system of the inner ear—the so-called bony labyrinth—houses the senses of balance and hearing. This structure is embedded in dense petrous bone, fully formed by birth and generally well preserved in human skeletal remains, thus providing a rich source of morphological information about past populations. Here we show that labyrinthine morphology tracks genetic distances and geography in an isolation-by-distance model with dispersal from Africa. Because petrous bones have become prime targets of ancient DNA recovery, we propose that all destructive studies first acquire high-resolution 3D computed-tomography data prior to any invasive sampling. Such data will constitute an important archive of morphological variation in past and present populations, and will permit individual-based genotype–phenotype comparisons. The dispersal of modern humans from Africa is now well documented with genetic data that track population history, as well as gene flow between populations. Phenetic skeletal data, such as cranial and pelvic morphologies, also exhibit a dispersal-from-Africa signal, which, however, tends to be blurred by the effects of local adaptation and in vivo phenotypic plasticity, and that is often deteriorated by postmortem damage to skeletal remains. These complexities raise the question of which skeletal structures most effectively track neutral population history. The cavity system of the inner ear (the so-called bony labyrinth) is a good candidate structure for such analyses. It is already fully formed by birth, which minimizes postnatal phenotypic plasticity, and it is generally well preserved in archaeological samples. Here we use morphometric data of the bony labyrinth to show that it is a surprisingly good marker of the global dispersal of modern humans from Africa. Labyrinthine morphology tracks genetic distances and geography in accordance with an isolation-by-distance model with dispersal from Africa. Our data further indicate that the neutral-like pattern of variation is compatible with stabilizing selection on labyrinth morphology. Given the increasingly important role of the petrous bone for ancient DNA recovery from archaeological specimens, we encourage researchers to acquire 3D morphological data of the inner ear structures before any invasive sampling. Such data will constitute an important archive of phenotypic variation in present and past populations, and will permit individual-based genotype–phenotype comparisons.
Collapse
|
13
|
Weaver TD, Gunz P. Using geometric morphometric visualizations of directional selection gradients to investigate morphological differentiation. Evolution 2018; 72:838-850. [PMID: 29510468 DOI: 10.1111/evo.13460] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/29/2018] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Researchers studying extant and extinct taxa are often interested in identifying the evolutionary processes that have lead to the morphological differences among the taxa. Ideally, one could distinguish the influences of neutral evolutionary processes (genetic drift, mutation) from natural selection, and in situations for which selection is implicated, identify the targets of selection. The directional selection gradient is an effective tool for investigating evolutionary process, because it can relate form (size and shape) differences between taxa to the variation and covariation found within taxa. However, although most modern morphometric analyses use the tools of geometric morphometrics (GM) to analyze landmark data, to date, selection gradients have mainly been calculated from linear measurements. To address this methodological gap, here we present a GM approach for visualizing and comparing between-taxon selection gradients with each other, associated difference vectors, and "selection" gradients from neutral simulations. To exemplify our approach, we use a dataset of 347 three-dimensional landmarks and semilandmarks recorded on the crania of 260 primate specimens (112 humans, 67 common chimpanzees, 36 bonobos, 45 gorillas). Results on this example dataset show how incorporating geometric information can provide important insights into the evolution of the human braincase, and serve to demonstrate the utility of our approach for understanding morphological evolution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Timothy D Weaver
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, California 95616.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Philipp Gunz
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Schroeder L, von Cramon-Taubadel N. The evolution of hominoid cranial diversity: A quantitative genetic approach. Evolution 2017; 71:2634-2649. [DOI: 10.1111/evo.13361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2017] [Accepted: 09/03/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Lauren Schroeder
- Department of Anthropology; University of Toronto Mississauga; Mississauga ON L5L 1C6 Canada
- Buffalo Human Evolutionary Morphology Lab, Department of Anthropology; University at Buffalo; SUNY, Buffalo New York 14261
- Human Evolution Research Institute; University of Cape Town; Rondebosch 7701 South Africa
| | - Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel
- Buffalo Human Evolutionary Morphology Lab, Department of Anthropology; University at Buffalo; SUNY, Buffalo New York 14261
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Stringer C. The origin and evolution of Homo sapiens. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0237. [PMID: 27298468 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
If we restrict the use of Homo sapiens in the fossil record to specimens which share a significant number of derived features in the skeleton with extant H. sapiens, the origin of our species would be placed in the African late middle Pleistocene, based on fossils such as Omo Kibish 1, Herto 1 and 2, and the Levantine material from Skhul and Qafzeh. However, genetic data suggest that we and our sister species Homo neanderthalensis shared a last common ancestor in the middle Pleistocene approximately 400-700 ka, which is at least 200 000 years earlier than the species origin indicated from the fossils already mentioned. Thus, it is likely that the African fossil record will document early members of the sapiens lineage showing only some of the derived features of late members of the lineage. On that basis, I argue that human fossils such as those from Jebel Irhoud, Florisbad, Eliye Springs and Omo Kibish 2 do represent early members of the species, but variation across the African later middle Pleistocene/early Middle Stone Age fossils shows that there was not a simple linear progression towards later sapiens morphology, and there was chronological overlap between different 'archaic' and 'modern' morphs. Even in the late Pleistocene within and outside Africa, we find H. sapiens specimens which are clearly outside the range of Holocene members of the species, showing the complexity of recent human evolution. The impact on species recognition of late Pleistocene gene flow between the lineages of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans is also discussed, and finally, I reconsider the nature of the middle Pleistocene ancestor of these lineages, based on recent morphological and genetic data.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chris Stringer
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
| |
Collapse
|