1
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Hussain ST, Baumann C. The human side of biodiversity: coevolution of the human niche, palaeo-synanthropy and ecosystem complexity in the deep human past. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2024; 379:20230021. [PMID: 38583478 PMCID: PMC10999276 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0021] [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: 07/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Today's biodiversity crisis fundamentally threatens the habitability of the planet, thus ranking among the primary human challenges of our time. Much emphasis is currently placed on the loss of biodiversity in the Anthropocene, yet these debates often portray biodiversity as a purely natural phenomenon without much consideration of its human dimensions and frequently lack long-term vistas. This paper offers a deep-time perspective on the key role of the evolving human niche in ecosystem functioning and biodiversity dynamics. We summarize research on past hunter-gatherer ecosystem contributions and argue that human-environment feedback systems with important biodiversity consequences are probably a recurrent feature of the Late Pleistocene, perhaps with even deeper roots. We update current understandings of the human niche in this light and suggest that the formation of palaeo-synanthropic niches in other animals proffers a powerful model system to investigate recursive interactions of foragers and ecosystems. Archaeology holds important knowledge here and shows that ecosystem contributions vary greatly in relation to different human lifeways, some of which are lost today. We therefore recommend paying more attention to the intricate relationship between biodiversity and cultural diversity, contending that promotion of the former depends on fostering the latter. This article is part of the theme issue 'Ecological novelty and planetary stewardship: biodiversity dynamics in a transforming biosphere'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon T. Hussain
- MESH – Center for Multidisciplinary Environmental Studies in the Humanities & Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Weyertal 59, 50937 Cologne, Germany
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark
- BIOCHANGE – Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 116, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Chris Baumann
- Biogeology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, PL 64 (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2), 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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2
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Bruner E. Cognitive archaeology, and the psychological assessment of extinct minds. J Comp Neurol 2024; 532:e25583. [PMID: 38289186 DOI: 10.1002/cne.25583] [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: 08/21/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024]
Abstract
Evolutionary anthropology relies on both neontological and paleontological information. In the latter case, fields such as paleoneurology, neuroarchaeology, and cognitive archaeology are supplying new perspectives in prehistory and neuroscience. Cognitive archaeology, in particular, investigates the behaviors associated with extinct species or cultures according to specific psychological models. For example, changes in working memory, attention, or visuospatial integration can be postulated when related behavioral changes are described in the archaeological record. However, cognition is a process based on different and partially independent functional elements, and extinct species could hence have evolved distinct combinations of cognitive abilities or features, based on both quantitative and qualitative differences. Accordingly, differences in working memory can lead to more conceptual or more holistic mindsets, with important changes in the perception and management of the mental experience. The parietal cortex is particularly interesting, in this sense, being involved in functions associated with body-tool integration, attention, and visual imaging. In some cases, evolutionary mismatches among these elements can induce drawbacks that, despite their positive effects on natural selection, can introduce important constraints in our own mental skills. Beyond the theoretical background, some hypotheses can be tested following methods in experimental psychology. In any case, theories in cognitive evolution must acknowledge that, beyond the brain and its biology, the human mind is also deeply rooted in body perception, in social networks, and in technological extension.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Bruner
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
- Alzheimer's Centre Reina Sofia-CIEN Foundation-ISCIII, Madrid, Spain
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3
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Hagen EH, Blackwell AD, Lightner AD, Sullivan RJ. Homo medicus: The transition to meat eating increased pathogen pressure and the use of pharmacological plants in Homo. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2023; 180:589-617. [PMID: 36815505 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24718] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2023] [Indexed: 02/24/2023]
Abstract
The human lineage transitioned to a more carnivorous niche 2.6 mya and evolved a large body size and slower life history, which likely increased zoonotic pathogen pressure. Evidence for this increase includes increased zoonotic infections in modern hunter-gatherers and bushmeat hunters, exceptionally low stomach pH compared to other primates, and divergence in immune-related genes. These all point to change, and probably intensification, in the infectious disease environment of Homo compared to earlier hominins and other apes. At the same time, the brain, an organ in which immune responses are constrained, began to triple in size. We propose that the combination of increased zoonotic pathogen pressure and the challenges of defending a large brain and body from pathogens in a long-lived mammal, selected for intensification of the plant-based self-medication strategies already in place in apes and other primates. In support, there is evidence of medicinal plant use by hominins in the middle Paleolithic, and all cultures today have sophisticated, plant-based medical systems, add spices to food, and regularly consume psychoactive plant substances that are harmful to helminths and other pathogens. We propose that the computational challenges of discovering effective plant-based treatments, the consequent ability to consume more energy-rich animal foods, and the reduced reliance on energetically-costly immune responses helped select for increased cognitive abilities and unique exchange relationships in Homo. In the story of human evolution, which has long emphasized hunting skills, medical skills had an equal role to play.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward H Hagen
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Aaron D Blackwell
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
| | - Aaron D Lightner
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA
- Department of the Study of Religion, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Roger J Sullivan
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, Sacramento, California, USA
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4
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Negash EW, Barr WA. Relative abundance of grazing and browsing herbivores is not a direct reflection of vegetation structure: Implications for hominin paleoenvironmental reconstruction. J Hum Evol 2023; 177:103328. [PMID: 36857987 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103328] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023]
Abstract
The diet of fossil herbivores inferred from enamel stable carbon isotopes is often used to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions. While many studies have focused on using environmental indicator taxa to make paleoenvironmental reconstructions, community-based approaches are considered to provide a more complete picture of paleolandscapes. These studies assume that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores are related to the areal extent of different vegetation types on the landscape. Here, we quantitatively test this assumption in 16 modern ecosystems in eastern and southern Africa with a wide range of woody vegetation cover. We conducted a landscape-level spatial analysis of vegetation patterns using a published land cover data set and computed landscape metrics. We compiled data on relative abundance and diet of herbivores inferred from carbon isotope studies for all large herbivores in these ecosystems. We found that despite differences in the total areal extent of different vegetation types, numerous sizable patches of each vegetation type are available in most ecosystems. However, despite variation across the ecosystems examined, grazers are typically the most abundant herbivores even in sites that have a higher proportion of forest and shrub cover. This indicates that the diet and relative abundance of herbivores is not a simple reflection of the total areal extent of vegetation types available on the landscape. The higher proportion of grazers observed in these ecosystems is a result of multiple factors including habitat heterogeneity, differences in biomass turnover rate between grasses and woody vegetation, resource partitioning, and the advantages of group living in open environments. Comparison of diet and relative abundance of herbivores in modern ecosystems to fossil herbivore assemblages shows that very different vegetation regimes can support similar herbivore assemblages. This study has significant implications for paleolandscape reconstructions and cautions against a simplistic wooded vs. grassland paleoenvironmental interpretations based on fossil herbivore assemblages.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enquye W Negash
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA.
| | - W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, George Washington University, 800 22nd Street, Northwest, Washington D.C. 20052, USA
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5
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Lombardo G, Migliore NR, Colombo G, Capodiferro MR, Formenti G, Caprioli M, Moroni E, Caporali L, Lancioni H, Secomandi S, Gallo GR, Costanzo A, Romano A, Garofalo M, Cereda C, Carelli V, Gillespie L, Liu Y, Kiat Y, Marzal A, López-Calderón C, Balbontín J, Mousseau TA, Matyjasiak P, Møller AP, Semino O, Ambrosini R, Alquati AB, Rubolini D, Ferretti L, Achilli A, Gianfranceschi L, Olivieri A, Torroni A. The Mitogenome Relationships and Phylogeography of Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica). Mol Biol Evol 2022; 39:6591937. [PMID: 35617136 PMCID: PMC9174979 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msac113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) poses a number of fascinating scientific questions, including the taxonomic status of postulated subspecies. Here we obtained and assessed the sequence variation of 411 complete mitogenomes, mainly from the European H. r. rustica, but other subspecies as well. In almost every case, we observed subspecies-specific haplogroups, which we employed together with estimated radiation times to postulate a model for the geographical and temporal worldwide spread of the species. The female barn swallow carrying the Hirundo rustica ancestral mitogenome left Africa (or its vicinity) around 280 thousand years ago (kya), and her descendants expanded first into Eurasia and then, at least 51 kya, into the Americas, from where a relatively recent (< 20 kya) back migration to Asia took place. The exception to the haplogroup subspecies specificity is represented by the sedentary Levantine H. r. transitiva that extensively shares haplogroup A with the migratory European H. r. rustica and, to a lesser extent, haplogroup B with the Egyptian H. r. savignii. Our data indicate that rustica and transitiva most likely derive from a sedentary Levantine population source that split at the end of the Younger Dryas (11.7 kya). Since then, however, transitiva received genetic inputs from and admixed with both the closely related rustica and the adjacent savignii. Demographic analyses confirm this species' strong link with climate fluctuations and human activities making it an excellent indicator for monitoring and assessing the impact of current global changes on wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gianluca Lombardo
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Nicola Rambaldi Migliore
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Giulia Colombo
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Marco Rosario Capodiferro
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Giulio Formenti
- Vertebrate Genome Laboratory, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY 10065, USA
| | - Manuela Caprioli
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Elisabetta Moroni
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Leonardo Caporali
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma di Neurogenetica, 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - Hovirag Lancioni
- Dipartimento di Chimica, Biologia e Biotecnologie, Università di Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
| | - Simona Secomandi
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Guido Roberto Gallo
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Alessandra Costanzo
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Romano
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Maria Garofalo
- Genomic and Post-Genomic Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Cristina Cereda
- Genomic and Post-Genomic Unit, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Valerio Carelli
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Programma di Neurogenetica, 40139 Bologna, Italy.,Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Neuromotorie, Università di Bologna, 40139 Bologna, Italy
| | - Lauren Gillespie
- Department of Academic Education, Central Community College, Columbus, NE 68601, USA
| | - Yang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, School of Ecology, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510275, China
| | - Yosef Kiat
- Israeli Bird Ringing Center (IBRC), Israel Ornithological Center, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Alfonso Marzal
- Department of Zoology, University of Extremadura, 06071 Badajoz, Spain
| | - Cosme López-Calderón
- Department of Wetland Ecology, Estación Biológica de Doñana CSIC, 41092 Seville, Spain
| | - Javier Balbontín
- Department of Zoology, University of Seville, 41012 Seville, Spain
| | - Timothy A Mousseau
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
| | - Piotr Matyjasiak
- Institute of Biological Sciences, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland
| | - Anders Pape Møller
- Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Université Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France
| | - Ornella Semino
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Roberto Ambrosini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Andrea Bonisoli Alquati
- Department of Biological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University - Pomona, Pomona, CA 91767, USA
| | - Diego Rubolini
- Dipartimento di Scienze e Politiche Ambientali, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Luca Ferretti
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Alessandro Achilli
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Luca Gianfranceschi
- Dipartimento di Bioscienze, Università degli Studi di Milano, 20133 Milan, Italy
| | - Anna Olivieri
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
| | - Antonio Torroni
- Dipartimento di Biologia e Biotecnologie "Lazzaro Spallanzani", Università di Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy
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6
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García-Escárzaga A, Gutiérrez-Zugasti I, Marín-Arroyo AB, Fernandes R, Núñez de la Fuente S, Cuenca-Solana D, Iriarte E, Simões C, Martín-Chivelet J, González-Morales MR, Roberts P. Human forager response to abrupt climate change at 8.2 ka on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6481. [PMID: 35444222 PMCID: PMC9021199 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10135-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The cooling and drying associated with the so-called ‘8.2 ka event’ have long been hypothesized as having sweeping implications for human societies in the Early Holocene, including some of the last Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Atlantic Europe. Nevertheless, detailed ‘on-site’ records with which the impacts of broader climate changes on human-relevant environments can be explored have been lacking. Here, we reconstruct sea surface temperatures (SST) from δ18O values measured on subfossil topshells Phorcus lineatus exploited by the Mesolithic human groups that lived at El Mazo cave (N Spain) between 9 and 7.4 ka. Bayesian modelling of 65 radiocarbon dates, in combination with this δ18O data, provide a high-resolution seasonal record of SST, revealing that colder SST during the 8.2 ka event led to changes in the availability of different shellfish species. Intensification in the exploitation of molluscs by humans indicates demographic growth in these Atlantic coastal settings which acted as refugia during this cold event.
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Affiliation(s)
- Asier García-Escárzaga
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany. .,Departamento de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad de La Rioja, Logroño, Spain. .,Department of Prehistory and Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) , Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain.
| | - Igor Gutiérrez-Zugasti
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.
| | - Ana B Marín-Arroyo
- Grupo de I+D+I EVOADAPTA, Departamento de Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.,Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Ricardo Fernandes
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.,School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.,Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Sara Núñez de la Fuente
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - David Cuenca-Solana
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander, Spain.,Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archeosciences, Histoire (CReAAH), UMR-6566, Université de Rennes 1, Rennes, France
| | - Eneko Iriarte
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana-IsoTOPIK Stable Isotope Laboratory, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
| | - Carlos Simões
- ICArEHB-Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, Universidade Do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Javier Martín-Chivelet
- Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid & Instituto de Geociencias (CSIC-UCM), Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel R González-Morales
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria, Santander, Spain
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.,School of Social Sciences, University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia
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7
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Syed A, Raza T, Bhatti TT, Eash NS. Climate Impacts on the agricultural sector of Pakistan: Risks and solutions. ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES 2022; 6:100433. [DOI: 10.1016/j.envc.2021.100433] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
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8
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Vernot B, Zavala EI, Gómez-Olivencia A, Jacobs Z, Slon V, Mafessoni F, Romagné F, Pearson A, Petr M, Sala N, Pablos A, Aranburu A, de Castro JMB, Carbonell E, Li B, Krajcarz MT, Krivoshapkin AI, Kolobova KA, Kozlikin MB, Shunkov MV, Derevianko AP, Viola B, Grote S, Essel E, Herráez DL, Nagel S, Nickel B, Richter J, Schmidt A, Peter B, Kelso J, Roberts RG, Arsuaga JL, Meyer M. Unearthing Neanderthal population history using nuclear and mitochondrial DNA from cave sediments. Science 2021; 372:science.abf1667. [PMID: 33858989 DOI: 10.1126/science.abf1667] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Bones and teeth are important sources of Pleistocene hominin DNA, but are rarely recovered at archaeological sites. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been retrieved from cave sediments but provides limited value for studying population relationships. We therefore developed methods for the enrichment and analysis of nuclear DNA from sediments and applied them to cave deposits in western Europe and southern Siberia dated to between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago. We detected a population replacement in northern Spain about 100,000 years ago, which was accompanied by a turnover of mtDNA. We also identified two radiation events in Neanderthal history during the early part of the Late Pleistocene. Our work lays the ground for studying the population history of ancient hominins from trace amounts of nuclear DNA in sediments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Benjamin Vernot
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Elena I Zavala
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Asier Gómez-Olivencia
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain.,Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.,Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Zenobia Jacobs
- 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
| | - Viviane Slon
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Anatomy and Anthropology and Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.,The Dan David Center for Human Evolution and Biohistory Research, Tel Aviv University, 6997801 Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Fabrizio Mafessoni
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Frédéric Romagné
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alice Pearson
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Petr
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nohemi Sala
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Adrián Pablos
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Arantza Aranburu
- Departamento de Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco-Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU), Leioa, Spain.,Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain
| | | | - Eudald Carbonell
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Bo Li
- 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
| | - Maciej T Krajcarz
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, Poland
| | - Andrey I Krivoshapkin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia.,Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Kseniya A Kolobova
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Maxim B Kozlikin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Michael V Shunkov
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Anatoly P Derevianko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Bence Viola
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Steffi Grote
- 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
| | - David López Herráez
- 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
| | - Birgit Nickel
- 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
| | - Anna Schmidt
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin Peter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Janet Kelso
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - 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
| | - Juan-Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Paleontología, Facultad Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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9
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Divergence-time estimates for hominins provide insight into encephalization and body mass trends in human evolution. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:808-819. [PMID: 33795855 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01431-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Quantifying speciation times during human evolution is fundamental as it provides a timescale to test for the correlation between key evolutionary transitions and extrinsic factors such as climatic or environmental change. Here, we applied a total evidence dating approach to a hominin phylogeny to estimate divergence times under different topological hypotheses. The time-scaled phylogenies were subsequently used to perform ancestral state reconstructions of body mass and phylogenetic encephalization quotient (PEQ). Our divergence-time estimates are consistent with other recent studies that analysed extant species. We show that the origin of the genus Homo probably occurred between 4.30 and 2.56 million years ago. The ancestral state reconstructions show a general trend towards a smaller body mass before the emergence of Homo, followed by a trend towards a greater body mass. PEQ estimations display a general trend of gradual but accelerating encephalization evolution. The obtained results provide a rigorous temporal framework for human evolution.
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Pisor AC, Jones JH. Human adaptation to climate change: An introduction to the special issue. Am J Hum Biol 2020; 33:e23530. [PMID: 33230887 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.23530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2020] [Revised: 10/05/2020] [Accepted: 10/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Despite our focus on adaptation and human responses to climate, evolutionary and biological anthropologists (EBAs) are largely absent from conversations about contemporary "climate-change adaptation," a term popular in other disciplines, the development world, and related policy decisions. EBAs are missing a big opportunity to contribute to impactful, time-sensitive applied work: we have extensive theoretical and empirical knowledge pertinent to conversations about climate-change adaptation and to helping support communities as they cope. This special issue takes a tour of EBA contributions to our understanding of climate-change adaptation, from data on past and contemporary human communities to theoretically informed predictions about how individuals and communities will respond to climate change now and in the future. First, however, we must establish what we mean by "climate change" and "adaptation," along with other terms commonly used by EBAs; review what EBAs know about adaptation and about human responses to climate change; and identify just a few topics EBAs study that are pertinent to ongoing conversations about climate-change adaptation. In this article, we do just that. CONCLUSION From our work on energy use to our work on demography, subsistence, social networks, and the salience of climate change to local communities, EBAs have an abundance of data and theoretical insights to help inform responses to contemporary climate change. We need to better reach the climate community and general public with our contributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne C Pisor
- Department of Anthropology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA.,Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, & Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - James H Jones
- Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA
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Dietary trends in herbivores from the Shungura Formation, southwestern Ethiopia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:21921-21927. [PMID: 32839326 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2006982117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Diet provides critical information about the ecology and environment of herbivores. Hence, understanding the dietary strategies of fossil herbivores and the associated temporal changes is one aspect of inferring paleoenvironmental conditions. Here, we present carbon isotope data from more than 1,050 fossil teeth that record the dietary patterns of nine herbivore families in the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene (3.6 to 1.05 Ma) from the Shungura Formation, a hominin-bearing site in southwestern Ethiopia. An increasing trend toward C4 herbivory has been observed with attendant reductions in the proportions of browsers and mixed feeders through time. A high proportion of mixed feeders has been observed prior to 2.9 Ma followed by a decrease in the proportion of mixed feeders and an increase in grazers between 2.7 and 1.9 Ma, and a further increase in the proportion of grazers after 1.9 Ma. The collective herbivore fauna shows two major change points in carbon isotope values at ∼2.7 and ∼2.0 Ma. While hominin fossils from the sequence older than 2.7 Ma are attributed to Australopithecus, the shift at ∼2.7 Ma indicating the expansion of C4 grasses on the landscape was concurrent with the first appearance of Paranthropus The link between the increased C4 herbivory and more open landscapes suggests that Australopithecus lived in more wooded landscapes compared to later hominins such as Paranthropus and Homo, and has implications for key morphological and behavioral adaptations in our lineage.
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Hussain ST, Will M. Materiality, Agency and Evolution of Lithic Technology: an Integrated Perspective for Palaeolithic Archaeology. JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD AND THEORY 2020; 28:617-670. [PMID: 34720569 PMCID: PMC8550397 DOI: 10.1007/s10816-020-09483-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Considerations of materiality and object-oriented approaches have greatly influenced the development of archaeological theory in recent years. Yet, Palaeolithic archaeology has been slow in incorporating this emerging body of scholarship and exploring its bearing on the human deep past. This paper probes into the potential of materiality theory to clarify the material dynamics of the Plio-Pleistocene and seeks to re-articulate the debate on the evolution of our species with materiality discourses in archaeology and the humanities more broadly. We argue that the signature temporalities and geospatial scales of observation provided by the Palaeolithic record offer unique opportunities to examine the active role of material things, objects, artefacts and technologies in the emergence, stabilisation and transformation of hominin lifeworlds and the accretion of long-term trajectories of material culture change. We map three axes of human-thing relations-ecological, technical and evolutionary-and deploy a range of case studies from the literature to show that a critical re-assessment of material agency not only discloses novel insights and questions, but can also refine what we already know about the human deep past. Our exploration underscores the benefits of de-centring human behaviour and intentionality and demonstrates that materiality lends itself as a productive nexus of exchange and mutual inspiration for diverging schools and research interests in Palaeolithic archaeology. An integrated object-oriented perspective calls attention to the human condition as a product of millennial-scale human-thing co-adaptation, in the course of which hominins, artefacts and technologies continuously influenced and co-created each other.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon T. Hussain
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Aarhus, Denmark
- CRC 806 ‘Our Way to Europe’, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Centre for Environmental Humanities (CEH), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- BIOCHANGE – for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- Centre for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF), University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
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Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Fuentes
- 296 Corbett Family Hall, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5611, E-mail:
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Hutchison W, Fusillo R, Pyle DM, Mather TA, Blundy JD, Biggs J, Yirgu G, Cohen BE, Brooker RA, Barfod DN, Calvert AT. A pulse of mid-Pleistocene rift volcanism in Ethiopia at the dawn of modern humans. Nat Commun 2016; 7:13192. [PMID: 27754479 PMCID: PMC5071850 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms13192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The Ethiopian Rift Valley hosts the longest record of human co-existence with volcanoes on Earth, however, current understanding of the magnitude and timing of large explosive eruptions in this region is poor. Detailed records of volcanism are essential for interpreting the palaeoenvironments occupied by our hominin ancestors; and also for evaluating the volcanic hazards posed to the 10 million people currently living within this active rift zone. Here we use new geochronological evidence to suggest that a 200 km-long segment of rift experienced a major pulse of explosive volcanic activity between 320 and 170 ka. During this period, at least four distinct volcanic centres underwent large-volume (>10 km3) caldera-forming eruptions, and eruptive fluxes were elevated five times above the average eruption rate for the past 700 ka. We propose that such pulses of episodic silicic volcanism would have drastically remodelled landscapes and ecosystems occupied by early hominin populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Hutchison
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Raffaella Fusillo
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - David M. Pyle
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Tamsin A. Mather
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3AN, UK
| | - Jon D. Blundy
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Juliet Biggs
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Gezahegn Yirgu
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Addis Ababa, PO Box 1176, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Benjamin E. Cohen
- NERC Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK
| | - Richard A. Brooker
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RJ, UK
| | - Dan N. Barfod
- NERC Argon Isotope Facility, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Rankine Avenue, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK
| | - Andrew T. Calvert
- U.S. Geological Survey, 345 Middlefield Road, MS-937, Menlo Park, California 94025, USA
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Janz L. Fragmented Landscapes and Economies of Abundance: The Broad-Spectrum Revolution in Arid East Asia. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1086/688436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Wynn JG, Reed KE, Sponheimer M, Kimbel WH, Alemseged Z, Bedaso ZK, Campisano CJ. Dietary flexibility of Australopithecus afarensis in the face of paleoecological change during the middle Pliocene: Faunal evidence from Hadar, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2016; 99:93-106. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2016] [Revised: 07/31/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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Fuentes A. The Extended Evolutionary Synthesis, Ethnography, and the Human Niche: Toward an Integrated Anthropology. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1086/685684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 113] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Zentner M, Eagly AH. A sociocultural framework for understanding partner preferences of women and men: Integration of concepts and evidence. EUROPEAN REVIEW OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 2015. [DOI: 10.1080/10463283.2015.1111599] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Fuentes A. Integrative Anthropology and the Human Niche: Toward a Contemporary Approach to Human Evolution. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Agustín Fuentes
- Department of Anthropology; University of Notre Dame; Notre Dame IN 46556
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Stable isotope paleoecology of Late Pleistocene Middle Stone Age humans from the Lake Victoria basin, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2015; 82:1-14. [PMID: 25805041 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2013] [Revised: 06/12/2014] [Accepted: 10/10/2014] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Paleoanthropologists have long argued that environmental pressures played a key role in human evolution. However, our understanding of how these pressures mediated the behavioral and biological diversity of early modern humans and their migration patterns within and out of Africa is limited by a lack of archaeological evidence associated with detailed paleoenvironmental data. Here, we present the first stable isotopic data from paleosols and fauna associated with Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites in East Africa. Late Pleistocene (∼100-45 ka, thousands of years ago) sediments on Rusinga and Mfangano Islands in eastern Lake Victoria (Kenya) preserve a taxonomically diverse, non-analog faunal community associated with MSA artifacts. We analyzed the stable carbon and oxygen isotope composition of paleosol carbonate and organic matter and fossil mammalian tooth enamel, including the first analyses for several extinct bovids such as Rusingoryx atopocranion, Damaliscus hypsodon, and an unnamed impala species. Both paleosol carbonate and organic matter data suggest that local habitats associated with human activities were primarily riverine woodland ecosystems. However, mammalian tooth enamel data indicate that most large-bodied mammals consumed a predominantly C4 diet, suggesting an extensive C4 grassland surrounding these riverine woodlands in the region at the time. These data are consistent with other lines of paleoenvironmental evidence that imply a substantially reduced Lake Victoria at this time, and demonstrate that C4 grasslands were significantly expanded into equatorial Africa compared with their present distribution, which could have facilitated dispersal of human populations and other biotic communities. Our results indicate that early populations of Homo sapiens from the Lake Victoria region exploited locally wooded and well-watered habitats within a larger grassland ecosystem.
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Stewart KM. Environmental change and hominin exploitation of C4-based resources in wetland/savanna mosaics. J Hum Evol 2014; 77:1-16. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2013] [Revised: 03/05/2014] [Accepted: 10/06/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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Sayers K, Lovejoy CO. Blood, bulbs, and bunodonts: on evolutionary ecology and the diets of Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and early Homo. THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 2014; 89:319-57. [PMID: 25510078 PMCID: PMC4350785 DOI: 10.1086/678568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Beginning with Darwin, some have argued that predation on other vertebrates dates to the earliest stages of hominid evolution, and can explain many uniquely human anatomical and behavioral characters. Other recent workers have focused instead on scavenging, or particular plant foods. Foraging theory suggests that inclusion of any food is influenced by its profitability and distribution within the consumer's habitat. The morphology and likely cognitive abilities of Ardipithecus, Australopithecus, and early Homo suggest that while hunting and scavenging occurred, their profitability generally would have been considerably lower than in extant primates and/or modern human hunter-gatherers. On the other hand, early hominid diet modelers should not focus solely on plant foods, as this overlooks standard functional interpretations of the early hominid dentition, their remarkable demographic success, and the wide range of available food types within their likely day ranges. Any dietary model focusing too narrowly on any one food type or foraging strategy must be viewed with caution. We argue that early hominid diet can best be elucidated by consideration of their entire habitat-specific resource base, and by quantifying the potential profitability and abundance of likely available foods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ken Sayers
- Language Research Center, Georgia State University, Decatur, Georgia 30034 USA
| | - C. Owen Lovejoy
- Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242 USA
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MacKinnon KC. Contemporary Biological Anthropology in 2013: Integrative, Connected, and Relevant. AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 2014. [DOI: 10.1111/aman.12102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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