1
|
Deutsch AR, Brian Langerhans R, Flores D, Hartstone-Rose A. The roar of Rancho La Brea? Comparative anatomy of modern and fossil felid hyoid bones. J Morphol 2023; 284:e21627. [PMID: 37708512 DOI: 10.1002/jmor.21627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/18/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
Animal vocalization is broadly recognized as ecologically and evolutionarily important. In mammals, hyoid elements may influence vocalization repertoires because the hyoid apparatus anchors vocal tissues, and its morphology can be associated with variation in surrounding soft-tissue vocal anatomy. Thus, fossil hyoid morphology has the potential to shed light on vocalizations in extinct taxa. Yet, we know little about the hyoid morphology of extinct species because hyoid elements are rare in the fossil record. An exception is found in the Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los Angeles, California, where enough hyoids have been preserved to allow for quantitative analyses. The La Brea Tar Pits and Museum houses one of the largest and most diverse collections of carnivore fossils, including hyoid elements from the extinct felids Smilodon fatalis and Panthera atrox. Here, we found that extant members of Felinae (purring cats) and Panthera (roaring cats) showed characteristic differences in hyoid size and shape that suggest possible functional relationships with vocalization. The two extinct taxa had larger and more robust hyoids than extant felids, potentially reflecting the ability to produce lower frequency vocalizations as well as more substantial muscles associated with swallowing and respiration. Based on the shape of the hyoid elements, Panthera atrox resembled roaring cats, while Smilodon fatalis was quite variable and, contrary to suggestions from previous research, more similar overall to purring felids. Thus P. atrox may have roared and S. fatalis may have produced vocalizations similar to extant purring cats but at a lower frequency. Due to the confounding of vocalization repertoire and phylogenetic history in extant Felidae, we cannot distinguish between morphological signals related to vocalization behavior and those related to shared evolutionary history unrelated to vocalization.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ashley R Deutsch
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - R Brian Langerhans
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| | - Deanna Flores
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, USA
| | - Adam Hartstone-Rose
- Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Ekström AG, Edlund J. Evolution of the human tongue and emergence of speech biomechanics. Front Psychol 2023; 14:1150778. [PMID: 37325743 PMCID: PMC10266234 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1150778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/15/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023] Open
Abstract
The tongue is one of the organs most central to human speech. Here, the evolution and species-unique properties of the human tongue is traced, via reference to the apparent articulatory behavior of extant non-human great apes, and fossil findings from early hominids - from a point of view of articulatory phonetics, the science of human speech production. Increased lingual flexibility provided the possibility of mapping of articulatory targets, possibly via exaptation of manual-gestural mapping capacities evident in extant great apes. The emergence of the human-specific tongue, its properties, and morphology were crucial to the evolution of human articulate speech.
Collapse
|
3
|
Boeckx C. What made us "hunter-gatherers of words". Front Neurosci 2023; 17:1080861. [PMID: 36845441 PMCID: PMC9947416 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1080861] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2022] [Accepted: 01/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/11/2023] Open
Abstract
This paper makes three interconnected claims: (i) the "human condition" cannot be captured by evolutionary narratives that reduce it to a recent 'cognitive modernity', nor by narratives that eliminates all cognitive differences between us and out closest extinct relatives, (ii) signals from paleogenomics, especially coming from deserts of introgression but also from signatures of positive selection, point to the importance of mutations that impact neurodevelopment, plausibly leading to temperamental differences, which may impact cultural evolutionary trajectories in specific ways, and (iii) these trajectories are expected to affect the language phenotypes, modifying what is being learned and how it is put to use. In particular, I hypothesize that these different trajectories influence the development of symbolic systems, the flexible ways in which symbols combine, and the size and configurations of the communities in which these systems are put to use.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cedric Boeckx
- Section of General Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institute of Complex Systems, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Vyshedskiy A. Language evolution is not limited to speech acquisition: a large study of language development in children with language deficits highlights the importance of the voluntary imagination component of language. RESEARCH IDEAS AND OUTCOMES 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/rio.8.e86401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Did the boy bite the cat or was it the other way around? When processing a sentence with several objects, one has to establish ‘who did what to whom’. When a sentence cannot be interpreted by recalling an image from memory, we rely on the special type of voluntary constructive imagination called Prefrontal synthesis (PFS). PFS is defined as the ability to juxtapose mental visuospatial objects at will. We hypothesised that PFS has fundamental importance for language acquisition. To test this hypothesis, we designed a PFS-targeting intervention and administered it to 6,454 children with language deficiencies (age 2 to 12 years). The results from the three-year-long study demonstrated that children who engaged with the PFS intervention showed 2.2-fold improvement in combinatorial language comprehension compared to children with similar initial evaluations. These findings suggest that language can be improved by training the PFS and exposes the importance of the visuospatial component of language. This manuscript reflects on the experimental findings from the point of view of human language evolution. When used as a proxy for evolutionary language acquisition, the study results suggest a dichotomy of language evolution, with its speech component and its visuospatial component developing in parallel. The study highlights the radical idea that evolutionary acquisition of language was driven primarily by improvements of voluntary imagination rather than by improvements in the speech apparatus.
Collapse
|
5
|
Dediu D, Moisik SR, Baetsen WA, Bosman AM, Waters-Rist AL. The vocal tract as a time machine: inferences about past speech and language from the anatomy of the speech organs. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200192. [PMID: 33745306 PMCID: PMC8059537 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0192] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
While speech and language do not fossilize, they still leave traces that can be extracted and interpreted. Here, we suggest that the shape of the hard structures of the vocal tract may also allow inferences about the speech of long-gone humans. These build on recent experimental and modelling studies, showing that there is extensive variation between individuals in the precise shape of the vocal tract, and that this variation affects speech and language. In particular, we show that detailed anatomical information concerning two components of the vocal tract (the lower jaw and the hard palate) can be extracted and digitized from the osteological remains of three historical populations from The Netherlands, and can be used to conduct three-dimensional biomechanical simulations of vowel production. We could recover the signatures of inter-individual variation between these vowels, in acoustics and articulation. While 'proof-of-concept', this study suggests that older and less well-preserved remains could be used to draw inferences about historic and prehistoric languages. Moreover, it forces us to clarify the meaning and use of the uniformitarian principle in linguistics, and to consider the wider context of language use, including the anatomy, physiology and cognition of the speakers. This article is part of the theme issue 'Reconstructing prehistoric languages'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Dan Dediu
- Laboratoire Dynamique De Langage (DDL) UMR 5596, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Lyon, France
| | - Scott R. Moisik
- Division of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Republic of Singapore
| | - W. A. Baetsen
- RAAP Archeologisch Adviesbureau b.v., Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Abel Marinus Bosman
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies ‘Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past’, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
- IDDS Groep b.v., Noordwijk, The Netherlands
| | | |
Collapse
|
6
|
Wang X, Wang C, Zhang S, Wang W, Li X, Gao S, Li K, Chen J, Wang H, Chen L, Shi J, Liu X, Li ZJ. Microstructure of the hyoid bone based on micro-computed tomography findings. Medicine (Baltimore) 2020; 99:e22246. [PMID: 33126297 PMCID: PMC7598853 DOI: 10.1097/md.0000000000022246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, micro-CT was used to observe the microscopic anatomy of the hyoid bone, examine the variation of the trabecular bone inside the hyoid bone, and investigate the internal structure of the hyoid bone.A total of 22 hyoid bones were scanned using micro-CT. The changes in the internal bone trabeculae were assessed with 3D reconstructions, and the fine anatomical structure of the hyoid bone was further analyzed.Micro-CT images showed the microstructure of various parts of the hyoid bone. There were significant differences in total volume, bone volume, bone area, bone density, and volume fraction between the body and greater horns of the hyoid bone (P < .05), but no significant differences in the ratio of bone area/volume and bone surface density were found between the body and greater horns of the hyoid bone (P > .05). In addition, significant differences in the trabecular bone measurements, bone trabecular connectivity, and Euler number were found between the body and greater horns of the hyoid bone (P < .05). Other parameters, including bone trabecular thickness, number of trabecular bones, bone trabecular structure model index, and anisotropy of bone trabeculae, did not differ between the body and greater horns of the hyoid bone (P > .05). There was noticeably ossified healing at the joint between the body and greater horns of the hyoid bone.Micro-CT can adequately display the internal structure of the hyoid bone. The identified bone structure may help clarify the physiological function of the hyoid bone. The present findings provide a theoretical basis for further studies aimed at pathological changes due to hyoid injury in clinical and forensic medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xing Wang
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Beijing
| | - Chaoqun Wang
- Department of Imaging, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University
| | - Shaojie Zhang
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Wei Wang
- Department of Emergency, Inner Mongolia People's Hospital
| | - Xiaohe Li
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Shang Gao
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Kun Li
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Jie Chen
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Haiyan Wang
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| | - Lianxiang Chen
- Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot
| | - Jun Shi
- Department of Physiology, School of Basic Medicine, Inner Mongolia Medical University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia
| | - Xiaoling Liu
- Scientific Bureau and Department of Otolaryngology, Inner Mongolia People's Hospital, Hohhot, China
| | - Zhi-Jun Li
- Human Anatomy Teaching and Research Section (Digital Medical Center), Inner Mongolia Medical University Basic Medical College
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Breyl M. Triangulating Neanderthal cognition: A tale of not seeing the forest for the trees. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2020; 12:e1545. [PMID: 32918796 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The inference of Neanderthal cognition, including their cultural and linguistic capabilities, has persisted as a fiercely debated research topic for decades. This lack of consensus is substantially based on inherent uncertainties in reconstructing prehistory out of indirect evidence as well as other methodological limitations. Further factors include systemic difficulties within interdisciplinary discourse, data artifacts, historic research biases, and the sheer scope of the relevant research. Given the degrees of freedom in interpretation ensuing from these complications, any attempt to find approximate answers to the yet unsettled pertinent discourse may not rest on single studies, but instead a careful and comprehensive interdisciplinary synthesis of findings. Triangulating Neanderthals' cognition by considering the plethora of data, diverse perspectives and aforementioned complexities present within the literature constitutes the currently most reliable pathway to tentative conclusions. While some uncertainties remain, such an approach paints the picture of an extensive shared humanity between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Breyl
- Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Boë LJ, Sawallis TR, Fagot J, Badin P, Barbier G, Captier G, Ménard L, Heim JL, Schwartz JL. Which way to the dawn of speech?: Reanalyzing half a century of debates and data in light of speech science. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaaw3916. [PMID: 32076631 PMCID: PMC7000245 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw3916] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2018] [Accepted: 10/10/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Recent articles on primate articulatory abilities are revolutionary regarding speech emergence, a crucial aspect of language evolution, by revealing a human-like system of proto-vowels in nonhuman primates and implicitly throughout our hominid ancestry. This article presents both a schematic history and the state of the art in primate vocalization research and its importance for speech emergence. Recent speech research advances allow more incisive comparison of phylogeny and ontogeny and also an illuminating reinterpretation of vintage primate vocalization data. This review produces three major findings. First, even among primates, laryngeal descent is not uniquely human. Second, laryngeal descent is not required to produce contrasting formant patterns in vocalizations. Third, living nonhuman primates produce vocalizations with contrasting formant patterns. Thus, evidence now overwhelmingly refutes the long-standing laryngeal descent theory, which pushes back "the dawn of speech" beyond ~200 ka ago to over ~20 Ma ago, a difference of two orders of magnitude.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Louis-Jean Boë
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
| | | | - Joël Fagot
- Brain and Language Research Institute, Aix-Marseille University, Aix-en-Provence, France
- Cognitive Psychology Laboratory, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France
| | - Pierre Badin
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
| | - Guillaume Barbier
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
- School of Speech Pathology and Audiology, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | | | - Lucie Ménard
- Laboratoire de Phonétique, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Center for Research on Brain, Language, and Music, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Jean-Louis Heim
- Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
- Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Luc Schwartz
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Institute of Engineering Univ. Grenoble Alpes, GIPSA-lab, Grenoble, France
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Vyshedskiy A. Language evolution to revolution: the leap from rich-vocabulary non-recursive communication system to recursive language 70,000 years ago was associated with acquisition of a novel component of imagination, called Prefrontal Synthesis, enabled by a mutation that slowed down the prefrontal cortex maturation simultaneously in two or more children – the Romulus and Remus hypothesis. RESEARCH IDEAS AND OUTCOMES 2019. [DOI: 10.3897/rio.5.e38546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There is an overwhelming archeological and genetic evidence that modern speech apparatus was acquired by hominins by 600,000 years ago. On the other hand, artifacts signifying modern imagination, such as (1) composite figurative arts, (2) bone needles with an eye, (3) construction of dwellings, and (4) elaborate burials arose not earlier than 70,000 years ago. It remains unclear (1) why there was a long gap between acquisition of modern speech apparatus and modern imagination, (2) what triggered the acquisition of modern imagination 70,000 years ago, and (3) what role language might have played in this process. Our research into evolutionary origin of modern imagination has been driven by the observation of a temporal limit for the development of a particular component of imagination. Modern children not exposed to recursive language in early childhood never acquire the type of active constructive imagination called Prefrontal Synthesis (PFS). Unlike vocabulary and grammar acquisition, which can be learned throughout one’s lifetime, there is a strong critical period for the development of PFS and individuals not exposed to recursive language in early childhood can never acquire PFS as adults. Their language will always lack understanding of spatial prepositions and recursion that depend on the PFS ability. In a similar manner, early hominins would not have been able to learn recursive language as adults and, therefore, would not be able to teach recursive language to their children. Thus, the existence of a strong critical period for PFS acquisition creates an evolutionary barrier for behavioral modernity. An evolutionary mathematical model suggests that a synergistic confluence of three events (1) a genetic mutation that extended the critical period by slowing down the prefrontal cortex development simultaneously in two or more children, (2) invention of recursive elements of language, such as spatial prepositions, by these children and (3) their dialogic communications using these recursive elements, resulted in concurrent conversion of a non-recursive communication system of their parents to recursive language and acquisition of PFS around 70,000 years ago.
Collapse
|
10
|
Caporale AL, Gonda CM, Franchini LF. Transcriptional Enhancers in the FOXP2 Locus Underwent Accelerated Evolution in the Human Lineage. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:2432-2450. [PMID: 31359064 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Revised: 04/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Unique human features such as complex language are the result of molecular evolutionary changes that modified developmental programs of our brain. The human-specific evolution of the forkhead box P2 (FOXP2) gene coding region has been linked to the emergence of speech and language in the human kind. However, little is known about how the expression of FOXP2 is regulated and if its regulatory machinery evolved in a lineage-specific manner in humans. In order to identify FOXP2 regulatory regions containing human-specific changes we used databases of human accelerated non-coding sequences or HARs. We found that the topologically associating domain (TAD) determined using developing human cerebral cortex containing the FOXP2 locus includes two clusters of 12 HARs, placing the locus occupied by FOXP2 among the top regions showing fast acceleration rates in non-coding regions in the human genome. Using in vivo enhancer assays in zebrafish, we found that at least five FOXP2-HARs behave as transcriptional enhancers throughout different developmental stages. In addition, we found that at least two FOXP2-HARs direct the expression of the reporter gene EGFP to foxP2 expressing regions and cells. Moreover, we uncovered two FOXP2-HARs showing reporter expression gain of function in the nervous system when compared with the chimpanzee ortholog sequences. Our results indicate that regulatory sequences in the FOXP2 locus underwent a human-specific evolutionary process suggesting that the transcriptional machinery controlling this gene could have also evolved differentially in the human lineage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alfredo Leandro Caporale
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Catalina M Gonda
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| | - Lucía Florencia Franchini
- Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular (INGEBI), Consejo de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Bishop PJ, Hocknull SA, Clemente CJ, Hutchinson JR, Farke AA, Beck BR, Barrett RS, Lloyd DG. Cancellous bone and theropod dinosaur locomotion. Part I-an examination of cancellous bone architecture in the hindlimb bones of theropods. PeerJ 2018; 6:e5778. [PMID: 30402347 PMCID: PMC6215452 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.5778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2018] [Accepted: 09/18/2018] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
This paper is the first of a three-part series that investigates the architecture of cancellous ('spongy') bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs, and uses cancellous bone architectural patterns to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct non-avian species. Cancellous bone is widely known to be highly sensitive to its mechanical environment, and has previously been used to infer locomotor biomechanics in extinct tetrapod vertebrates, especially primates. Despite great promise, cancellous bone architecture has remained little utilized for investigating locomotion in many other extinct vertebrate groups, such as dinosaurs. Documentation and quantification of architectural patterns across a whole bone, and across multiple bones, can provide much information on cancellous bone architectural patterns and variation across species. Additionally, this also lends itself to analysis of the musculoskeletal biomechanical factors involved in a direct, mechanistic fashion. On this premise, computed tomographic and image analysis techniques were used to describe and analyse the three-dimensional architecture of cancellous bone in the main hindlimb bones of theropod dinosaurs for the first time. A comprehensive survey across many extant and extinct species is produced, identifying several patterns of similarity and contrast between groups. For instance, more stemward non-avian theropods (e.g. ceratosaurs and tyrannosaurids) exhibit cancellous bone architectures more comparable to that present in humans, whereas species more closely related to birds (e.g. paravians) exhibit architectural patterns bearing greater similarity to those of extant birds. Many of the observed patterns may be linked to particular aspects of locomotor biomechanics, such as the degree of hip or knee flexion during stance and gait. A further important observation is the abundance of markedly oblique trabeculae in the diaphyses of the femur and tibia of birds, which in large species produces spiralling patterns along the endosteal surface. Not only do these observations provide new insight into theropod anatomy and behaviour, they also provide the foundation for mechanistic testing of locomotor hypotheses via musculoskeletal biomechanical modelling.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter J. Bishop
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Current affiliation: Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
| | - Scott A. Hocknull
- Geosciences Program, Queensland Museum, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- School of Biosciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Christofer J. Clemente
- School of Science and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - John R. Hutchinson
- Structure and Motion Laboratory, Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, UK
| | - Andrew A. Farke
- Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology at The Webb Schools, Claremont, CA, USA
| | - Belinda R. Beck
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Exercise and Human Performance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - Rod S. Barrett
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| | - David G. Lloyd
- School of Allied Health Sciences, Griffith University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
- Gold Coast Orthopaedic Research, Engineering and Education Alliance, Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Bicknell RDC, Ledogar JA, Wroe S, Gutzler BC, Watson WH, Paterson JR. Computational biomechanical analyses demonstrate similar shell-crushing abilities in modern and ancient arthropods. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:rspb.2018.1935. [PMID: 30355715 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1935] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2018] [Accepted: 10/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
The biology of the American horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus, is well documented-including its dietary habits, particularly the ability to crush shell with gnathobasic walking appendages-but virtually nothing is known about the feeding biomechanics of this iconic arthropod. Limulus polyphemus is also considered the archetypal functional analogue of various extinct groups with serial gnathobasic appendages, including eurypterids, trilobites and other early arthropods, especially Sidneyia inexpectans from the mid-Cambrian (508 Myr) Burgess Shale of Canada. Exceptionally preserved specimens of S. inexpectans show evidence suggestive of durophagous (shell-crushing) tendencies-including thick gnathobasic spine cuticle and shelly gut contents-but the masticatory capabilities of this fossil species have yet to be compared with modern durophagous arthropods. Here, we use advanced computational techniques, specifically a unique application of 3D finite-element analysis (FEA), to model the feeding mechanics of L. polyphemus and S. inexpectans: the first such analyses of a modern horseshoe crab and a fossil arthropod. Results show that mechanical performance of the feeding appendages in both arthropods is remarkably similar, suggesting that S. inexpectans had similar shell-crushing capabilities to L. polyphemus This biomechanical solution to processing shelly food therefore has a history extending over 500 Myr, arising soon after the first shell-bearing animals. Arrival of durophagous predators during the early phase of animal evolution undoubtedly fuelled the Cambrian 'arms race' that involved a rapid increase in diversity, disparity and abundance of biomineralized prey species.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Russell D C Bicknell
- Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia .,Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research Lab, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
| | - Justin A Ledogar
- Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia.,Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research Lab, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia.,Department of Evolutionary Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Stephen Wroe
- Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia.,Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research Lab, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
| | - Benjamin C Gutzler
- Department of Biological Sciences and School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - Winsor H Watson
- Department of Biological Sciences and School of Marine Science and Ocean Engineering, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH 03824, USA
| | - John R Paterson
- Palaeoscience Research Centre, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
First data of Neandertal bird and carnivore exploitation in the Cantabrian Region (Axlor; Barandiaran excavations; Dima, Biscay, Northern Iberian Peninsula). Sci Rep 2018; 8:10551. [PMID: 30002396 PMCID: PMC6043621 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28377-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Neandertals were top predators who basically relied on middle- to large-sized ungulates for dietary purposes, but there is growing evidence that supports their consumption of plants, leporids, tortoises, marine resources, carnivores and birds. The Iberian Peninsula has provided the most abundant record of bird exploitation for meat in Europe, starting in the Middle Pleistocene. However, the bird and carnivore exploitation record was hitherto limited to the Mediterranean area of the Iberian Peninsula. Here we present the first evidence of bird and carnivore exploitation by Neandertals in the Cantabrian region. We have found cut-marks in two golden eagles, one raven, one wolf and one lynx remain from the Mousterian levels of Axlor. The obtaining of meat was likely the primary purpose of the cut-marks on the golden eagle and lynx remains. Corvids, raptors, felids and canids in Axlor could have likely acted as commensals of the Neandertals, scavenging upon the carcasses left behind by these hunter-gatherers. This could have brought them closer to Neandertal groups who could have preyed upon them. These new results provide additional information on their dietary scope and indicate a more complex interaction between Neandertals and their environment.
Collapse
|
14
|
|
15
|
DUNN JACOBC. Sexual selection and the loss of laryngeal air sacs during the evolution of speech. ANTHROPOL SCI 2018. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.180309] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- JACOB C. DUNN
- Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Department of Biology, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
- Division of Biological Anthropology, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Nakahashi W. The effect of trauma on Neanderthal culture: A mathematical analysis. HOMO-JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE HUMAN BIOLOGY 2017; 68:83-100. [PMID: 28238406 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchb.2017.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2015] [Accepted: 01/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Traumatic lesions are often observed in ancient skeletal remains. Since ancient medical technology was immature, severely traumatized individuals may have frequently lost the physical ability for cultural skills that demand complex body movements. I develop a mathematical model to analyze the effect of trauma on cultural transmission and apply it to Neanderthal culture using Neanderthal fossil data. I estimate from the data that the proportion of adult individuals who suffered traumatic injuries before death was approximately 0.79-0.94, in which 0.37-0.52 were injured severely and 0.13-0.19 were injured before adulthood. Assuming that every severely traumatized individual and a quarter to a half of the other traumatized individuals lost the capacity for a cultural skill that demands complex control of the traumatized body part, I estimate that if an upper limb is associated with a cultural skill, each individual had to communicate closely with at least 1.5-2.6 individuals during adulthood to maintain the skill in Neanderthal society, and if a whole body is associated, at least 3.1-11.5 individuals were necessary. If cultural transmissions between experts and novices were inaccurate, or if low frequency skills easily disappeared from the population due to random drift, more communicable individuals were necessary. Since the community size of Neanderthals was very small, their high risk of injury may have inhibited the spread of technically difficult cultural skills in their society. It may be important to take this inhibition into consideration when we study Neanderthal culture and the replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- W Nakahashi
- School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies) Shonan Village, Hayama, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan.
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
|
18
|
Johansson S. The thinking Neanderthals: What do we know about Neanderthal cognition? WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2014; 5:613-620. [PMID: 26308868 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2014] [Revised: 07/28/2014] [Accepted: 08/04/2014] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
The study of Neanderthal cognition is difficult, because of the archaeological invisibility of cognition, and because of the methodological issues that arise both from that invisibility and from their being close to modern humans. Nevertheless, fair progress has been made in gathering relevant evidence. There is now good evidence that Neanderthals were cognitively sophisticated, displaying many of the cognitive traits that were traditionally regarded as proxies for modern human cognition, notably including language. It can neither be proven nor excluded that they were our cognitive equals, but they were close enough to us, biologically and cognitively, to interbreed successfully and leave a genetic legacy in our DNA. WIREs Cogn Sci 2014, 5:613-620. doi: 10.1002/wcs.1317 CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The author has declared no conflicts of interest for this article. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
Collapse
|
19
|
Abstract
The evolution of the faculty of language largely remains an enigma. In this essay, we ask why. Language's evolutionary analysis is complicated because it has no equivalent in any nonhuman species. There is also no consensus regarding the essential nature of the language "phenotype." According to the "Strong Minimalist Thesis," the key distinguishing feature of language (and what evolutionary theory must explain) is hierarchical syntactic structure. The faculty of language is likely to have emerged quite recently in evolutionary terms, some 70,000-100,000 years ago, and does not seem to have undergone modification since then, though individual languages do of course change over time, operating within this basic framework. The recent emergence of language and its stability are both consistent with the Strong Minimalist Thesis, which has at its core a single repeatable operation that takes exactly two syntactic elements a and b and assembles them to form the set {a, b}.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Johan J. Bolhuis
- Cognitive Neurobiology and Helmholtz Institute, Departments of Psychology and Biology, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands
- Department of Zoology and Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Ian Tattersall
- Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, United States of America
| | - Noam Chomsky
- Department of Linguistics and Philosophy, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Robert C. Berwick
- Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Boeckx C, Benítez-Burraco A. The shape of the human language-ready brain. Front Psychol 2014; 5:282. [PMID: 24772099 PMCID: PMC3983487 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00282] [Citation(s) in RCA: 88] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2013] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Our core hypothesis is that the emergence of our species-specific language-ready brain ought to be understood in light of the developmental changes expressed at the levels of brain morphology and neural connectivity that occurred in our species after the split from Neanderthals–Denisovans and that gave us a more globular braincase configuration. In addition to changes at the cortical level, we hypothesize that the anatomical shift that led to globularity also entailed significant changes at the subcortical level. We claim that the functional consequences of such changes must also be taken into account to gain a fuller understanding of our linguistic capacity. Here we focus on the thalamus, which we argue is central to language and human cognition, as it modulates fronto-parietal activity. With this new neurobiological perspective in place, we examine its possible molecular basis. We construct a candidate gene set whose members are involved in the development and connectivity of the thalamus, in the evolution of the human head, and are known to give rise to language-associated cognitive disorders. We submit that the new gene candidate set opens up new windows into our understanding of the genetic basis of our linguistic capacity. Thus, our hypothesis aims at generating new testing grounds concerning core aspects of language ontogeny and phylogeny.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cedric Boeckx
- Catalan Institute for Advanced Studies and Research (ICREA) Barcelona, Spain ; Department of Linguistics, Universitat de Barcelona Barcelona, Spain
| | | |
Collapse
|