1
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Lauer DA, Lawing AM, Short RA, Manthi FK, Müller J, Head JJ, McGuire JL. Disruption of trait-environment relationships in African megafauna occurred in the middle Pleistocene. Nat Commun 2023; 14:4016. [PMID: 37463920 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39480-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/23/2023] [Accepted: 06/15/2023] [Indexed: 07/20/2023] Open
Abstract
Mammalian megafauna have been critical to the functioning of Earth's biosphere for millions of years. However, since the Plio-Pleistocene, their biodiversity has declined concurrently with dramatic environmental change and hominin evolution. While these biodiversity declines are well-documented, their implications for the ecological function of megafaunal communities remain uncertain. Here, we adapt ecometric methods to evaluate whether the functional link between communities of herbivorous, eastern African megafauna and their environments (i.e., functional trait-environment relationships) was disrupted as biodiversity losses occurred over the past 7.4 Ma. Herbivore taxonomic and functional diversity began to decline during the Pliocene as open grassland habitats emerged, persisted, and expanded. In the mid-Pleistocene, grassland expansion intensified, and climates became more variable and arid. It was then that phylogenetic diversity declined, and the trait-environment relationships of herbivore communities shifted significantly. Our results divulge the varying implications of different losses in megafaunal biodiversity. Only the losses that occurred since the mid-Pleistocene were coincident with a disturbance to community ecological function. Prior diversity losses, conversely, occurred as the megafaunal species and trait pool narrowed towards those adapted to grassland environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Lauer
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA.
| | - A Michelle Lawing
- Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA
| | - Rachel A Short
- Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Rapid City, SD, 57703, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Johannes Müller
- Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science, Museum für Naturkunde Berlin, 10115, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jason J Head
- Department of Zoology and University Museum of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Jenny L McGuire
- Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Quantitative Biosciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
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2
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Peppe DJ, Cote SM, Deino AL, Fox DL, Kingston JD, Kinyanjui RN, Lukens WE, MacLatchy LM, Novello A, Strömberg CAE, Driese SG, Garrett ND, Hillis KR, Jacobs BF, Jenkins KEH, Kityo RM, Lehmann T, Manthi FK, Mbua EN, Michel LA, Miller ER, Mugume AAT, Muteti SN, Nengo IO, Oginga KO, Phelps SR, Polissar P, Rossie JB, Stevens NJ, Uno KT, McNulty KP. Oldest evidence of abundant C 4 grasses and habitat heterogeneity in eastern Africa. Science 2023; 380:173-177. [PMID: 37053309 DOI: 10.1126/science.abq2834] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/15/2023]
Abstract
The assembly of Africa's iconic C4 grassland ecosystems is central to evolutionary interpretations of many mammal lineages, including hominins. C4 grasses are thought to have become ecologically dominant in Africa only after 10 million years ago (Ma). However, paleobotanical records older than 10 Ma are sparse, limiting assessment of the timing and nature of C4 biomass expansion. This study uses a multiproxy design to document vegetation structure from nine Early Miocene mammal site complexes across eastern Africa. Results demonstrate that between ~21 and 16 Ma, C4 grasses were locally abundant, contributing to heterogeneous habitats ranging from forests to wooded grasslands. These data push back the oldest evidence of C4 grass-dominated habitats in Africa-and globally-by more than 10 million years, calling for revised paleoecological interpretations of mammalian evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel J Peppe
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Susanne M Cote
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
| | - Alan L Deino
- Berkeley Geochronology Center, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA
| | - David L Fox
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - John D Kingston
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Rahab N Kinyanjui
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
- Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, D-07743 Jena, Germany
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA
| | - William E Lukens
- Department of Geology & Environmental Science, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA
| | - Laura M MacLatchy
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Museum of Paleontology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
| | - Alice Novello
- CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Collège de France, INRAE, 13545 Aix en Provence, France
- Department of Biology, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Caroline A E Strömberg
- Department of Biology, Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA
| | - Steven G Driese
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Nicole D Garrett
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Kayla R Hillis
- Department of Earth Sciences, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
| | - Bonnie F Jacobs
- Roy M. Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, USA
| | - Kirsten E H Jenkins
- Department of Social Sciences, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA 98466, USA
| | - Robert M Kityo
- Department of Zoology Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Thomas Lehmann
- Department Messel Research and Mammalogy, Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum, 60325 Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
| | - Emma N Mbua
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
| | - Lauren A Michel
- Department of Earth Sciences, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505, USA
| | - Ellen R Miller
- Department of Anthropology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, USA
| | - Amon A T Mugume
- Department of Zoology Entomology and Fisheries Sciences, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
- Uganda National Museum, Department of Museums and Monuments, Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Antiquities, Kampala, Uganda
| | - Samuel N Muteti
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
| | - Isaiah O Nengo
- Turkana Basin Institute, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Kennedy O Oginga
- Department of Geosciences, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
| | - Samuel R Phelps
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | - Pratigya Polissar
- Ocean Sciences Department, University of California, Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA
| | - James B Rossie
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794, USA
| | - Nancy J Stevens
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Ohio Center for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
| | - Kevin T Uno
- Division of Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964, USA
| | - Kieran P McNulty
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
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3
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Brielle ES, Fleisher J, Wynne-Jones S, Sirak K, Broomandkhoshbacht N, Callan K, Curtis E, Iliev L, Lawson AM, Oppenheimer J, Qiu L, Stewardson K, Workman JN, Zalzala F, Ayodo G, Gidna AO, Kabiru A, Kwekason A, Mabulla AZP, Manthi FK, Ndiema E, Ogola C, Sawchuk E, Al-Gazali L, Ali BR, Ben-Salem S, Letellier T, Pierron D, Radimilahy C, Rakotoarisoa JA, Raaum RL, Culleton BJ, Mallick S, Rohland N, Patterson N, Mwenje MA, Ahmed KB, Mohamed MM, Williams SR, Monge J, Kusimba S, Prendergast ME, Reich D, Kusimba CM. Entwined African and Asian genetic roots of medieval peoples of the Swahili coast. Nature 2023; 615:866-873. [PMID: 36991187 PMCID: PMC10060156 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-05754-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/31/2023]
Abstract
The urban peoples of the Swahili coast traded across eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean and were among the first practitioners of Islam among sub-Saharan people1,2. The extent to which these early interactions between Africans and non-Africans were accompanied by genetic exchange remains unknown. Here we report ancient DNA data for 80 individuals from 6 medieval and early modern (AD 1250-1800) coastal towns and an inland town after AD 1650. More than half of the DNA of many of the individuals from coastal towns originates from primarily female ancestors from Africa, with a large proportion-and occasionally more than half-of the DNA coming from Asian ancestors. The Asian ancestry includes components associated with Persia and India, with 80-90% of the Asian DNA originating from Persian men. Peoples of African and Asian origins began to mix by about AD 1000, coinciding with the large-scale adoption of Islam. Before about AD 1500, the Southwest Asian ancestry was mainly Persian-related, consistent with the narrative of the Kilwa Chronicle, the oldest history told by people of the Swahili coast3. After this time, the sources of DNA became increasingly Arabian, consistent with evidence of growing interactions with southern Arabia4. Subsequent interactions with Asian and African people further changed the ancestry of present-day people of the Swahili coast in relation to the medieval individuals whose DNA we sequenced.
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Affiliation(s)
- Esther S Brielle
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | | | - Stephanie Wynne-Jones
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.
- University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.
| | - Kendra Sirak
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kim Callan
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Elizabeth Curtis
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lora Iliev
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Ann Marie Lawson
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Jonas Oppenheimer
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Lijun Qiu
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Kristin Stewardson
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - J Noah Workman
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Fatma Zalzala
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - George Ayodo
- Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya
| | | | - Angela Kabiru
- Department of Archaeology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
- British Institute of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Audax Z P Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Christine Ogola
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Elizabeth Sawchuk
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History, Cleveland, OH, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Lihadh Al-Gazali
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Bassam R Ali
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Salma Ben-Salem
- Department of Genetics and Genomics, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, United Arab Emirates University, Al-Ain, United Arab Emirates
| | - Thierry Letellier
- Laboratoire Evolution et Santé Orale, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Denis Pierron
- Laboratoire Evolution et Santé Orale, Faculté de Chirurgie Dentaire, Université Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France
| | - Chantal Radimilahy
- Institut de Civilisations/Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Jean-Aimé Rakotoarisoa
- Institut de Civilisations/Musée d'Art et d'Archéologie, Université d'Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Ryan L Raaum
- Department of Anthropology, Lehman College and The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, New York, NY, USA
- The New York Consortium in Evolutionary Primatology, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brendan J Culleton
- Institutes of Energy and the Environment, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - Swapan Mallick
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Nadin Rohland
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Nick Patterson
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | | | | | | | - Sloan R Williams
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - Janet Monge
- University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Sibel Kusimba
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA
| | - Mary E Prendergast
- Department of Anthropology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA
| | - David Reich
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA.
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
- Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA.
| | - Chapurukha M Kusimba
- Department of Archaeology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya.
- Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
- Institute of African Studies, University of Nairobi, Museum Hill, Nairobi, Kenya.
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4
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Brochu CA, de Celis A, Adams AJ, Drumheller SK, Nestler JH, Benefit BR, Grossman A, Kirera F, Lehmann T, Liutkus-Pierce C, Manthi FK, McCrossin ML, McNulty KP, Nyaboke Juma R. Giant dwarf crocodiles from the Miocene of Kenya and crocodylid faunal dynamics in the late Cenozoic of East Africa. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2022; 305:2729-2765. [PMID: 35674271 PMCID: PMC9541231 DOI: 10.1002/ar.25005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2022] [Revised: 05/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/16/2022] [Indexed: 12/03/2022]
Abstract
We describe two new osteolaemine crocodylids from the Early and early Middle Miocene of Kenya: Kinyang mabokoensis tax. nov. (Maboko, 15 Ma) and Kinyang tchernovi tax. nov. (Karungu and Loperot, 18 Ma). Additional material referable to Kinyang is known from Chianda and Moruorot. The skull was broad and dorsoventrally deep, and the genus can be diagnosed based on the combined presence of a partial overbite, a subdivided fossa for the lateral collateral ligament on the surangular, and a maxilla with no more than 13 alveoli. Phylogenetic analyses based on morphological and combined morphological and molecular data support a referral of Kinyang to Osteolaeminae, and morphological data alone put the new taxon at the base of Euthecodontini. Some Kinyang maxillae preserve blind pits on the medial caviconchal recess wall. Kinyang co‐occurs with the osteolaemine Brochuchus at some localities, and together, they reinforce the phylogenetic disparity between early Neogene osteolaemine‐dominated faunas and faunas dominated by crocodylines beginning in the Late Miocene in the Kenya Rift. The causes of this turnover remain unclear, though changes in prevailing vegetation resulting from tectonic and climatic drivers may provide a partial explanation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher A Brochu
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Ane de Celis
- Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Madrid, Spain
| | - Amanda J Adams
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA.,Department of Biological Sciences, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas, USA
| | - Stephanie K Drumheller
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Jennifer H Nestler
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
| | - Brenda R Benefit
- Department of Anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA
| | - Aryeh Grossman
- Department of Anatomy, College of Graduate Studies, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA.,Arizona College of Veterinary Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA.,Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine, Midwestern University, Glendale, Arizona, USA
| | - Francis Kirera
- Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, Georgia, USA
| | - Thomas Lehmann
- Senckenberg Research Institute and Natural History Museum Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Cynthia Liutkus-Pierce
- Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Monte L McCrossin
- Department of Anthropology, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA
| | - Kieran P McNulty
- Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
| | - Rose Nyaboke Juma
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
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5
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Ward CV, Plavcan JM, Manthi FK. Corrigendum to “New fossils of Australopithecus anamensis from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2012–2015)” [Journal of Human Evolution 140 (2020) 102368]. J Hum Evol 2022; 165:103111. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Bleasdale M, Richter KK, Janzen A, Brown S, Scott A, Zech J, Wilkin S, Wang K, Schiffels S, Desideri J, Besse M, Reinold J, Saad M, Babiker H, Power RC, Ndiema E, Ogola C, Manthi FK, Zahir M, Petraglia M, Trachsel C, Nanni P, Grossmann J, Hendy J, Crowther A, Roberts P, Goldstein ST, Boivin N. Ancient proteins provide evidence of dairy consumption in eastern Africa. Nat Commun 2021; 12:632. [PMID: 33504791 PMCID: PMC7841170 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-20682-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Consuming the milk of other species is a unique adaptation of Homo sapiens, with implications for health, birth spacing and evolution. Key questions nonetheless remain regarding the origins of dairying and its relationship to the genetically-determined ability to drink milk into adulthood through lactase persistence (LP). As a major centre of LP diversity, Africa is of significant interest to the evolution of dairying. Here we report proteomic evidence for milk consumption in ancient Africa. Using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) we identify dairy proteins in human dental calculus from northeastern Africa, directly demonstrating milk consumption at least six millennia ago. Our findings indicate that pastoralist groups were drinking milk as soon as herding spread into eastern Africa, at a time when the genetic adaptation for milk digestion was absent or rare. Our study links LP status in specific ancient individuals with direct evidence for their consumption of dairy products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine Bleasdale
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, King's Manor, Exhibition Square, York, YO1 7EP, UK.
| | - Kristine K Richter
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Anneke Janzen
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA
| | - Samantha Brown
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Ashley Scott
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Jana Zech
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Shevan Wilkin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Ke Wang
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Stephan Schiffels
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Jocelyne Desideri
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Marie Besse
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, Department F.-A. Forel for Environmental and Aquatic Sciences, Université de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Jacques Reinold
- Section française de la Direction des antiquités du Soudan, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Mohamed Saad
- National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums of Sudan, M.Bolheim Bioarchaeology Laboratory, Khartoum, Sudan
| | - Hiba Babiker
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Robert C Power
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Institute for Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Christine Ogola
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Muhammad Zahir
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan
| | - Michael Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DA, USA
| | - Christian Trachsel
- Functional Genomics Center, University of Zurich/ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Paolo Nanni
- Functional Genomics Center, University of Zurich/ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jonas Grossmann
- Functional Genomics Center, University of Zurich/ETH, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jessica Hendy
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Alison Crowther
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia
| | - Steven T Goldstein
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DA, USA.
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
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7
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Skinner MM, Leakey MG, Leakey LN, Manthi FK, Spoor F. Hominin dental remains from the Pliocene localities at Lomekwi, Kenya (1982-2009). J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102820. [PMID: 32593871 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102820] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Revised: 04/26/2020] [Accepted: 04/26/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Increasing evidence for both taxonomic diversity and early stone manufacture during the Pliocene highlights the importance of the hominin fossil record from this epoch in eastern Africa. Here, we describe dental remains from Lomekwi (West Turkana, Kenya), which date from between 3.2 and 3.5 Ma. The sample was collected between 1982 and 2009 and includes five gnathic specimens and a total of 67 teeth (mostly isolated permanent postcanine teeth). Standard linear dimensions indicate that, although the Lomekwi teeth are relatively small, there is broad overlap in size with contemporary Australopithecus afarensis and Australopithecus deyiremeda specimens at most tooth positions. However, some dental characters differentiate this sample from these species, including a relatively large P4 and M3 compared with the M1, a high incidence of well-developed protostylids, and specific accessory molar cuspules. Owing to a lack of well-preserved tooth crowns (and the complete absence of mandibular teeth) in the holotype and paratype of Kenyanthropus platyops, and limited comparable gnathic morphology in the new specimens, it cannot be determined whether these Lomekwi specimens should be attributed to this species. Attribution of these specimens is further complicated by a lack of certainty about position along the tooth row of many of the molar specimens. More comprehensive shape analyses of the external and internal morphology of these specimens, and additional fossil finds, would facilitate the taxonomic attribution of specimens in this taxonomically diverse period of human evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 04103, Germany.
| | - Meave G Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, PO Box 24926, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794, USA
| | - Louise N Leakey
- Turkana Basin Institute, PO Box 24926, Nairobi, 00502, Kenya; Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fred Spoor
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK; Department of Anthropology, University College London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
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8
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Wang K, Goldstein S, Bleasdale M, Clist B, Bostoen K, Bakwa-Lufu P, Buck LT, Crowther A, Dème A, McIntosh RJ, Mercader J, Ogola C, Power RC, Sawchuk E, Robertshaw P, Wilmsen EN, Petraglia M, Ndiema E, Manthi FK, Krause J, Roberts P, Boivin N, Schiffels S. Ancient genomes reveal complex patterns of population movement, interaction, and replacement in sub-Saharan Africa. Sci Adv 2020; 6:eaaz0183. [PMID: 32582847 PMCID: PMC7292641 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaz0183] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Accepted: 04/15/2020] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Africa hosts the greatest human genetic diversity globally, but legacies of ancient population interactions and dispersals across the continent remain understudied. Here, we report genome-wide data from 20 ancient sub-Saharan African individuals, including the first reported ancient DNA from the DRC, Uganda, and Botswana. These data demonstrate the contraction of diverse, once contiguous hunter-gatherer populations, and suggest the resistance to interaction with incoming pastoralists of delayed-return foragers in aquatic environments. We refine models for the spread of food producers into eastern and southern Africa, demonstrating more complex trajectories of admixture than previously suggested. In Botswana, we show that Bantu ancestry post-dates admixture between pastoralists and foragers, suggesting an earlier spread of pastoralism than farming to southern Africa. Our findings demonstrate how processes of migration and admixture have markedly reshaped the genetic map of sub-Saharan Africa in the past few millennia and highlight the utility of combined archaeological and archaeogenetic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Wang
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Steven Goldstein
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Madeleine Bleasdale
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Bernard Clist
- UGent Centre for Bantu Studies, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Institut des Mondes Africains, Paris, France
| | - Koen Bostoen
- UGent Centre for Bantu Studies, Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Paul Bakwa-Lufu
- Institut des Musées Nationaux du Congo, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
| | - Laura T. Buck
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, USA
| | - Alison Crowther
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Alioune Dème
- Department of History, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal
| | | | - Julio Mercader
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Christine Ogola
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Robert C. Power
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Institute for Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology and Archaeology of the Roman Provinces, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Elizabeth Sawchuk
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA
| | - Peter Robertshaw
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino, CA, USA
| | - Edwin N. Wilmsen
- University of Texas-Austin, Austin, TX, USA
- Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, Republic of South Africa
| | - Michael Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | | | - Johannes Krause
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- School of Social Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Stephan Schiffels
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
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9
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Gunnell GF, Manthi FK. Pliocene bats (Chiroptera) from Kanapoi, Turkana Basin, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102440. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.01.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Revised: 11/17/2017] [Accepted: 01/03/2018] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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10
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Manthi FK, Winkler AJ. Rodents and other terrestrial small mammals from Kanapoi, north-western Kenya. J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102694. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2016] [Revised: 05/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/15/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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11
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Abstract
This paper introduces this Special Issue of the Journal of Human Evolution entitled "Kanapoi: Paleobiology of a Pliocene site in Kenya." Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya, is part of the Omo-Turkana Basin and is the type site of the earliest known genus of Australopithecus, A. anamensis. Kanapoi preserves among the earliest earliest evidence of Australopithecus in deposits dated between 4.195 to 4.108 million years old. Explored by several teams since the 1960s, the Kanapoi sediments have yielded a rich and abundant fauna, providing important information about the paleoenvironments and the context surrounding the earliest evolution of the genus Australopithecus, as well as about the evolution and biogeography of African Pliocene vertebrate faunas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fredrick K Manthi
- Integrative Anatomy Program, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, One Hospital Drive, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA
| | - J Michael Plavcan
- Department of Anthropology, 330 Old Main, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
| | - Carol V Ward
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya.
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12
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Frost SR, Ward CV, Manthi FK, Plavcan JM. Cercopithecid fossils from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya (2007-2015). J Hum Evol 2020; 140:102642. [PMID: 31959361 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2017] [Revised: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Recent fieldwork at Kanapoi has expanded the sample of fossil cercopithecids, facilitating a re-appraisal of their taxonomy. The assemblage now includes at least one species of cercopithecin, two papionins, and two colobines. The guenon Nanopithecus browni is similar in dental size to extant Miopithecus. We tentatively re-affirm the identification of Parapapio cf. ado and confirm the presence of Theropithecus. The colobines include a small form tentatively attributed to Kuseracolobus and a second larger species. The Kanapoi fossils represent the oldest occurrences of guenons in Africa and of the important genus Theropithecus, the most abundant and widespread primate in the Neogene of Africa. In the assemblage, Parapapio cf. ado is the most abundant form, comprising the majority of specimens. All of the other taxa are comparatively rare. Colobines make up a small part of the Kanapoi fossil assemblage compared to most other contemporary sites, including Allia Bay, Kenya, where, like Kanapoi, Australopithecus anamensis has been found. The presence of Theropithecus is consistent with the presence of some relatively open habitat at Kanapoi. While the ecological preferences of the small cercopithecin are unknown, most guenons are associated with relatively wooded habitats, as are most colobines, suggesting the availability of at least some wooded areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen R Frost
- Department of Anthropology, 1218 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1218, USA.
| | - Carol V Ward
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, M263 Medical Sciences Building, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya.
| | - J Michael Plavcan
- Department of Anthropology, 330 Old Main, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA
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13
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Plavcan JM, Ward CV, Kay RF, Manthi FK. A diminutive Pliocene guenon from Kanapoi, West Turkana, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2019; 135:102623. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2018] [Revised: 05/21/2019] [Accepted: 05/22/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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14
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Patterson DB, Braun DR, Allen K, Barr WA, Behrensmeyer AK, Biernat M, Lehmann SB, Maddox T, Manthi FK, Merritt SR, Morris SE, O'Brien K, Reeves JS, Wood BA, Bobe R. Comparative isotopic evidence from East Turkana supports a dietary shift within the genus Homo. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:1048-1056. [PMID: 31209290 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-019-0916-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2018] [Accepted: 05/02/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
It has been suggested that a shift in diet is one of the key adaptations that distinguishes the genus Homo from earlier hominins, but recent stable isotopic analyses of fossils attributed to Homo in the Turkana Basin show an increase in the consumption of C4 resources circa 1.65 million years ago, significantly after the earliest evidence for Homo in the eastern African fossil record. These data are consistent with ingesting more C4 plants, more animal tissues of C4 herbivores, or both, but it is also possible that this change reflects factors unrelated to changes in the palaeobiology of the genus Homo. Here we use new and published carbon and oxygen isotopic data (n = 999) taken from large-bodied fossil mammals, and pedogenic carbonates in fossil soils, from East Turkana in northern Kenya to investigate the context of this change in the isotope signal within Homo. By targeting taxa and temporal intervals unrepresented or undersampled in previous analyses, we were able to conduct the first comprehensive analysis of the ecological context of hominin diet at East Turkana during a period crucial for detecting any dietary and related behavioural differences between early Homo (H. habilis and/or H. rudolfensis) and Homo erectus. Our analyses suggest that the genus Homo underwent a dietary shift (as indicated by δ13Cena and δ18Oena values) that is (1) unrelated to changes in the East Turkana vegetation community and (2) unlike patterns found in other East Turkana large mammals, including Paranthropus and Theropithecus. These data suggest that within the Turkana Basin a dietary shift occurred well after we see the first evidence of early Homo in the region.
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Affiliation(s)
- David B Patterson
- Department of Biology, University of North Georgia, Dahlonega, GA, USA. .,Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
| | - David R Braun
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Kayla Allen
- Department of Biology, Georgia College and State University, Milledgeville, GA, USA
| | - W Andrew Barr
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Anna K Behrensmeyer
- Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Maryse Biernat
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Sophie B Lehmann
- Department of Geology and Environmental Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Tom Maddox
- Center for Applied Isotope Studies, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Stephen R Merritt
- Department of Anthropology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Sarah E Morris
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA
| | - Kaedan O'Brien
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Jonathan S Reeves
- Hominid Paleobiology Doctoral Program, Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Bernard A Wood
- Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - René Bobe
- Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique.,Institute of Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
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15
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Prendergast ME, Lipson M, Sawchuk EA, Olalde I, Ogola CA, Rohland N, Sirak KA, Adamski N, Bernardos R, Broomandkhoshbacht N, Callan K, Culleton BJ, Eccles L, Harper TK, Lawson AM, Mah M, Oppenheimer J, Stewardson K, Zalzala F, Ambrose SH, Ayodo G, Gates HL, Gidna AO, Katongo M, Kwekason A, Mabulla AZP, Mudenda GS, Ndiema EK, Nelson C, Robertshaw P, Kennett DJ, Manthi FK, Reich D. Ancient DNA reveals a multistep spread of the first herders into sub-Saharan Africa. Science 2019; 365:science.aaw6275. [PMID: 31147405 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaw6275] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
How food production first entered eastern Africa ~5000 years ago and the extent to which people moved with livestock is unclear. We present genome-wide data from 41 individuals associated with Later Stone Age, Pastoral Neolithic (PN), and Iron Age contexts in what are now Kenya and Tanzania to examine the genetic impacts of the spreads of herding and farming. Our results support a multiphase model in which admixture between northeastern African-related peoples and eastern African foragers formed multiple pastoralist groups, including a genetically homogeneous PN cluster. Additional admixture with northeastern and western African-related groups occurred by the Iron Age. These findings support several movements of food producers while rejecting models of minimal admixture with foragers and of genetic differentiation between makers of distinct PN artifacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mary E Prendergast
- Division of Humanities, Saint Louis University, 28003 Madrid, Spain. .,Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Mark Lipson
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
| | - Elizabeth A Sawchuk
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11790, USA.
| | - Iñigo Olalde
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Christine A Ogola
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nadin Rohland
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Kendra A Sirak
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nicole Adamski
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Rebecca Bernardos
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Nasreen Broomandkhoshbacht
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Kimberly Callan
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Brendan J Culleton
- Institutes for Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Laurie Eccles
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Thomas K Harper
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
| | - Ann Marie Lawson
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Matthew Mah
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
| | - Jonas Oppenheimer
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Kristin Stewardson
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Fatma Zalzala
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Stanley H Ambrose
- Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA
| | - George Ayodo
- Department of Public and Community Health, School of Health Sciences, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology, Bondo, Kenya
| | - Henry Louis Gates
- Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Emmanuel K Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Charles Nelson
- Academy for Lifelong Learning, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA
| | - Peter Robertshaw
- Department of Anthropology, California State University, San Bernardino, CA 92407, USA
| | - Douglas J Kennett
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - David Reich
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. .,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
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16
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Ungar PS, Abella EF, Burgman JHE, Lazagabaster IA, Scott JR, Delezene LK, Manthi FK, Plavcan JM, Ward CV. Dental microwear and Pliocene paleocommunity ecology of bovids, primates, rodents, and suids at Kanapoi. J Hum Evol 2017; 140:102315. [PMID: 28499698 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.03.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2016] [Revised: 02/27/2017] [Accepted: 03/03/2017] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Reconstructions of habitat at sites like Kanapoi are key to understanding the environmental circumstances in which hominins evolved during the early Pliocene. While Australopithecus anamensis shows evidence of terrestrial bipedality traditionally associated with a more open setting, its enamel has low δ13C values consistent with consumption of C3 foods, which predominate in wooded areas of tropical Africa. Habitat proxies, ranging from paleosols and their carbonates to associated herbivore fauna and their carbon isotope ratios, suggest a heterogeneous setting with both grass and woody plant components, though the proportions of each have been difficult to pin down. Here we bring dental microwear texture analysis of herbivorous fauna to bear on the issue. We present texture data for fossil bovids, primates, rodents, and suids (n = 107 individuals in total) from the hominin bearing deposits at Kanapoi, and interpret these in the light of closely related extant mammals with known differences in diet. The Kanapoi bovid results, for example, are similar to those for extant variable grazers or graze-browse intermediate taxa. The Kanapoi suid data vary by taxon, with one similar to the pattern of extant grazers and the other more closely resembling mixed feeders. The Kanapoi primates and rodents are more difficult to associate with a specific environment, though it seems that grass was likely a component in the diets of both. All taxa evince microwear texture patterns consistent with a mosaic of discrete microhabitats or a heterogeneous setting including both tree and grass components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter S Ungar
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA; Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA.
| | - Elicia F Abella
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Jenny H E Burgman
- Environmental Dynamics Program, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | | | - Jessica R Scott
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Little Rock, AR, USA
| | - Lucas K Delezene
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Fredrick K Manthi
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - J Michael Plavcan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Carol V Ward
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA
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17
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Maddux SD, Ward CV, Brown FH, Plavcan JM, Manthi FK. A 750,000 year old hominin molar from the site of Nadung'a, West Turkana, Kenya. J Hum Evol 2015; 80:179-83. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.11.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2014] [Accepted: 11/12/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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18
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Manthi FK, Plavcan JM, Ward CV. New hominin fossils from Kanapoi, Kenya, and the mosaic evolution of canine teeth in early hominins. S AFR J SCI 2012. [DOI: 10.4102/sajs.v108i3/4.724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022] Open
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19
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O'Connor PM, Sertich JJ, Manthi FK. A pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Upper Cretaceous Lapurr sandstone, West Turkana, Kenya. AN ACAD BRAS CIENC 2011; 83:309-15. [DOI: 10.1590/s0001-37652011000100019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2010] [Accepted: 12/01/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
An isolated pterosaurian caudal cervical (~ postcervical) vertebra was recovered from the Upper Cretaceous Lapurr sandstone ofWest Turkana, northwestern Kenya. The vertebral centrum is short, wide, and dorsoventrally compressed. Although the specimen is lightly built similar to most pterosaurs, it is here referred to Pterodactyloidea and tentatively to the Azhdarchidae in that it lacks pneumatic features on both the centrum and neural arch. This represents one of the few pterosaurs recovered from the entirety of Afro-Arabia, the first pterosaur recovered from the Cretaceous of East Africa, and, significantly, a specimen that was recovered from fluvial deposits rather than the near-shore marine setting typical of most pterosaur discoveries.
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20
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Ward CV, Plavcan JM, Manthi FK. Anterior dental evolution in the Australopithecus anamensis-afarensis lineage. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2011; 365:3333-44. [PMID: 20855307 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2010.0039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Australopithecus anamensis is the earliest known species of the Australopithecus-human clade and is the likely ancestor of Australopithecus afarensis. Investigating possible selective pressures underlying these changes is key to understanding the patterns of selection shaping the origins and early evolution of the Australopithecus-human clade. During the course of the Au. anamensis-afarensis lineage, significant changes appear to occur particularly in the anterior dentition, but also in jaw structure and molar form, suggesting selection for altered diet and/or food processing. Specifically, canine tooth crown height does not change, but maxillary canines and P(3)s become shorter mesiodistally, canine tooth crowns become more symmetrical in profile and P(3)s less unicuspid. Canine roots diminish in size and dimorphism, especially relative to the size of the postcanine teeth. Molar crowns become higher. Tooth rows become more divergent and symphyseal form changes. Dietary change involving anterior dental use is also suggested by less intense anterior tooth wear in Au. afarensis. These dental changes signal selection for altered dietary behaviour and explain some differences in craniofacial form between these taxa. These data identify Au. anamensis not just as a more primitive version of Au. afarensis, but as a dynamic member of an evolving lineage leading to Au. afarensis, and raise intriguing questions about what other evolutionary changes occurred during the early evolution of the Australopithecus-human clade, and what characterized the origins of the group.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol V Ward
- Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri, M263 Medical Sciences Building, Columbia, MO 65212, USA.
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Spoor F, Leakey MG, Gathogo PN, Brown FH, Antón SC, McDougall I, Kiarie C, Manthi FK, Leakey LN. Implications of new early Homo fossils from Ileret, east of Lake Turkana, Kenya. Nature 2007; 448:688-91. [PMID: 17687323 DOI: 10.1038/nature05986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 153] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2007] [Accepted: 06/05/2007] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Sites in eastern Africa have shed light on the emergence and early evolution of the genus Homo. The best known early hominin species, H. habilis and H. erectus, have often been interpreted as time-successive segments of a single anagenetic evolutionary lineage. The case for this was strengthened by the discovery of small early Pleistocene hominin crania from Dmanisi in Georgia that apparently provide evidence of morphological continuity between the two taxa. Here we describe two new cranial fossils from the Koobi Fora Formation, east of Lake Turkana in Kenya, that have bearing on the relationship between species of early Homo. A partial maxilla assigned to H. habilis reliably demonstrates that this species survived until later than previously recognized, making an anagenetic relationship with H. erectus unlikely. The discovery of a particularly small calvaria of H. erectus indicates that this taxon overlapped in size with H. habilis, and may have shown marked sexual dimorphism. The new fossils confirm the distinctiveness of H. habilis and H. erectus, independently of overall cranial size, and suggest that these two early taxa were living broadly sympatrically in the same lake basin for almost half a million years.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Spoor
- Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
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