Ötzi, the ice mummy, is still fascinating

Ötzi is the oldest human mummy known and one of the most studied by science. It was discovered in 1991 in the Alps and since then it has not stopped leaking information about what life was like in the Neolithic. Do you dare to find out all its secrets?

WHAT IS A MUMMY?

Mummies are preserved bodies of people and animals that still preserve their skin. The most famous are the Egyptian ones, preserved thanks to the chemical processes applied to the corpses (embalming), although many other cultures practiced mummification. But mummies can also occur naturally if the conditions are suitable to avoid decomposition, such as humid and swampy sites, in the cold of mountains and polar regions or in dry and sandy areas such as deserts. In addition to the skin, other structures that can be preserved over the millennia are nails, hair and bones and teeth.

Natural mummy in the British Museum, London. Photo: Mireia Querol Rovira

Unlike fossils, which are millions years old, mummies do not usually exceed thousands of years, although there are fossils of dinosaurs with skin impressions or scales. If you want to know more about the processes of fossilization, we invite you to read Knowing fossils and their age. Ötzi is a sub-fossil because he is younger than 11,000 years old.

WHO WAS ÖTZI?

Ötzi, the Man of Similaun, the Man of Hauslabjoc or simply The Iceman, was discovered in the Ötz Valley (on the Austrian-Italian border of the Alps) by climbers in 1991 at 3,200 meters. Thanks to a storm in the Sahara, the dust reached the Alps and when it warmed with the sun, it melted the ice more than usual and uncovered Ötzi, who had been under the ice for more than 5,000 years. It was not until a later study that his real antiquity was discovered, since in situ seemed to be a dead climber.

Ötzi where it as discovered. Photo: Paul Hanny / South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

Thanks to the technique Carbon 14, it was determined that Ötzi died around 3255 BC (Chalcolithic, Copper Age), which made it the oldest preserved mummy in the world. In addition to the body, more than 70 personal objects (weapons, clothing, tools…) were found, which gave more information about the life of this prehistoric man.

Ötzi’s close-up. Source

A MODERN HOMO SAPIENS

Throughout various posts we have talked about other species that preceded us , but Ötzi belonged to our species, Homo sapiens. The first Homo sapiens, who appeared in Africa 200,000 years ago, represented the evolutionary transition between H. heidelbergensis to the first modern humans. After more than 7 million years of evolution, H. sapiens are the only hominini survivors.

Ötzi’s reconstruction by artists Alfons and Adrie Kennis. Photo: Thilo Parg

H. sapiens migrated from Africa to the rest of the continents. If you want to know about how paleoparasitology helps us to follow the migratory routes of our ancestors, do not miss this post . When Ötzi was alive, the Neanderthals had already become extinct a few thousand years ago and their sapiens ancestors had been in Europe since about 45,000 years ago.

The difference between  H. sapiens and other species is a very rounded and large skull (1,000-1,400 cm ³ ) compared to the body, a flat and vertical face, small teeth a non-robust jaw, and the presence of chin, feature that does not have any of the preceding species.

Comparison of the skull of sapiens and neanderthalensis where wecan see the presence of the chin. Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Photo: Matt Celeskey

If we look at the skeleton, like other recent hominins, Ötzi and we are perfectly adapted to bipedism, with a distinctive light constitution. We have long lower limbs, with the femur tilted to the knee to keep the center of gravity under the body. The pelvis is narrow and short. The spine is curved to maintain balance and distribute weight efficiently while walking, with strong lumbar vertebrae. The arms are relatively short and the hands are agile and they have excellent prehensile precision, with long and thin phalanges compared to neanderthals.

Reconstruction of Ötzi, an H. sapiens like you. Photo: Thilo Parg

At cognitive level, what made us different from the rest of the hominin species is the symbolic thinking (representation of nature through symbols and abstract thinking), although the debate is still open since the Neanderthals had behaviors that could be considered symbolic (like decorating the body with jewelry or paintings). What is clear is that 40,000 years ago, the clearest evidence of modern behavior appeared in Europe, with the appearance of rock painting and sculpture. Technological innovation, agriculture and livestock are other of our distinctive features.

WHAT VALUABLE INFORMATION HAS REVEALED SCIENCE ABOUT ÖTZI?

Different techniques have been used to reveal information about the mummy and changing the different hypotheses over the years.

Scientist examining Ötzi. © South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/EURAC/Samadelli/Staschitz

CARBON 14 AND DENTITION: AGE

Ötzi was about 46 years old when he died (life expectancy in the Copper Age was about 35 years). This data comes from the study of teeth, which are worn out, perhaps by eating grain throughout his life. The Carbon 14 test was carried out on its body and clothing: he is approximately 5,300 years old. It is estimated that he weighed about 45 kilos and he was 1.60 m tall.

COMPUTERIZED AXIAL TOMOGRAPHY (CT SCAN)

A  CT Scan in the body of Ötzi brought to light that he was suffering from various oral issues, such as caries (perhaps due to the consumption of bread and oats), periodontitis (pyorrhea) and worn  out teeth for using them as a tear tool. He also lost part of a molar and suffered a blow to an incisor.

Iceman’s hand. Photo: Robert Clark

Iceman’s feet. Photo: Robert Clark

He also suffered from arthritis, gallstones and he had a lump on one toe, broken nose and ribs that healed before death and had black lungs  because of inhaling CO₂, maybe from bonfires. More than 60 tattoos (the oldest known) were found throughout his body, consisting of small lines, crosses and points. They were made with small cuts that were then rubbered with charcoal. They do not seem decorative: it is speculated that they were part of some treatment to improve the artirtis, since they indicate the points where he was in pain.

The mummy has 61 tattoos, most of them simple lines. Photo: Marco Samadelli and Gregor Staschitz /South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

His system also had high levels of arsenic, probably because he worked with minerals and metals.

THE LAST DINNER

An analysis of the stomach revealed that he had eaten two hours before dying. He ate ibex (wild goat), cereals and unidentified plants. They found 30 different types of pollen, so he probably died in the spring. But they also found eggs of a parasite that cause Lyme disease, which mainly affects the vascular, nervous and skeletal system.

Stomach content of the Iceman. Photo: Robert Clark

X-RAYS: ACCIDENT OR MURDER?

First it was believed that Ötzi died due to crashing into a glacier. But radiographs revealed the presence of an arrowhead on his shoulder, so the researchers analyzed the body more closely and found several injuries in the hands, torso and a blow in the head, the cause of his death.

Ötzi torso radiograph, arrow in red. Photo: Robert Clark

DNA ANALYSIS: HE SUFFERED DIVERSE DISEASES

Scientists did DNA tests in various blood samples, and they found up to 3 different types of blood. The blood of his flint knife is not from him: everything shows that he was involved in a fight with several people and was killed. His body was not found in a natural position, so two hypotheses are considered: either a partner tried to help him to extract the arrow or the enemies tried to recover it. In any case, they did not take away the advanced technology and Ötzi clothing. Why? The mystery is still open.

Ötzi’s clothing. Fuente

The Ötzi ax (foreground) has the copper blade, which indicates high status and it is the only one of Neolithic with the wooden handle intact. Source

In 2008 the complete genome of the Ice Man was published. He was lactose intolerant, his blood was type 0, he had brown eyes, he suffered from the heart and arteries and he is related to the current inhabitants of Corsica and Sardinia. In addition, out of 3,700 DNA samples were donated by Tyrol volunteers. 19 individuals share a genetic mutation with Ötzi.

NON-HUMAN DNA IN ÖTZI

The samples of non-human DNA are usually bacteria that live in our body. A biopsy on the hip brought to light the presence of DNA from a bacterium (Treponema denticola) involved in periodontal disease, which confirmed the results of the CT Scan. They also found remnants of the bacterium Clostridium and Helicobacter pylori  so Ötzi had a strong stomachache and diarrhea the day of his death. Besides, the study of Helicobacter from Ötzi has thrown new data on human migrations, the origin of European populations and the impact on our evolution.

More than 25 years studying Ötzi. Photo: Esame Colorimetrico / South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

DO YOU WANT TO SEE ÖTZI?

This discovery is so important, that they dedicated a museum almost entirely for him: the South Tyrol Museum, in Bolzano. There are exposed the impressive clothes that he wore, made with animal skins such as bears and goats, his shoes, with double layer and stuffed with straw, his tools, weapons… even the first aid kit he was carrying. And he himself, of course, preserved at -6º. Maybe one day we will hear him “talking”: they are trying to reconstruct his tone of voice from the vocal cords.

Ötzi in his refrigerator room. Photo: South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology/Augustin Ochsenreiter

We still do not know who he was. Maybe a personality? A skilled hunter? A farmer or a stockman? A healer? We will probably never know. What is certain is that he could never imagine the attentions he would continue receiving 5,000 years after his death.

From traditional medicine to personalized medicine

From prehistory, where medicine started began with plants, minerals and parts of animals; until today, medicine has evolved very quickly. Much of the “fault” of his fact is due to genetics, which allows us to talk about personalized medicine. In the following article we discuss this.

THE EVOLUTION OF DISEASES

To talk about medicine, we have first to know diseases. We cannot think that all diseases are genetic, but there are diseases related to anatomical changes, fruit of our evolution.

Chimpanzees are the closest animal to us, humans, with which we share 99% of our genome. Despite this, humans have very particular phenotypic characteristics as the brain most develop, both in size and expansion of the cerebral cortex; hairless sweaty skin, bipedal posture and prolonged dependence on offspring, allowing the transmission of knowledge for longer; among other.

Possibly, the bipedal position was key to the early development of the divergence between the chimpanzee lineage and that of humans; and is also the reason for the appearance of some diseases related to anatomical factors. Among them are hernias, haemorrhoids, varices, disorders of the spine, such as herniated intervertebral discs; osteoarthritis in the knee joint, uterine prolapse and difficulties in childbirth.

The fact that the pelvis was remodelled (Figure 1) and narrower resulted in obstetric problems millions of years later, when the brain expanded. Consequently, the skull as well. The heads of the foetuses were longer and larger, making birth difficult. This explains why the deliveries of humans are longer and longer compared to those of chimpanzees and other animals.

Figure 1. Comparison between human pelvis and chimpanzee pelvis in bipedal position (Source: Libros maravillosos – La especie elegida (capítulo 5))

The evolution towards modern life has behaved many changes in every way. In comparison to our hunter-gatherer ancestors (Figure 2), our diet has changed a lot and has nothing to do with what other primates eat. For the latter, the fruit represents most of the intake, but for us it is red meat. In addition, we are the only animals that continue to feed us milk after the lactation period.

Figure 2. Picture of hunter-gatherer humans (Source: Río Verde en la historia

If we add to the sedentary lifestyle and the limited physical activity of modern humans, it can help explain the seriousness and frequency of some modern human diseases.

Lifestyle can also affect us. For example, myopia, which rate is higher in western individuals who read a lot or do activities of near vision, compared to individuals of Aboriginal’s towns.

Another clear example is the alteration in the female reproductive stage. Currently, women have children more and more later. This is also linked to a decrease in the duration of breastfeeding. These changes, which can be considered socially positive, have negative effects on the health of the reproductive organs. It has been shown that the combination of early menarche, limited or no breastfeeding and later menopause are the main risk factors for breast and ovarian cancer.

Humans increasingly live more years and we want the best quality of life. It is easy for more longevity to appear more diseases, by the deterioration of the organism and its cells.

THE EVOLUTION OF MEDICINE

The history of medicine is the history of the struggle of men against disease and since the beginning of this century, is also the history of human effort to maintain health.

We have acquired the scientific knowledge of medicine based on observation and experience, but it has not always been so. Our ancestors experienced sickness and the fear of death before a rational picture could be made of them, and the medicine of that time was immersed in a system of beliefs, myths and rites.

However, in the last years it has been born personalized genomics, which tells you your risk factors. This opens a door to personalized medicine, which adjusts treatments to patients depending on their genome (Figure 3). It uses information from a person’s genes and proteins to prevent, diagnose and treat a disease, all thanks to the sequencing of the human genome.

Figure 3. Personalized medicine that treats people individually, according to their genome (Source: Indiana Institute of Personalized Medicine)

Molecular methods that make precision medicine possible include tests of gene variation, proteins, and new treatments targeting molecular mechanisms. With the results of these tests and treatments can determine the state of the disease, predict the future state of the disease, the response to the drug and treatment or even the role of the food we eat at certain times, which results of great help to the doctors to individualize the treatment of each patient.

To do this, we have within our reach the nutrigenetics and the nutrigenomics, that like the pharmacogenetics and the pharmacogenomics, they help the advance of a medicine is more and more directed. Therefore, these disciplines are today one of the pillars of personalized medicine since it involves treating each patient individually and tailor-made.

The evolution towards precision medicine is personalized, preventive, predictive and participatory. There is increasing access to information and the patient is more proactive, getting ahead of problems, preventing them or being prepared to deal with them efficiently.

REFERENCES

• Varki, A. Nothing in medicine makes sense, except in the light of evolution. J Mol Med (2012) 90:481–494
• Nesse, R. and Williams, C. Evolution and the origins of disease. Sci Am. (1998) 279(5):86-93
• Mackenbach, J. The origins of human disease: a short story on “where diseases come from”. J Epidemiol Community Health. (2006) 60(1): 81–86
• Main picture: Todos Somos Uno

Parasites: signs on our way

The mysteries of human evolution, their development and their movementsthroughout history continue to create great interest and expectation. There are stillmany things to discover and understand about ancient societies, but thanks to thehelp of the science we are increasingly closer. Can parasites of the past shed light on those communities? We will discover it in thehands of the paleoparasitology.

WHAT IS PALEOPARASITOLOGY?

This is a branch of paleontology that study parasitological evidences in archaeological records, i.e.,studying parasites or remains of these found in ancient archaeological sites. The objective of these studies is to shed light on the origin and evolution of parasitic diseases that exist, as well as determine their phylogenetic relationships.  The study of ancient parasites allows us to know socio-cultural aspects of ancient societies as for example their diets, their level of hygiene, if human  were nomadic or sedentary, their migrations etc.

The materials studied by the paleoparasitology are generally fossilized tissueremains, mummies, fossils, coprolites (feces mummified) or sediments that have been able to be in contact with those who were the hosts of these parasites.

Mummified human coprolites. (Image: M. Beltrame)

Find remains of a parasite in some of the samples is difficult, since the passage oftime destroys all evidence. Even so, usually eggs or Oocyst parasites found (since theyare forms of resistance that have managed to stay over the millennia).

A egg of a louse (Pediculus humanus) found in a mummy of Brazil (12,000 years old). B. egg of Trichuris sp. found in Cape virgins, Argentina (6000 years old). (Image: Araujo).

In certain cases, manuscripts and drawings of ancient societies have providedinformation on the presence of certain parasites, such as for example ceramics thatwe observe below, where lesions that presents a person who suffers from cutaneous leishmaniasis is faithfully represented. In the next image we see a fossilized skull which presents very similar lesions.

A. Modified image of a ceramic moche representing (red circle) lesions caused by leishmaniasis. (Image: Oscar Anton, Pinterest) B. mummified skull that shows very similar injuries. (Image: Karl J. Reinhard).

THE ARRIVAL TO AMERICA: HUMAN MIGRATIONS AND PARASITES

About 150,000 years ago appeared a new species of hominid in Africa: Homo sapiens. It began to expand in several waves to the rest of the continent, Europe, and Asia,carrying with them some parasites that had inherited from his ancestors (known as heirloom parasites). At the same time, they were acquiring along their journey a range of parasites due to interactions with other humans and animals (souvenir parasites).

Following the archaeological remains and parasitological  clues what ancient humans have left during their migrations, is possible to determine the routes followed by them. One of these routes was the arrival in the new world (America). We have always believed that the first inhabitants of the Americas came across the Beringia Strait (which joined at some point by ice Siberia with Alaska) about 13,000 years ago.

Representation of the path followed by the first American settlers by the Beringia Strait Bridge. (Image: The siberian Times).

A few very interesting parasites that can be found in the American archaeological remains are Trichuris trichiura (nematode known as whipworm  and Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworm). These parasites need tropical or subtropical climatic conditions since the eggs are expelled with faeces and mature in the ground.

A. At the top adult A. duodenale (Christopher Noble). At bottom we can view an A.duodenale egg (Image: Universidad Antioquia) B. Adult Trichuris trichiura (Invertebrate zoology Virtual collection) and at bottom its egg. (Microbiolgia blogspot).

How do they then survived the cold conditions of the regions of Siberia and Alaska in the last ice age? They could not. These parasites would have not survived those harsh climatic conditions, since to their maturation and transformation infective they need warm and moist environments. In addition, signs of infections not found by these parasites in Arctic populations, such as the Inuit.

So, researchers believe that migration across the Bering Strait was not the only one. Paleoparasitologic experts  Adauto Aráujo and Karl J. Reinhard proposed that there were two alternative routes. On the one hand proposed a costal route (along the coast, route b in the image) and a trans-pacific route (crossing the Pacific Ocean, route c). By these routes parasites had been able to survive and continue infecting humans.

The arrival of man in America routes proposed by Aráujo and Reinhard based on paleoparasitologic remains. (Image: Aráujo, et al.)

Could they have been already there? This question has an easy answer. These intestinal parasites are specific from man, therefore, they need human hosts to complete their life cycles. If there were no humans in America, surely there would be this kind of parasites.

Another  parasitological fact that confirm this theory is the presence of Enterobius vermicularis, popularly known as pinworm. This parasite was linked for the first time to the ancestors of Homo sapiens and throughout history, has coevolved with them to give rise to several different subspecies. On the American continent have been found remains of two lineages of E.vermicularis, that could be because arrived hominids from different places with different parasites. In this case, the parasite if he could get through the Beringia Strait, since its life cycle does not depend so strongly on the environmental conditions.

·

“Parasites suffer the same phenomena for evolution that humans and other organisms, as selection, extinction and colonization. For this reason, these specific parasites of man are excellent evidence that shed light on the movements of our ancestors”Adauto Aráujo, 2008.

REFERENCES

• A, Aráujo (2008). Parasites as Probes for Prehistoric Human Migrations?. Trends In Parasitology. Vol 24 (3). Pages: 112-115.
• Karl, J. Reinhard (2008). Archaeoparasitology. Encyclopedia of Archaeology, p. 494-501, ed. por Deborah M. Pearsall.
• CDC. Laboratory Identification of Parasitic Diseases of Public Health Concern. (En inglés).
• Cover photo: Chris Stringer, Natural History  Museum (Londres)

Check the evolution in your own body

42% of the US population and 11.5% of the Spanish people do not believe in evolution. However, there are different evidence that Darwin was right, some of them in your own body. Have you had your appendix or wisdom teeth removed? Find out in this post which vestigial organs you have inherited from your ancestors.

WHAT ARE VESTIGIAL STRUCTURES?

Vestigial structures (often called organs althouth they are not organs properly) are body parts that have been reduced or have lost its original function during the evolution of a species. They can be found in many animals, including humans.

Orca skeleton in which vestiges of the hind limbs can be seen. This is a proof of its terrestrial origins. Photo: Patrick Gries

Vestigial structures were fully functional in the ancestors of these species (and in the homologous structures of other existing species), but currently its function is practically useless or it has changed. For example, the second pair of flying wings in some insects such as flies have lost their function and they have been reduced to balance organs (halteres). If you want to know more about the evolution of flight in insects click here.

Besides physical structures, vestigial features can also manifest itself in behavior or biochemistry processes.

WHY ARE THEY  EVIDENCE OF EVOLUTION?

Natural selection acts on species favoring features that increase their survival and eliminating the ones with no benefits, for example when changes appear in the habitat. Individuals with unfavorable characteristics will die or will breed less and that feature will be removed after some generations, while favorable traits will remain as their carriers can pass them to the next generation.

Sometimes there are features that are neither favorable nor unfavorable, so they continue appearing in the next generations. But all has a cost structure (energy, risk to become infected, develop tumors…), so selective pressure continues acting to eliminate something that is not conducive to the success of the species. This is the case of vestigial structures, which “take longer” disappear throughout evolution. Their existence reveal that in the past these structures had an important role in our ancestors.

FIND YOUR VESTIGIAL TRAITS

THE NICTITATING MEMBRANE

We talked about it in How animals see the world. The third eyelid is a transparent or translucent membrane that protects and moisten the eye without losing visibility. It is common in amphibians, reptiles and birds. Among primates, it is only functional in lemurs and lorises.

Nictitating membrane or third eyelid of a masked lapwing (Vanellus miles). Photo: Toby Hudson

In humans the plica semilunaris is a remnant of the nictitating membrane. Obviously we can not move it but still has some lacrimal drainage function and helps on the eye movement (Dartt, 2006).

Plica semilunaris. Photo: unknown

DARWIN’S TUBERCLE AND EAR MUSCLES

10% of the population has a thickening in the ear, a vestige of the common pointy ear in primates. This structure is called Darwin’s tubercle and has no function.

Variability of Darwin’s tubercle at the top of the ear (0 = absent).  Credit.

Comparison between the ear of a yellow baboon (Papio cynocephalus) and ours. Credit

Also, primates (and other mammals) have mobile ears to lead the pinna toward the sound source: surely you have noticed it in your house dog or house cat. Humans (and chimps) no longer have that great mobility, although some people may move slightly pinna. It has been proven with electrodes these muscles are excited when we perceive a sound that comes from a particular direction (2002).

Auricular muscles responsible of movement of the pinna. Credit

The occipitofrontalis muscle has lost its function to prevent the head from falling, but participates in facial expression.

PALMARIS LONGUS MUSCLE

16% of Caucasians do not have this muscle on the wrist, neither 31% of nigerian people neither 4,6% of chinese people. It can even appear in one arm and not in the other or be double.

It is believed that this muscle actively participated in the arboreal locomotion of our ancestors, but currently has no function, because it does not provide more grip strength. This muscle is longer in completely arboreal primates (like lemurs) and shorter in land primates, like gorillas (reference).

And do you have it or not? Try it: join your thumb and pinky and raise your hand slightly.

I have two palmaris longus in the left arm and one on the right. Photo: Mireia Querol

WISDOM TEETH

35% of people do not have wisdom teeth or third molar. In the rest, its appearance is usually painful and removal is necessary.

I don’t have the third molar. Photo: Mireia Querol Rovira

Our hominin ancestors had them, much bigger than ours. A recent research explains that when a tooth develops, emits signals that determine the size of the neighboring teeth. Reducing the mandible dentition and the other along evolution has resulted in reduced molars (and eventually the disappearance of the third).

Comparison between the dentition of a chimpanzee, Australopithecus afarensis and Homo sapiens. Look at the reduction of the last three molars between afarensis and sapiens, Credit

THE TAILBONE

If you touch your spine till the end, you will reach the coccyx or tailbone. It is three to five fused vertebrae, vestige of the tail of our primate ancestors. In fact, when we were in the womb, in the early stages of embryo development a 10-12 tail vertebrae formation is observed.

Different stages in human embryonic development (1 to 8) and comparison with other species. Credits in the image.

Subsequently it is reabsorbed, but not in all cases: it has been reported 40 newborns with a tail.

Infant born with tail. A mutation has prevented the growth inhibition of the tail during pregnancy. Credit

Although we have no tail, currently these bones serve as anchors of some pelvic muscles.

Tailbone position. Photo: Mireia Querol Rovira

SUPERNUMERARY NIPPLES (POLYTHELIA)

It is estimated that up to 5% of the world population has more than two nipples. These “extra” nipples can be presented in different ways so sometimes are confused with freckles or moles. They are located in the mammillary line (from the axilla to the groin), exactly in the same position as other mammals with more than two breasts (observe your house dog, for example). Usually the number of breasts corresponds to the average of offspring that has a mammal, so extra nipples would be a vestige from when our ancestors had more offspring per birth. Usual is 3 nipples, but has been documented a case of up to 8 nipples in a person.

Additional nipple below the main one. Credit

FIND YOUR VESTIGIAL REFLEXES AND BEHAVIOURS

PALMAR AND FOOT SOLE GRASP REFLEX

Surely you’ve experienced that if you bring anything into the hands of a baby, automatically he grabs it with such a force that would be able to hold his own weight. This reflex disappears at 3-4 months of age and is a remnant of our arboreal past and the way to grab the hair of the mother, as with the other current primates. Watch the next video in 1934 on a study of twins (minute 0:34):

On the feet there is also a reflex of trying to grab something when the foot of a baby is touched. It disappears at 9 months of age.

By the way, have you noticed how easily children climb on any handrails or higher zones in a playground?

GOOSEBUMPS

Cold, stress or intense emotion (eg, listening to some music) causes the piloerector muscle to raise the hair giving the skin the appearance of a plucked chicken. It is an involuntary reflex in which some hormones, like adrenaline (which is released in the mentioned situations) are involved. What utility had this to our ancestors and has in modern mammals?

• Increasing the space between the skin and the external surface, so that hot air trapped between hair helps on maintaining temperature.
• Looking bigger to scare off potential predators or competitors.

Chimpanzee with hair bristling in a display before a conflict. Photo: Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

Obviously we have lost hair in most parts of the body, so although we retain the reflex, it has no use to us or to keep warm or to ward off predators. The hair has been preserved abundantly in areas where protection is necessary or due to sexual selection (head, eyebrows, eyelashes, beard, pubis…), but in general, can also be considered a vestigial structure.

There are more vestigial structures but in this post we have focused on the most observable. In future posts we will discuss other internal structures, like the famous appendix or vomeronasal organ.

REFERENCES

• Proof of evolution that you can find on your own body
• 10 Vestigial Traits You Didn’t Know You Had
• Darwin was right
• Los reflejos de prensión palmar y plantar
• Resuelto el enigma de las muelas del juicio
• Politelia bilateral familiar

Cooking also made us human

Cooking is a distinctive and unique feature of our species. After the success of Eating meat made us human, we continue delving into the nutrition of our ancestors as one of many factors that led us to Homo sapiens. We will analyze the contributions of our readers in the previous post on the importance of carbohydrates and the use of fire.

THE OPPORTUNIST OMNIVOROUS

In the previous post we learned that one factor that contributed to the fast growth of the brain was the increased intake of meat by H. habilis, that allowed them to save energy in digestion (Aiello, L. Wheeler, P, 1995). Another factor that allowed saving energy to dedicate to brain growth, since Lucy, was bipedalism (Adrienne L. Zihlman and Debra R. Bolter, 2015).

One of the things that gave us evolutionary success is our ability to take advantage of almost any food, allowing our expansion around the globe. Current diets are varied and traditionally linked to the availability of the geographical area or time of year, which changed with the development of agriculture and livestock. Human groups studied in historical period without agriculture or livestock, hunt, fish and gather very different foods, but no groups exclusively carnivorous or exclusively vegetarian have been found (except Eskimos, who have traditionally fed on hunting and fishing because of the characteristics of their environment, frozen during almost all the year).

Hazda people returning from hunting. The Hadza are a small African tribe of about 1500 hunter-gatherers. Photo: Andreas Lederer

The first tools, possibly used by Australopithecus but obvious since H. habilis, allowed our ancestors to get food that otherwise would have been impossible to get: drilling and tearing flesh, breaking the hard shells of nuts, and later crushing and grinding grain. Thus, the basis of our current supplies are hard cereal grains (e.g. rice, wheat) and the dried seeds of legumes (e.g. lentils), because our needing of protein intake is low, although meat is consumed in excess in the First World countries.

But before the advent of agriculture, our ancestors ate what they found: Neanderthals in hostile areas had to base the diet with meat and supplement it with vegetables when they were available, while in milder climate zones, like the Mediterranean , make use of aquatic resources as molluscs, turtles and fish. Furthermore, by its robust body and increased muscle they needed more protein intake.

Neanderthals collecting mussels in Gibraltar, one of the last settlements of this species. Photo: DK Discover

THE ORIGINS OF THE CUISINE

As we have seen, seeds are very nutritious because they are rich in carbohydrates (especially starch), but low in protein; in addition, legumes must be cooked to be assimilated. No other animal, except us and our ancestors, prepare food or cooks. Cooking is an unique human trait which opened an infinite number of possibilities in our nutrition.

CONTROL OF FIRE

The first traces of use of fire date back 1.6 million years ago in Africa, although the first reliable evidence is a hearth 0.79 million years old. The responsible: Homo erectus, but those who used fire continuously, especially for cooking, were a later species: Neanderthals.

Homo erectus, American Museum of Natural History. Photo: Mireia Querol Rovira

The advantages of controlling fire were numerous and very important, but in this post we will delve into the first one:

• Cooking and food storage
  
• Better hunting and scavenging: fire allowed them to obtain prey hunted by large carnivores or direct theirs to natural traps .
  
• Protection from predators
  
• Heat: increased survival when temperatures fell.
  
• Light: they could extend its tasks when night had fallen, favouring social skills and later, the development of language. In addition, changing the circadian rhythm (24h internal clock) could have extended the reproductive period .
  
• Access to new territories: burning areas of dense vegetation to take dead animals and make use of new areas and encouraging migration to cooler places.
  
• Improved tools: wood tools made with fire are more durable.
  
• Better hygiene: burning waste avoided infections.
  
• Medicine: after H. erectus, the fire has been used as disinfectant and instrument sterilizer and for the preparation of remedies based on medicinal plants, as inhalation of vapors or preparing of  infusions.

  

  Homo erectus surprised by the strength of his spear warmed with fire. Figure by Elisabeth Daynès, CosmoCaixa. Photo: Mireia Querol Rovira

  ADVANTAGES OF COOKING FOOD

  • Variety in the diet: certain foodstuff is indigestible raw or difficult to chew (especially for individuals with dental problems). Stewed food is softer and easier to digest, allowing H. erectus expand their diet respect their ancestors, accessing food of higher nutritional value (Richard Wrangham, 2009). Cooking improves the palatability and increases the assimilable carbohydrate availability in tubers, vegetables… and therefore it gives them more energy value. According to Wrangham and other experts, raw foodism can be harmful to health, because our body is adapted to this “pre-digestion” in the stoves, which allows us to be the primate with the shorter digestive system in relation to the body.
  • Reduction of the teeth: tusks and teeth could have been reduced due to consumption of cooked food. A tooth that has to bite a boiled potato instead of a raw one can be 82% smaller. Less space were needed for chewing muscles and teeth in the skull, so the mouth and face became smaller. This free space can be dedicated to accommodate an increasingly large brain. H. erectus had a brain 42% larger than H. habilis.
  • Less energy consumption: energy and time dedicated to chew and digest cooked food is less, so the number of final calories obtained increases. This energy can be devoted to brain development rather than digesting food.
    
    Possible Neanderthal diet. Photo: Kent Lacin LLC/The Food Passionates/Corbis.
  • Fewer diseases: raw food, especially meat, may contain potentially pathogenic or deadly bacteria and parasites. But from certain temperatures, many of these bacteria die, so eating cooked rather than raw, our ancestors increased their survival significantly.
  • Less poisoning: some plants, fungi and tubers are toxic if are consumed raw, like some edible mushrooms, sweet potato or potatoes with green areas.
  • Food preservation: by smoking meat, it could be kept in good condition for longer and take advantage of it in times of scarcity. In addition, cooked food lasts longer than raw food.

CONCLUSION

In short, cooking was another factor involved in the brain development and cognitive abilities of our ancestors, allowed energy savings to digest and chew food, decreased masticatory apparatus, allowed the young become earlier independent from their breast-feeding mothers (who could mate more often), improved immune system… Even improved social skills: left more free time so they could dedicate it to other tasks, such as cooperation to keep the fire, planning the collection or capture of food, distribution of food in the group acoording to range and health of individuals… intelligence enhanced cooking techniques, which in turn enhanced the intelligence, in an infinite wheel that still exists today.

REFERENCES

• Mateos A, Rodríguez J (2010). La dieta que nos hizo humanos. CENIEH, Burgos.
• Arsuaga J L, Martínez I (2006). La especie elegida. La larga marcha de la evolución humana. Booket divulgación.
• The Importance of Dietary Carbohydrate in Human Evolution
• Butchered bone suggests earlier start to eating meat
• El dominio del fuego
• La cocina nos hace humanos
• Boniato o batata cruda y dioscorina
• Cooking up bigger brains
• cover picture by Mauricio Antón

Eating meat made us human

Currently some of the world’s population can choose their diet: omnivorous, vegetarian, vegan, raw foodism, carnivorous, paleodiet… but what ate our ancestors?  Which diet is more suited to the one of our ancestors? Without going into polemics, we will discuss one of the crucial facts of the evolution from Australopitechus to Homo: the meat intake.

WHAT DID OUR RELATIVES EAT ?

One of the reasons given to follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet is that as “we are apes”, they feed on fruits and plants, and moreover, a more “natural” diet  is achieved. Currently and traditionally the base of the world diet are the seeds of cereals (rice, wheat, corn, etc.) and legumes (beans, lentils…), which often require processing (flour, for example) and have nothing to do with their wild ancestors. Since agriculture and livestock was invented and we have selected the best varieties for human consumption, the label “natural” loses all meaning. Although transgenic food is now on everyone’s lips, we have been using the genetic modification for thousands of years.

In the top row, wild ancestors of lettuce, carrot and corn. Below, domestic varieties. Source

That we are apes and the natural thing is to eat vegetables, is also not entirely true. As primates have evolved in trees, hominids have a strict diet or mainly folivorous -leaves- and frugivorous -fruit- (gorillas, orangutans), while gibbons also complete their diet with invertebrates. Our closest relatives however (bonobos, chimpanzees) are omnivorous as they eat vegetables, fruits, invertebrates and even small mammals and other primates (althought in less proportion than vegetables).

Chimpanzee eating meat. Populations of chimpanzees have been described  hunting with spears made by themselves. Photo Cristina M.Gomes, Max Planck Institute.

No wonder then that our direct distant ancestors as Australopithecus Lucy, ate leaves, fruits, roots and tubers as the basis of their diet. Some species, in addition to vegetables, also fed on invertebrates and small vertebrates, similar to modern chimpanzees.

HERBIVOROUS AND CARNIVOROUS

Fruits have more sugars, although they are not very abundant in comparison with leaves and stems. But leaves have less nutritional value because they contain many fibers we can not absorb, such as cellulose. Legumes contain more protein than grains, but some essential amino acids and vitamins (such as B12) are absent or in a few proportion in vegetables and easily assimilable iron (hemo iron) is found only in food with animal origin.

In short, vegetables are harder to digest compared to animals, so mammalian herbivores have longer digestive systems, or compartmented stomachs, chew over long periods of time and some are ruminants, while carnivores have digestive systems with lower absorption surface and require little chewing of food.

Digestive systems of non-ruminant herbivores, ruminants, insectivores and carnivores. Unknown author

 

WHY OUR ANCESTORS STARTED EATING MORE MEAT?

2.6 million years ago, climate change made our planet cooler and drier. In Africa the savanna dominated much of the territory, so hominids had to deal with hard leaves, leaves covered with wax, hard or thorny stems, roots… these difficult to digest resources were utilised by Paranthropus, with large teeth and powerful musculature in the jaw to crush, although they had a similar brain to Australopithecus. They became extinct a million years ago.

Paranthropus boisei. Reconstruction by John Gurche, photo by Chip Clark.

But another group of hominins found a kind of resources that offered them more energy in smaller quantities, and were easier to chew: meat. Homo habilis was the first to eat meat at higher rates than the rest of relatives and also meats with more fat. It was an opportunist: they ate almost anything edible, instead, Paranthropus were specialists, so if their food was scarce, they had more possibilities to die.

BIG BRAINS …

While Australopithecus and Paranthropus had a cranial capacity of 400-500 cm ³, Homo habilis had up to 700 cm ³. This increased brain size allowed them greater versatility and ability to improvise to find food.

One thing that clearly differentiates us from other primates and animals is the large size of our brain. As you have noticed, H. habilis and is classified within our genus,  Homo, due to that great leap of brain size, among other things.

Skull comparison between Australopithecus, Homo habilis and Paranthropus. Credit: Peter S. Ungar et al, 2011.

But a large brain also has drawbacks: 25% of our body’s energy is consumed by the brain at rest, H. habilis brain consumed 15% and Australopithecus only 10%. In addition to quantity, this energy also has to have quality: some fatty acids for proper brain function only are found in some nuts, but especially in animal fat, easier to achieve if vegetables were scarce.

Homo habilis reconstruction by Elisabeth Daynès, Cosmocaixa (Barcelona). Photo by Mireia Querol

…SMALL INTESTINES …

The only way to dedicate more energy to brain function is to reduce the size of other high energy consumer organs (Aiello, L. Wheeler, P, 1995). Heart, kidney, liver, they are major consumers of energy, but vital, so the solution is to reduce the gut and that’s only possible with the change of an almost exclusively vegetarian diet (Australopithecus) to another of easier assimilation with more protein and animal fat (H. habilis).

Comparison between high energy consumer organs between humans and other primates. Image by J. Rodriguez

…AND TOOLS

A large brain also gave another advantage to H. habilis. Despite his appereance (small, no large fangs or claws) they could make use of a great variety of meat (first as scavengers and later as hunters) due to the use of tools. Australopithecus probably used some sort of simple tools, mostly wooden made, but we know for sure that early manufacture of stone tools (archaeological industry) belong to H. habilis. This allowed them to take advantage of the inside of the bone marrow of large prey killed by carnivores when all the flesh had been eaten by other animals. Currently only hyenas and bearded vultures can access this resource without tools. Besides, by not requiring such large teeth and jaws, the skull can accommodate a larger brain.

H. habilis scavenging a rhino. Source; DK FindOut

CONCLUSION

In short, the increase of the brain of Homo was possible by changing diet, which allowed a shorter digestive tract and smaller masticatory apparatus. In turn, to achieve these more energy foods more intelligence is required, resulting in more complex behaviors such as the use of manufactured tools (Oldowan lithic technology, Mode 1).

Our digestive system is the result of millions of years of evolution as opportunistic omnivores. Some current strict diets (vegetarian or almost carnivorous) are in contradiction with this biological heritage and the abuse and access to all kinds of food carry us all kinds of allergies and food problems. The secret remains following a balanced and varied diet.

REFERENCES

• Roberts A (2002).  Evolución: historia de la humanidad. Akal, UK.
• Mateos A, Rodríguez J (2010). La dieta que nos hizo humanos. CENIEH, Burgos.
• Arsuaga J L, Martínez I (2006). La especie elegida. La larga marcha de la evolución humana. Booket divulgación.
• Potts, Richard. Sloan, Christopher (2010). What does it mean to be Human? Ed. National Geographic Society.
• Vegetarianismo – Aspectos nutricionales a tener en cuenta cuando te planteas ser vegetariano
• Paleodieta: hábitos prehistóricos para otra dieta milagro (OCU)

Koko, the gorilla who can talk with her hands

The origin of language is one of the unknowns that creates more discussion among anthropologists. Are we the only animals with a language with grammar? Did our ancestors speak? Do animals communicate only by imitating simple sounds? This article will attempt to address these issues and introduce Koko, the gorilla who learned sign language.

CAN ANIMALS SPEAK ?

Clearly most living beings communicate in some way, either through visual, olfactory or chemical, acoustic signals… The clearest case we have close is barking, meowing… but also plants can communicate.

You have probably ever heard a parrot or parakeet say words, even the crows are great imitators. But it is just that, an imitation of few words. They are unable to make sentences or use the words they know to express new concepts. Or have a conversation. Sometimes scientists have educated baby apes as humans, in an attempt to teach them to speak. They never made it.

WHAT IS NECESSARY TO SPEAK ?

Given the depth of the subject, we can summarize that to talk is essential to have the necessary cognitive capabilities and a physical vocal apparatus that enables control of entry and exit of air in a certain way . Since some animals like whales, birds or apes have high cognitive abilities, why they do not start talking the same way as us? We begin to understand their way of communicating, so it is possible that some possess some sort of grammar, or a language such as dolphins or some birds. Or maybe we should clarify what is language. In this post we will focus on the case of primates, especially gorillas and chimpanzees.

VOCAL APPARATUS

The larynx contains the vocal cords. Notice the difference between a human and a chimpanzee:

Vocal apparatus of a chimpanzee and a human. Unknown author. Photo taken from UOC

Humans have the vocal cords in a lower postion, and we have a shortest oral and nasal cavity. To produce vocals clearly, the oral communication core, the larynx must be in a low position. That is why chimpanzees, cannot talk due to their physical limitations.

 

Model with the different positions of the vocal apparatus necessary to pronounce vocals. Photo by Mireia Querol, CosmoCaixa, Barcelona.

To investigate whether our ancestors could talk, studies focus mainly on the morphology of the hyoid bone, the position of the pharynx, the base of the skull and the brain impressions inside the skull. Recent research with Skull 5 of the Sima de los Huesos belonging to a Neanderthal, along with other studies of other fossils, suggests that 500,000 years ago they had a vocal apparatus like ours. If Neanderthals had the physical conditions did they speak?

BRAIN CAPACITY

Humans are the mammals with the largest brains relative to our bodies. The intelligence of a chimpanzee is compared to 4 years old child. If they can not speak for physical limitations, could they do it otherwise?

Brain pointing out Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas, responsible for language. Homo habilis and possessed. Photo of public domain taken from NIH

According to a study published in Nature , the FOXP2 gene appears to be responsible for our ability to control of precises movement that allows speech. People with inactive copies of this gene, have severe speech and language problems. The FOXP2 gene is different in only two amino acids between chimps and humans, and apparently is responsible that neither they nor the rest of vertebrates can talk. This difference, this mutation is believed to have appeared 500,000 years ago. Svante Pääbo and his team discovered that this gene was already like ours in Neanderthals. If this is true, added to what we have seen in the previous section, we can almost ensure that Neanderthals could speak.

TEACHING TO TALK TO OTHER APES

Since they can not talk, scientists have taught apes to communicate with humans by lexigrams (drawings respresentan words) and sign language. Washoe was the first non-human ape to learn the American Sign Language (ASL). It was a chimpanzee, learned about 350 words and taught his son some Loulis. Other chimpanzees were capable of it, but the most fascinating is the discovery of this communication behavior of wild chimpanzees signs (obviously, chimpanzees own signs, not the ASL). The bonobo Kanzhi communicated with lexigrams, and Koko has become a famous gorilla thanks to her mastery of ASL.

KOKO THE GORILLA

Koko (short for Hanabiko,  in Japanese, “Fireworks”) is a western lowland gorilla. Gorillas are the largest apes and hominids nowadays, with up to 180 Kg weight in males.

Koko in 2010. Photo by Ron Cohn, Koko.org.

 

After chimpanzees and bonobos, gorillas are the most genetically similar to humans (we share more than 98% DNA). There are two species of gorillas:

• Western Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) includes two subspecies, the western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) and the Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli). It is critically endangered according to IUCN .
  
• Eastern Gorilla (Gorilla beringei): includes the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) and the eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri). It is endangered according to IUCN .

Distribution of great apes. Map shared from Great Apes Survival Partnership

 

KOKO’S LEARNING

Koko was born in 1971 in the San Francisco Zoo, and currently lives in the Gorilla Foundation in Redwood City, California. Since she was 6 months old Dr. Francine (Penny) Patterson (then PhD student) and Dr. Ron Cohn taught her American Sign Language (ASL). Other gorillas that were attached to the project were Michael (in 1976) and Ndume (1991).

Penny teaching Koko (right) and Michael ASL. Photo taken from Koko.org

Since then, Koko has learned up to 1000 ASL signs and understands approximately 2,000 words in English. It is even capable of combining different signs to explain concepts if seh don’t know the word. Michael and Ndume also managed to communicate through signs: Ndume learned some from Koko, which could prove Koko’s case is not unique but gestural communication is intrinsic in gorillas.

In this video Penny asks what Koko would like to do with their spare time. She answers that she would like to have a baby and thanks Penny when she tells her that they are trying:

OTHER SKILLS OF KOKO

Koko, living in a humanized environment, performs acts by imitation, according to researchers, she has not been forced to do so. She look at books, movies, makes paintings, looks her in the mirror, take care of pets… even plays the flute. This is especially important because it is capable of puckering in the proper position and control breathing. It can also simulate cough, which requires control over the larynx. Contrary to what was thought, control over the airways and therefore on future capabilities of our ancestors speaking, could have appeared millions sooner than previously thought.

Koko video playing flutes and harmonica (Koko.org):

Another subject worthy of study is the artistic ability of Koko and Michael. If other apes have created tools and language, it is art what separates us from them and our ancestors? Since Koko can communicate with a common language to us and puts names to her creations, is this some symbolic capacity? The line between apes and other H. sapiens, and therefore also between H. sapiens and other Homo, is getting thinner.

Kokopainting a picture. Photo from Koko.org

 

PROJECT KOKO MILESTONES

Finally, we leave you with the most important milestones after 40 years of study with Koko:

• Gorillas can learn ASL (1,000 signs) ant do it faster during childhood, and know how to modulate these signs to give them different emphasis
• They understand spoken English (2000 words)
• Koko is not a unique case, as Michael and Ndume testify
• Inventive: they can expand language combining signs learned with other signs (eg, “bracelet finger” to express “ring”), or by adding own gestures .
• Emotions: they express a variety of emotions, from the simplest to the most complex. It is known Koko reaction after the death of one of its kittens, Robin Williams, or a sad scene in film.
• Hypothesis of empathy: the gorillas may have empathy, looking at how she treats persons or animals .
• Use of grammatical language
• Other ways to communicate: including creation of drawings, photographs, pointing to words, letters with phrases …
• Self-identity: Koko is defined in front of a mirror as “fine animal / person gorilla”. Watch the video:

REFERENCES

• Human development (2002). Delval, J. XXI Century Editors Spain
  
• Koko.org . The Gorilla Foundation
• Sobre els Orígens the llenguatge (UOC)
• Instituto Max Planck. Hace medio millón de años una mutación nos ayudó a hablar y aprender
• Los monos ya saben hablar
• La ampliación del espacio cognitivo en el eje filogenético
• Áreas Broca’s and Wernicke (EduCaixa)
• Los simios y sus increíbles capacidades
• Gorillas (Great Apes Survival Partnership)
• Cover image: frame of the documentary “Koko, A -1978 talking gorilla.” Photo taken from mubi .

Ancestors they didn’t teach you in school

Surely you know any of the following names because they are classic ancestors we learned in school: Lucy, Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthals… but our history has many more players, and every so often new discoveries are made that change our lineage tree. Find out in this article the latest findings your teachers could not explain to you .

HOMO NALEDI

Homo naledi’s facial reconstruction by John Gurche. Photo: Mark Thiessen.

It is almost forced to start with one of the latest discoveries that is encouraging discussions in paleoanthropology to gain a key position in our family tree. The discovery of a new species, Homo naledi, was published the September 10, 2015 by Lee Berger et al. It was discovered in a cave system in South Africa named Rising Star at the Dinaledi chamber (“Naledi” means “star” in the local language, Sesotho). It is especially interesting for several reasons:

• At the moment in the site have been found more than 1,700 human fossils accumulated, making it the largest of South Africa, behind the famous Sima de los Huesos (“Pit of Bones”, Atapuerca, Spain), the largest of the world, with more than 6,000 fossils.
• The cave is very difficult to access, with corridors of only 19 cm wide, so it was a selected team of 6 thin paleoantropologysts (all women) that reached them.

Scheme of the cave system of Dinaledi’s chamber. Image by  Jason Treat, NGM Staff, NGM maps, Source: Lee Berger, Wits. Adapted from National Geographic.

• The bones belonged to 15 individuals of all ages, male and female, so we can get extensive information about the new species. Some were even on the floor of the cave without mineralize.
• The physical characteristics of H. naledi are a mix of Homo traits (height, feet) and Australopithecus (shoulders, chest, pelvis), the genus from which most scientists believe Homo appears about 2.8 to 2, 5 million years ago. This may suggest that H. naledi could be the first Homo, the missing link between Australopithecus and us.

  

  Some of the impressive number of bones discovered Homo naledi. Photo by John Hawks

• The most intriguing of this discovery, it is believed that the bones were placed there deliberately. By geography, access to the cave was the same as today, they could not fall into the pit, the bones could not be brought by a water flooding or any animal, they have no marks of violence … It could be a funeral ritual? So far, the first rites are attributed to H. neanderthalensis, with most modern physical characteristics and a large cranial capacity compared to H. naledi (1.475 cm³ versus 560 cm³  at the most).

The oldest known Homo fossil, 2.8 million years old, corresponds to a jaw found in Afar in March 2015 which has not been associated to any species. Was H. naledi the first Homo? Is it really an ancient species? Is it possible they had self-awareness so early and cared for their dead? Unfortunately, researchers have not been able to date the remains yet, so many questions remain unanswered and we will must wait for future interpretations of one of the most important discoveries of recent times.

THE DENISOVANS

In Denisova Cave (Siberia) in 2008 was found a non-spectacular fossil: a piece of a finger bone that was dated 30,000 years old and attributed to an individual of about 8 years which turned out to be a gir. But when DNA was extracted, it was concluded that belonged neither to H. sapiens or H. neanderthalensis, but to a new species. Later two teeth of another individual of the same population were found. In the same cave also Sapiens and Neanderthal remains were found.

The denisovan teeth.  Photo by Max Planck Institute.

Is it possible that Denisovans hybridized with Sapiens? DNA studies in the current populations indicate that 5% of DNA aboriginal Australians, Papuans and other peoples of Melanesia is Denisovan. On the other hand we know that 20% of the DNA of accumulated European populations is Neanderthal.

WHERE DO WE LOCATE THEM IN OUR FAMILY TREE?

It is thought that Neanderthals and Denisovans had a common ancestor (H. heidelbergensis), who emigrated to western Europe and Central Asia evolving to H. neanderthalensis, who subsequently hybridized with us, and from Southeast Asia where would evolve in the hominin Denisova, who also hybridized with H. sapiens. This would explain the presence of DNA in the current populations of Australasia.

HOW THEY WERE LIKE?

The absence of more fossils or traces of objects and tools prevent us to know how they looked like and what were their skills. Nor it has been found explanation for the lack of Denisovan DNA in the Russian or Chinese populations, so close geographically to the Denisova cave. Denisovans remain a mystery to science.

THE FLORES WOMAN

Homo floresiensis. Reconstruction by John Gurche. Photo by Chip Clark

Homo floresiensis, as its name indicates, lived on the island of Flores (Indonesia) only between 95,000 and 12,000 years ago. It was discovered 12 years ago. It is the only site where this species is found.

As in previous fossils, the mix of features caught the attention of the scientific community, especially for its small cranial capacity and height, earning them the nickname hobbit. First they thought it was an individual with a pathology, or a pygmy of a known species, as their morphology was very strange in a so modern fossil. But now we have remains of at least 12 individuals with the same traits, so we can talk (for the moment) of another species.

HOW THEY WERE LIKE?

• Small height: the most complete skeleton belongs to a female only one meter tall and 25 kg weight.
• Small skull: their cranial capacity (380-420 cm³) was similar to the current Australopithecus or a current chimpanzee, but the brain had a more similar Homo anatomy. The teeth were large relative to the skull.

homo floresiensis (LB1) skull cast. American Museum of National History. Photo by Mireia Querol

• Long feet and short legs: feet were very long in relation to the legs, which were short and stout. This and more features suggest that locomotion was different from ours and were bad runners.
• Long arms: besides a proportion nearest to Australopithecus and H. habilis than H. sapiens, arms were robust and had a powerful musculature.
• Stone tools and fire: besides the existence of tools of earlier hominans found in the cave, some tools have been associated to H. floresiensis with a technology similar to the Oldowan Industry, the first to be invented. Also they dominated the fire.

WHY THEY WERE SO SMALL?

Controversy continues: was a direct descendant of Australopithecus (how could they have traveled so far from Africa?), or a recent member of our family tree so small due to lack of resources?

The insular dwarfism is an evolutionary process due to a long-term isolation in a small area with limited resources and lack of predators. Flores pygmy elephants (Stegodon) hunted by H. floresiensis  with this adaptation were also found. The opposite process it is the island gigantism, in which animals that are usually small on the continent are giants in the islands, such as the Galapagos turtles and the extinct lizards or rats of Flores.

A giant lizard faces Flores man who has caught a rat. Image by National Geographic

H. floresiensis may be the result of this dwarfism, and some scientists believe it could actually be a reduced Homo erectus. The majority opinion today is that they were already so small when they reached Flores (such as the  Australopithecus from whom evolved), and modern features are due to convergent evolution with H. sapiens. Unfortunately it has not been able to extract DNA in good condition to put them in the phylogenetic tree for sure.

How did they get to Flores? They had a language, art and cultural expressions? Did they get in contact with our species? They were extinct due to a volcanic eruption? Who made the other ancient tools previous to H. floresiensis? The debate and the unknowns remain open.

REFERENCES

• Roberts, Alice. 2012. Akal. Evolución: historia de la humanidad.
• This Face Changes the Human Story. But How? 
• Homo naledi, a new species of the genus Homo from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa
• New Homo species found
• Homo Naledi: New Limb Added To Human Family Tree
• Homo naledi: una nueva especie humana descubierta en Sudáfrica
• Hallada en África una gran sima de huesos con una nueva especie humana
• El caso del ancestro perdido
• Los denisovanos, una humanidad perdida
• Human evolution: Small remains still pose big problems
• El “Hobbit” (Homo floresiensis), era la versión mini del erectus debido al enanismo insular
• Homo floresiensis (Smithsonian)
• Vuelve el Hobbit
• Foto de portada de National Geographic

 

You are a bit Neanderthal

Neanderthals are perhaps the better known ancestor for the general public, as like as Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy). The classical view of them, a rough, coarse, crude, unintelligent beings, is still alive in the popular imagination (even “Neanderthal” is used as an insult), but in recent years the research tells us they were not like this. Discover in this article who they were and why you’re a bit Neanderthal.

WHAT WAS A NEANDERTHAL LIKE?

Homo neanderthalensis was the first hominin fossil discovered and currently we have hundreds of fossil specimens of all ages, so is the best known fossil hominin. Got its name from the Neander Valley (Neanderthal in German), a valley near Düsseldorf.

Geographical distribution of the Neanderthals. Image by Ryulong

They lived in Europe (including Siberia) and southwestern Asia,  350,000-28,000 years ago (40,000 according to some sources), an era marked by glacial cycles. They existed in the world longer than us, Homo sapiens.

Neanderthals had various adaptations to cold, as robustness and less height than H. sapiens, and a wide nasal cavity.

Skull comparison between sapiens and neanderthalensis. Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Photo by Matt Celeskey.

Skull highlights its size, with an average capacity of 1,475 cm³, somewhat higher than the modern human skull, and is more elongated backwards (protrusion or occipital bun). Also it is observed easily a powerful supraorbital torus (bone above the eye sockets). Their pelvis was wider than ours and had shorter legs.

Recreation of a skeleton of H. neanderthalensis. American Museum of Natural History. Photo by Mireia Querol

HOW THEY LIVED?

FEEDING

Neanderthals were skilled and selective hunters, they faced large animals (as witnessed from their injuries, some fatal) and used hunting strategies like the populations of Homo sapiens that arrived in Europe after them. They were seasonal hunters due to seasonal climate (basically reindeer in winter, deer and wild boar in summer). So their diet was based on meat, but near the coast also ate molluscs such as mussels, which were boiled to open them. It is likely that practiced cannibalism. Also captured marine mammals such as monk seals and dolphins stranded, and also ate cooked cereals.

UTENSILS

Homo neanderthalensis had a lithic industry (stone work for constructing tools) called Mousterian, also associated with other species such as H. heidelbergensis and Homo sapiens that requires great skill and planning. In some deposits it has been found composite tools using adhesives.

Neanderthal with feather ornamentation. Reconstruction by Fabio Fogliazza.

There are no remains of clothes, but is likely that they used fur to cover them given the climatic changes that they faced.

In Spanish caves perforated shells were found with traces of pigments, suggesting that they were used as dishes for body painting or dyeing fur. It is suggested that perhaps they were the first to make cave paintings, contrary to the belief that we are the only ones who did it. They also carved bone and used feathers as personal decoration. All this suggests some sort of symbolic thought, associated until recently as an exclusive feature of Homo sapiens.

Cave paintings of hands (“Groups of hands”) and red disks in El Castillo cave, Spain. They are the oldest in Europe (41,000 years) and maybe Neanderthals painted it, rather than sapiens as previously thought. Photo: Science.

SOCIETY

Neanderthals are believed that lived in family groups, although recent studies suggest that females would move to other families when they reached adulthood, while adult men remained with the original family.

Neanderthal showing compassion to a dead partner. Recreations by Elisabeth Daynès, CosmoCaixa Barcelona. Photo by Mireia Querol

One of the most important features of the Neanderthals is that they were probably the first human ancestors that buried their dead, which shows an awareness of the individual self and their peers, plus some symbolic or abstract thought as mentioned above. This increased the survival of individuals and made stronger social bonds, and also helped other dependent people such as elderly and sick fellows (as the old man from La Chapelle-aux-Saints). Their life expectancy was about 40 years.

DID THE NEANDERTHALS TALK?

Another unanswered question, though are reaching strength opinions of some scientists as Juan Luis Arsuaga, thanks to the remains of the site with more fossils of Homo in the world, La Sima de los Huesos (Burgos). Neandedrthals could have an oral language, against the widespread thinking so far that they had a communication based in grunts. In addition to the anatomical language adaptations, the Neanderthal DNA contains the FoxP₂ gene, related to speech in H. sapiens.

Recreation of a Neanderthal camp. Neanderthal Museum in Krapina, Croatia.

NEANDERTHAL EXTINCTION

The extinction of Neanderthals is one of the most controversial debates in paleoanthropology. They disappeared 28,000 years ago, after the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe about 60,000 years ago. A time ago extinction was associated with their lower intellectual capacity, but we have seen that did not have to be this way, since they were much like us. Inability to adapt to climate changes? Less reproductive capacity? More infant mortality? Less efficiency for resources or hunting? Direct wars? Imported diseases? Or … maybe sex?

HYBRIDIZATION BETWEEN H. SAPIENS  AND H. NEANDERTHALENSIS

Refused for a long time, we now know that our species reproduced with Neanderthals when they were about to be genetically incompatible (100,000 years ago), because they coexisted between 2,600 and 5,400 years ago and left fertile offspring. So much so, that the Neanderthal genome accumulated by all living human beings is 20%, although the percentage in an individual -without african roots-  is from 1 to 3%.

In June 22nd was published in Nature the discovery of a jaw in Romania of an anatomically modern Homo sapiens (40,000 years old) containing between 6 and 9% of Neanderthal DNA, which implies that their neanderthalensis ancestry was only 4 or 6 generations back in his pedigree.

Redhead Homo sapiens and recreation of H. neanderthalensis. Photo by Science

So another possible explanation for their extinction is due to these reproductive crossings. Homo sapiens were more numerous, which could have caused that the Neanderthal genes were “diluted” over thousands of generations. This is known as extermination by hybridization.

WHAT IMPLICATIONS WE HAVE BEING A BIT NEANDERTHALS?

It is believed that Neanderthals genes brought us some advantages, as some characteristics of the skin and hair, such as color and thickness, which could help our species to colonize cooler areas. In fact some Neanderthals could be light-skinned and redheads.

But some diseases can be associated to that heritage: increased risk of biliary cirrhosis, lupus, diabetes, Crohn’s disease and even difficulty in quitting smoking (smokers: not worth using it as an excuse).

In short, it is exciting to think that we lived and even mated with a species so similar to ours and that somehow, still exist in each of us. We may not be as special as we thought.

Currently we are the only representatives of the genus Homo, but in ancient times it was not. Can you imagine a world where you would meet  a Neanderthal  in the street and tell them “good morning”?

 

Neanderthal in suit. Photo: Neanderthal Museum/H. Neumann

REFERENCES

• Roberts, Alice. Akal, 2012. Evolución: historia de la humanidad.
• La corta vida de dos especies de humanos arcaicos
• Los neandertales no eran idiotas
• Descifran el legado de los genes neandertales en los humanos actuales
• El neandertal que llevamos dentro
• Los neandertales usaban plumas de aves con fines ornamentales
• Los neandertales podrían ser los autores de las pinturas más antiguas del mundo
• ¿Cuánto tiempo coexistimos con los neandertales?
• Los neandertales también tuvieron lenguaje oral
• ¿Qué lengua hablaban los neandertales?
• El alucinante hombre de Altamura
• ¿Fue el sexo con humanos lo que provocó la extinción de los neandertales?
• Micro-Biomechanics of the Kebara 2 Hyoid and Its Implications for Speech in Neanderthals

• The genomic landscape of Neanderthal ancestry in present-day humans

• Cover image from Neanderthal Museum

Dogs made us more sapiens

Look at the dog resting at your side as you read this article or the Yorkshire Terrier that you‘ve seen in the street. French Bulldog, Pug, Chihuahua, West Highland, Golden Retriever, Pinscher… sometimes it’s hard to think that the ancestor of all these races is the wolf. It is known that the variety of breeds of current dogs is due to artificial selection by humans, but the debate is still alive when trying to answer questions about where, when, how and why it occurred domestication of wolves. Have dogs influenced our evolution as a species? Why do we have such a close relationship with them?

HIPOTHESES ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE DOG

Currently it is known that the ancestor of the dog is the wolf (Canis lupus), probably of some extinct species. The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is in fact one of the two domestic subspecies of the wolf; the other is the Australian dingo (Canis lupus dingo) although it is considered wild nowadays.

Eurasian wolf (Canis lupus lupus). Photo by Bernard Landgraf.

The first hypotheses that attempt to explain the origin of the dog, were based on the idea that our ancestors caught wolf cubs and raised them as pets. But since domestication is a slow and long process, this belief is now ruled out. What tell us the most recent researchs?

• A research in 2002 argued for an Asian origin (China today) 15,000 years ago, based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA from more than 600 dogs.
• Another researh in 2010  placed the origin of the dog about 12,000 years ago in the Middle East, based on fossils.
• In 2013, a mitochondrial DNA analysis of prehistoric canids, modern dogs and wolves concluded that domestication occurred between 18,800-32,100 years ago in Europe, much earlier than previously thought. The dog would be then the first living being domesticated by humans, since its origin predates agriculture. This would cast serious doubts in the same year’s rechearch telling that some wolves were able to metabolize starch, and therefore the cereals of early farmers, which favored (among other things) the rapprochement between wolves and humans.

The Razboinichya canid, a 33.000 years old fossil with evidence of domestication. Photo taken of Plos One.

Agriculture and ranching surely influenced the evolution of the dog, but the contact between humans and wolves was when we were hunters and gatherers, before the domestication of animals more profitable (cows, sheep …). But how did it happen?

THE WOLF WAS DOMESTICATED ITSELF

The domestication of the wolf is unique because it is the only large carnivore in which we have succeeded. As reported by Science in April 2015, most scientists believe that were the wolves who approached human settlements voluntarily. Those who were less timid, more easily obtained food from the remains of dead animals left by our ancestors. Over time, these wolves survived longer and each generation was slightly different to previous, less and less fearful of humans. Humans would choose the most docile up to live with them. Wolves’ social skills and cooperation with its kind were maybe features that helped to cooperation with humans.

Neolithic burial of a woman and a dog, Ripoli (Italia). National Museum of Antiques of Chieti. (Credits)

Over thousands of years the relationship between humans and dogs has been coevolution (one has influenced the evolution of the other and vice versa), so much to create bonds with just a look, something  that we might think that is a exclusive hominid feature. When you look into the eyes of your dog the same hormone is released in both (oxytocin), the same hormone that is released when a mother looks at her son. If you also have the feeling that your dog understands you when you look at it, you smile at it, you talk to it … apparently you’re not entirely wrong.

CONSEQUENCES OF LIVING TOGETHER WITH DOGS IN HOMO SAPIENS

Althought your dog is just a pet and/or part of your family, they are now also used for almost the same tasks as those already profited early modern Homo sapiens:

• Help for hunting: dogs could track the dam because they have a better smell, pursue and harass it until we killed it if it was too big for them. In addition, it is possible that humans communicated with dogs with his eyes, making a quieter hunting.
• Search for buried or hidden food.
• Transporting objects: fossils indicate that the first dogs carried objects in its backs and pulled carts.
• Monitoring and protection against other predators, through better night vision and hearing.
• Use as alternative food if hunting was scarce.
• After the appearance of ranching, to control livestock.

The dog in turn, also made a profit from its union with H. sapiens, especially in the way of food easy to get.

Cave paintinf inTassili (Argelia) showing a hunting scene with dogs

An important consequence of the domestication of the wolf is that it was the starting point of the domestication of other animals. Our ancestors understood the advantages that supposed to have domesticated animals to their advantage, so the ranching revolution started about 10,000 years ago.

Furthermore, Pat Shipman, antrophologist, has published recently a paper and a book where explains the advantage that H. sapiens with dogs would have had against H. neanderthalensis, even contributing to the extinction of this species. Apparently the advantages set forth above associated with dogs, not only gave the first modern sapiens advantage to compete with other carnivores for food, scarce in full glaciation. Also they had an advantage over the Neanderthals, which had only their own means to feed. Not only disappeared with our arrival the Neanderthal population in Europe, so did the mammoths, European lions and buffalos.

Recreation of a neanderthal camp. American Museum of Natural History. Photo by Mireia Querol

The causes of extinction of the species most similar to ours, the Neanderthals, remain a mystery. The reasons are probably multiple but rarely we ask ourselves that “man’s best friend” has contributed to this. Perhaps thanks to them you’re reading this article and I’m writing it, perhaps we are here as a species thanks to dogs.

REFERENCES

• Los perros se hicieron amigos del hombre escarbando en sus basuras
• Los lobos se hicieron perros siguiendo a los primeros cazadores europeos
• Cómo los lobos se convirtieron en perros
• Historia de la domesticación del perro
• La mirada entre perro y dueño refuerza su unión emocional
• Cover photo (siberian husky) by Mireia Querol