Neaderthals and us

Neanderthals and UsChris Stringer

The Natural History Museum London

Some “recent” events in human evolution

‘Out of Africa 1’?

First humans in S. Europe?

Changes in glacial intensity

First humans in N. Europe/Britain?

Early Neanderthals in Europe

Homo sapiens ‘Out of Africa 2’

Homo sapiens in Africa

Neanderthals and “Hobbit” extinct

Homo heidelbergensis appears

Homo erectus in Africa

Homo erectus in Java & China

Complex human behaviour…

“Houses””

Art, Music,Spirituality

Complex technology

Treatment of the dead

Networking

Models of modern human origins

1984 1970

Stringer 1974: cranial metrics suggest Neanderthals are not good ancestors

for modern humans

The evolution of Modern Humans

and Neanderthals(based on fossil and

genetic data)

Homoheidelbergensis~500,000 years

The Late Neanderthals

Neander Valley 1856

newworldeveryday.com

longer lower vaultsuprainiac fossastrong browridge

projecting midface

large front teethweak chin

globular vaultparietal expansionweak browridgeflat midface

small front teethstrong chin

Neanderthals: a different species?

Harvati

Harvati

omegaparque.com

Nea-mod variation

Modvar.

Smaller groups sizes, less networked

Building a Neanderthal genome….

The evolution of Modern Humans

and Neanderthals(based on fossil and

genetic data)

Homoheidelbergensis~500,000 years

Lieberman

H. sapiens: fossils suggest an African origin for the modern

pattern ~ 150-200ka?

Age ka ~260 ~150? ~160? ~195? >130

Tim White

300 ka 200 150 100 50 0

Omo Kibish Herto

Kapthurin

Twin Rivers

Twin Rivers

Pinnacle Point

Klasies Qafzeh

Klasies

Grotta Moscerini

Blombos

Blombos

Skhul

Taforalt

Enkapune ya Muto

Enkapune ya Muto

Howiesonspoort

Mumba

Microliths

Shellfishing

Ochre

Shell beads

Early H. sapiens fossils

“Modern” anatomy and behaviour have deep roots in Africa…

Shell jewellery + red pigments ~70-100 ka

100,000 yrs ago the Sahara was ‘green’ (Nick Drake et al.)

1987: Mitochondrial Eve hits the headlines!

Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution Nature 325, 31-36Rebecca L. Cann, Mark Stoneking & Allan C. Wilson (1987)

African female ancestor~200ka

The pendulum starts swinging…

2000 1995 1995 1984 1970

PNAS 2012

Art and music 30-40 ka

Statuettes and flutes: Hohle Fels & Vogelherd ~ 40ka

Female figurines Europe and Asia

Ain elAin elGuettarGuettar

Cueva AntónCueva Antón

L’ArbredaL’Arbreda

Grotte MandrinGrotte Mandrin

Les CottésLes Cottés

Dar es-Dar es-Soltane 1Soltane 1

Haua FteahHaua Fteah

Undo, Undo, BondiBondi

TabulaTabulaTraianaTraiana

LakonisLakonis

TincovaTincova

Grub/K.Grub/K.

WP-1/2 Palaeolithic Sites (N = 50) cryptotephra present (N = 16) cryptotephra absent (N = 28) sample processing in progress (N = 6)

KozarnikaKozarnika

TheopetraTheopetra

KlissouraKlissoura

Golema PeshtGolema Pesht

TaforaltTaforalt

Moravský Krumlov IV, Zelec/Ondratice I,Moravský Krumlov IV, Zelec/Ondratice I,Vedrovice V, Vedrovice V, Brno-Bohunice 2002, Kulna Brno-Bohunice 2002, Kulna

AzokhAzokh11

CosavaCosavaSiuren I,Siuren I,Kabazii IIKabazii II

Redaka IIRedaka II

UcagizliUcagizli

BeregovoBeregovo

Oued El AkaritOued El Akarit

Sodmein

KebaraKebara

SzeletaSzeleta

Romualdova p.Romualdova p.

ZezëZezë

Zaskalnaya V,Zaskalnaya V,Karabai IIKarabai IIMujina p.Mujina p.

Velika p.Velika p.

Molodova VMolodova V

HurdhHurdhëëss BlazBlaz

Riparo l'OscurusciutoRiparo l'OscurusciutoGrotta di Santa CroceGrotta di Santa Croce

Romanesti-D IRomanesti-D I

Figure byFigure byDustin White,Dustin White,

June 2013June 2013 Hohle Fels Hohle Fels

Hohlenstein-Stadel Hohlenstein-Stadel

RhafasRhafas

Kostenki 14Kostenki 14

RESET Middle-Upper Palaeolithic total sites sampled (2008-13)RESET Middle-Upper Palaeolithic total sites sampled (2008-13)

The Campanian Ignimbrite

PNAS 109:13532-13537(2012)

>41,000 years

>43,000 years

~40,000 years

Châtelperronian material: the product of Neanderthals ~42,000 years ago?

Interbreeding?

Cell

Ancient DNA

What happened to the Neanderthals?

Continuity?Evolved into the Cro-Magnons

Genetically absorbed

Extinction?

Interpopulation conflict

Demographic disadvantage

Competitive exclusion

Infectious diseases

Distinct physiologies/diets

Competition/fluctuating climates

Climate change

Part of megafaunal extinctions

Rapid climate change 20-60 ka

Phylogenetic relationships and geographic distribution of Neanderthals. Recent (<48 kyr) western Neanderthals are placed within a well-defined monophyletic group (blue box), whereas specimens older than 48 kyr constitute a paraphyletic group together with eastern Neanderthals (red box).

Dalén et al. 2012: Partial genetic turnover in Neas Mol Biol Evolution

Enter the Denisovans…

?

1. Interbreeding with Neas?

2.Interbreeding with

Denisovans?

?

NEW DATA ON NEA % Europeans ~ 1% Chinese ~ 1.7%(Meyer et al. Science 2012;Wall et al Genetics 2013)

Only one limited phase of interbreeding, then drift?1st limited phase W. Asia + 2nd in Asia?More widespread, but strong hybrid disadvantage?

A Proper Study for Mankind: analogies from the Papionin Monkeys and their implications for Human Evolution

Clifford Jolly

The message is to concentrate on biology, avoid semantic traps, and realize that any species-level taxonomy based on fossil material is going to be only

an approximate reflection of real-world complexities.

The pendulum swings back a bit!

2013

“Mostly Out of Africa”

Thank you all for listening, and to…The Calleva Foundation

Human Origins Research Fund…and all my sources of data and illustrations..

Mousterian

Châtelperronian

Aurignacian

Fu et al. Curr Biol 2013

The last 35,000 years……

Libor Balák

~60 ka: Modern Humans start to leave Africa…

?

NEW DATA:Europeans ~ 1%Chinese ~ 1.7%

Meyer et al. Science 2012Wall et al Genetics 2013

‘At least two separate episodes of admixture between Neanderthals and modern humans must have occurred, and at least one of those episodes must have occurred

after the separation of the ancestors of modern Europeans and East Asians’

Simulated landscape used in our simulations.

Currat M , and Excoffier L PNAS 2011;108:15129-15134©2011 by National Academy of Sciences

We find that observed low levels of Neanderthal ancestry in Eurasians arecompatible with a very low rate of interbreeding (<2%), potentially attributable

to a very strong avoidance of interspecific matings, a low fitness of hybrids, or both. These results suggest the presence of very effective barriers to gene flow between

the two species

Thomas Higham , Laura Basell , Roger Jacobi , Rachel Wood , Christopher Bronk Ramsey , Nicholas J. Conard

Journal of Human Evolution Volume 62, Issue 6 2012 664 - 676

Out of Africa Mitochondrial DNA

Out of Africa Y-chromosome DNA