. Earth Science News .
ABOUT US
Ancient teeth suggest Neanderthals, modern humans diverged 800,000 years ago
by Brooks Hays
Washington (UPI) May 16, 2019

Neanderthals and modern humans diverged earlier than previously thought, according to a new survey of ancient teeth.

Using the 430,000-year-old teeth of hominins recovered from Sima de los Huesos, a cave in Spain, researchers were able to quantify the rate of dental evolution among early humans, ancestors of Neanderthals. The rates suggest Neanderthals and modern humans diverged at least 800,000 years ago.

Rates of evolutionary change among the dental shapes of hominins are consistent across several species and lineages. As such, scientists were able to use the rate of dental evolution among Sima de los Huesos teeth to deduce when Neanderthals first split.

"The Sima people's teeth are very different from those that we would expect to find in their last common ancestral species with modern humans, suggesting that they evolved separately over a long period of time to develop such stark differences," Aida Gomez-Robles, an anthropologist at University College London, said in a news release.

Using quantitative analysis, scientists determined the rate of change was too great for Neanderthals and modern humans to have diverged more recently than 800,000 years ago.

"There are different factors that could potentially explain these results, including strong selection to change the teeth of these hominins or their isolation from other Neanderthals found in mainland Europe," Gomez-Robles said. "However, the simplest explanation is that the divergence between Neanderthals and modern humans was older than 800,000 years. This would make the evolutionary rates of the early Neanderthals from Sima de los Huesos roughly comparable to those found in other species."

Previous DNA analysis suggests Neanderthals and modern humans diverged between 300,000 and 500,000 years ago, but the anatomical and genetic analysis of the hominin remains recovered from Sima de los Huesos, located in the Atapuerca Mountains, suggest otherwise.

Previous studies suggest Neanderthals and humans share a common ancestor, but the details of their evolutionary split remain murky and fiercely contested. The latest research suggests Sima de los Huesos were close relatives of Neanderthals.

"Sima de los Huesos hominins are characterized by very small posterior teeth (premolars and molars) that show multiple similarities with classic Neanderthals," Gomez-Robles said. "It is likely that the small and Neanderthal-looking teeth of these hominins evolved from the larger and more primitive teeth present in the last common ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans."

Gomez-Robles and her colleagues shared their analysis of Sima de los Huesos teeth this week in the journal Science Advances.


Related Links
All About Human Beings and How We Got To Be Here


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


ABOUT US
Evidence suggests Stone Age family explored Italian cave on their hands, knees
Washington (UPI) May 14, 2019
Families that crawl through damp, dark caves together, stay together, apparently. Archaeologists have discovered 14,000-year-old evidence of a crawling expedition through an Italian cave. The evidence suggests the crawlers were members of a late Stone Age family of sorts, a group including two adults and three children. Archaeologists have known about the Bàsura at Toirano cave and the traces of human and animal visitation within since the 1950s, but the latest study is the first to loo ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

ABOUT US
Glassy menagerie of particles in beach sands near Hiroshima is fallout debris

Italy takes in migrants rescued by navy, but not charity ship

Pentagon assigns another $1.5 bn for border wall

Amid plague of US mass shootings, 'heroes' emerge

ABOUT US
Discovery may lead to new materials for next-generation data storage

Researchers create 'force field' for super materials

Gold helps CT scans pick up the finest surface structures

Recognising sustainable behaviour in orbit

ABOUT US
UN chief hails Pacific's 'moral authority' on climate

Better understanding of coral-algae relationship could help prevent bleaching

What we've learned from water in motion

'Super corals' give glimmer of hope for world's dying reefs

ABOUT US
New study boosts understanding of how ocean melts Antarctic Ice Sheet

Jakobshavn Isbrae Glacier bucks the trend

Influential excrement: How life in Antarctica thrives on penguin poop

US climate sceptics send shivers through Arctic cooperation

ABOUT US
US farm lobby calls for swift end to China trade war

Outback farmers lead charge as climate heats up Aussie election

Trump says tariffs battle will help US farmers

Hong Kong to cull 6,000 pigs as first swine fever case found

ABOUT US
18th century volcanic eruption in Iceland didn't trigger a summer heat wave

Assessment teams deployed after massive Papua New Guinea quake

Evacuations as rain and floods swamp northern Bosnia

Earthquake in Panama leaves five injured, minor damage

ABOUT US
Sudan army, protesters agree 3 year transition: general

Benin mourns slain tour guide, 'one of the best'

French special forces free 4 hostages in Burkina Faso

Six months too few to form S.Sudan unity government: president

ABOUT US
New data platform illuminates history of humans' environmental impact

Tooth fossils fill 6-million-year-old gap in primate evolution

Ancient chewing gum reveals Scandinavia's oldest human DNA

Relay station in the brain controls an array of movements









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.