Friday, February 8, 2013

Features of southeast European human ancestors influenced by lack of episodic glaciations

Feb. 6, 2013 ? A fragment of human lower jaw recovered from a Serbian cave is the oldest human ancestor found in this part of Europe, who probably evolved under different conditions than populations that inhabited more western parts of the continent at the same time, according to research published Feb. 6 in the open access journal PLOS ONE.

The research was carried out by William Jack Rink of McMaster University, Canada, and the international team under the direction of Du?an Mihailovi?, University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Mirjana Roksandic, University of Winnipeg, Canada.

The fossil was found to be at least 397,000 years old and possibly older than 525,000 years old, a time when distinctly Neandertal traits began to appear in Europe. The evolution of these traits was strongly influenced by periodic isolation of groups of individuals, caused by episodic formation of glaciers. Humans in southeastern Europe were never geographically isolated from Asia and Africa by glaciers, and according to the authors, this resulted in different evolutionary forces acting on early human populations in this region.

Roksandic explains that their study confirms the importance of southeast Europe as a 'gate to the continent' and one of the three main areas where humans, plants and animals sought refuge during glaciations in prehistoric times. She adds, "We have very few fossils of hominins in general from this time, a period that was critical for shaping the appearance and evolution of uniquely human morphology and behaviors."

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:


Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Public Library of Science, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.


Journal Reference:

  1. William J. Rink, Norbert Mercier, Du?an Mihailovi?, Mike W. Morley, Jeroen W. Thompson, Mirjana Roksandic. New Radiometric Ages for the BH-1 Hominin from Balanica (Serbia): Implications for Understanding the Role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene Human Evolution. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (2): e54608 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0054608

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/9WXXnLpulRE/130206185841.htm

arsenic and old lace leslie varez ward solar storms uganda the parent trap invisible children kony 2012

No comments:

Post a Comment