Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding
Ancient DNA from, Neandertal and modern human fossils, and comparative morphological analyses of them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between these lineages and the introgression of Neandertal genes into modern human genomes. Despite substantial increases in our knowledge of these events,...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Biology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1163 |
| _version_ | 1797432407015555072 |
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| author | Steven E. Churchill Kamryn Keys Ann H. Ross |
| author_facet | Steven E. Churchill Kamryn Keys Ann H. Ross |
| author_sort | Steven E. Churchill |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ancient DNA from, Neandertal and modern human fossils, and comparative morphological analyses of them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between these lineages and the introgression of Neandertal genes into modern human genomes. Despite substantial increases in our knowledge of these events, the timing and geographic location of hybridization events remain unclear. Six measures of facial size and shape, from regional samples of Neandertals and early modern humans, were used in a multivariate exploratory analysis to try to identify regions in which early modern human facial morphology was more similar to that of Neandertals, which might thus represent regions of greater introgression of Neandertal genes. The results of canonical variates analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis suggest important affinities in facial morphology between both Middle and Upper Paleolithic early modern humans of the Near East with Neandertals, highlighting the importance of this region for interbreeding between the two lineages. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:01:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b0d623952744d79b1b9e48dcdee1db6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-7737 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T10:01:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Biology |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b0d623952744d79b1b9e48dcdee1db62023-12-01T23:26:09ZengMDPI AGBiology2079-77372022-08-01118116310.3390/biology11081163Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human InterbreedingSteven E. Churchill0Kamryn Keys1Ann H. Ross2Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USAHuman Identification & Forensic Analysis Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAHuman Identification & Forensic Analysis Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USAAncient DNA from, Neandertal and modern human fossils, and comparative morphological analyses of them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between these lineages and the introgression of Neandertal genes into modern human genomes. Despite substantial increases in our knowledge of these events, the timing and geographic location of hybridization events remain unclear. Six measures of facial size and shape, from regional samples of Neandertals and early modern humans, were used in a multivariate exploratory analysis to try to identify regions in which early modern human facial morphology was more similar to that of Neandertals, which might thus represent regions of greater introgression of Neandertal genes. The results of canonical variates analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis suggest important affinities in facial morphology between both Middle and Upper Paleolithic early modern humans of the Near East with Neandertals, highlighting the importance of this region for interbreeding between the two lineages.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1163hybridizationintrogressionancient DNA (aDNA)hominin paleontologypaleoanthropology |
| spellingShingle | Steven E. Churchill Kamryn Keys Ann H. Ross Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding Biology hybridization introgression ancient DNA (aDNA) hominin paleontology paleoanthropology |
| title | Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding |
| title_full | Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding |
| title_fullStr | Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding |
| title_full_unstemmed | Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding |
| title_short | Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding |
| title_sort | midfacial morphology and neandertal modern human interbreeding |
| topic | hybridization introgression ancient DNA (aDNA) hominin paleontology paleoanthropology |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-7737/11/8/1163 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT stevenechurchill midfacialmorphologyandneandertalmodernhumaninterbreeding AT kamrynkeys midfacialmorphologyandneandertalmodernhumaninterbreeding AT annhross midfacialmorphologyandneandertalmodernhumaninterbreeding |