The composition of a Neandertal social group revealed by the hominin footprints at Le Rozel (Normandy, France)

Duveau, Jérémy; Bérillon, Gilles; Verna, Christine; Laisné, Gilles; Cliquet, Dominique

doi:10.1073/pnas.1901789116

Cited by 51 publications

(91 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…As DLX5/6 are pleiotropic genes with multiple interconnected functions including craniofacial morphogenesis, neuronal differentiation, bone development and reproduction (Merlo, et al 2000) one could speculate that the presence of the DLX5/6-N-Haplotype might also affect other traits characteristic of the evolution of Homo sapiens, such as metabolism, skull shape and bone density. In particular one of the main differences between modern humans and Neanderthals has been the composition and size of social groups: while Neanderthal groups were small, composed by 10 to 30 individuals, modern humans developed complex societies (Duveau, et al 2019). It is possible, therefore, that the DLX5/6-N-Haplotype could influence characters affecting the structure of modern human society.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DLX5/6GABAergic expression affects social vocalization: implications for human evolution

Levi

Lombares

Giuliani

et al. 2020

Preprint

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DLX5 and DLX6 are two closely related transcription factors involved in brain development and in GABAergic differentiation. The DLX5/6 locus is regulated by FoxP2, a gene involved in language evolution and has been associated to neurodevelopmental disorders and mental retardation. Targeted inactivation of Dlx5/6 in mouse GABAergic neurons (Dlx5/6VgatCre mice) results in behavioural and metabolic phenotypes notably increasing lifespan by 33%.Here, we show that Dlx5/6VgatCre mice present an hyper-vocalization and hyper-socialization phenotype. While only 7% of control mice emitted more than 700 vocalizations/10min, 30% and 56% of heterozygous or homozygous Dlx5/6VgatCre mice emitted more than 700 and up to 1400 calls/10min with longer, uninterrupted, call sequences and a higher proportion of complex and modulated calls. Hyper-vocalizing animals were more sociable: the time they spent in dynamic interactions with an unknown visitor was more than doubled compared to low-vocalizing individuals.We then compared the DLX5/6 genomic regions from Neanderthal and modern humans to examine if DLX5/6 GABAergic expression could have been involved in human social evolution. We identify an introgressed Neanderthal haplotype (DLX5/6-N-Haplotype) present in 12.6% of European individuals that covers DLX5/6 coding and regulatory sequences. The DLX5/6-N-Haplotype is not significantly associated to Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) but includes the binding site for GTF2I, a gene associated to Williams-Beuren syndrome, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by hyper-sociability and hyper-vocalization. Interestingly, the DLX5/6-N-Haplotype is significantly underrepresented in semi-supercentenarians (>105y of age), a well-established human model of healthy ageing and longevity, suggesting its potential involvement in the co-evolution of longevity, sociability and speech.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

DLX5/6GABAergic expression affects social vocalization: implications for human evolution

Levi

Lombares

Giuliani

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Further sites have been reported subsequent to the publication of these reviews. 16,24,25 Compared with the three southern African sites thus far reported, there are only six generally accepted older hominin tracksites in the world [18][19][20] , and none of these are attributed to Homo sapiens. Thus southern Africa has to date proven to be the region in which to search for Middle Stone Age tracks of our species.…”

Section: The Global Hominin Track Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The larger the surface exposure, and the greater the number of tracks and trackways, the less likelihood there is of identification error. Duveau et al 25 analysed a tracksite containing 257 footprints in France, attributed to Homo neanderthalensis. Enough morphological detail was present to permit morphometric analysis, and to lead to the conclusion that the tracks represented a single brief occupation event and were made by a small group, with a majority of children.…”

Section: Distinguishing Featuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Newly identified hominin trackways from the Cape south coast of South Africa

et al. 2020

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Three new Pleistocene hominin tracksites have been identified on the Cape south coast of South Africa, one in the Garden Route National Park and two in the Goukamma Nature Reserve, probably dating to Marine Isotope Stage 5. As a result, southern Africa now boasts six hominin tracksites, which are collectively the oldest sites in the world that are attributed to Homo sapiens. The tracks were registered on dune surfaces, now preserved in aeolianites. Tracks of varying size were present at two sites, indicating the presence of more than one trackmaker, and raising the possibility of family groups. A total of 18 and 32 tracks were recorded at these two sites, respectively. Ammoglyphs were present at one site. Although track quality was not optimal, and large aeolianite surface exposures are rare in the region, these sites prove the capacity of coastal aeolianites to yield such discoveries, and they contribute to what remains a sparse global hominin track record. It is evident that hominin tracks are more common in southern Africa than was previously supposed.

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“…However, this might be related to hunting opportunities at the specific sites analyzed. Duveua et al (2019) investigated the Neanderthal social structure by looking at hundreds of footprints at Le Rozel. It was concluded that the group size was between 4 and 13 individuals, but analyzing the estimate of 10 to 13 individuals resulted in only 10% of adults.…”

Section: Hunting Adaptations In Autism and Neurodiversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Hunting adaptations in autism and neurodiversity

Ekblad¹

2020

Preprint

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The connection between hunting traits and neurodiversity and autism was researched. Previous research has shown that the evolutionary adaptations to confrontation hunting practiced by hunter & gather societies are still important and expressed in team sports. The current study expanded on this and showed that both physical and psychological adaptations to confrontation hunting are still part of the typical population, but to a lesser degree in the neurodiverse or autistic. Instead, the neurodiverse and autistic population had physical and psychological adaptations to close combat hunting, which originated with Neanderthals. Rather than viewing neurodiversity as a set of independent traits, it can more successfully be considered to be a set of connected traits that originally were successful evolutionary adaptations.

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The composition of a Neandertal social group revealed by the hominin footprints at Le Rozel (Normandy, France)

Cited by 51 publications

References 56 publications

DLX5/6GABAergic expression affects social vocalization: implications for human evolution

DLX5/6GABAergic expression affects social vocalization: implications for human evolution

Newly identified hominin trackways from the Cape south coast of South Africa

Hunting adaptations in autism and neurodiversity

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