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2022 was a great year for studies of human evolution, which was made even more vital with the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine to Svante Pääbo for his paintings on Neanderthal genome sequencing, and with a new year, it is worth looking back at what we will be informed about in 2022 and what we can expect to know more about in 2023. Last year’s themes come with studies that focus on ancient DNA to give us new clues about behaviors or genetics beyond, to be informed about hominid behaviors, and to be informed about how humans migrated around the globe.
1. Neanderthals have had a wonderful year and possibly one of the biggest new discoveries of 2022 similar to their way of life. The ancient DNA of a teenage tooth has provided evidence of the social structure of Neanderthals. From this tooth, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology discovered that a father-daughter couple, a child, and a relative (perhaps an aunt or grandmother) lived with thirteen other people. This recommended that the organization live (and most likely die) together at about the same time. While it’s exciting to be more informed about this specific organization, what’s more exciting is the long-term perspective: we now have the team and strategies in position to begin to perceive the social structures of our former parents. As such, we can use this test to begin answering questions such as whether men or women migrated from their natal teams (the effects of this test suggest that women migrated) and whether other Neanderthal teams followed similar social structures.
2. In early December 2022, Lee Berger and colleagues announced that, for the first time, there was evidence of the use of chimneys in a cave believed to have been occupied by Homo naledi. This hominid species lived in a cave formula in South Africa between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago. When this new species was announced in 2015, the discovery was remarkable for many reasons, one of which is the number of fossils that have been found (over 1550!). As studies in the cave, known as the Rising Formula of the star cave: next, more behaviors were illuminated and the use of chimneys was added. Small chimneys containing burnt animal bones combined with soot walls. The cave formula reported that chimneys were being placed inside the caves. More paints are needed to identify the age of those chimneys and precisely how the chimneys were used, although to date all the symptoms point to a rather incredible discovery.
3. With the pandemic caused by COVID-19 still on everyone’s mind, it is of special interest how humans have become immune to certain diseases. New studies from the University of Melbourne have suggested that when modern humans mate with ancient hominins, certain immunity-related genes are passed on. Specifically, the study team found that when humans migrated to Papua New Guinea and then interbred with an ancient organization known as the Denisovans, the Papuans inherited around 5% of the genome. through Denisovan. The inherited genome comprised approximately 82,000 mismatched nucleotide polymorphisms, many of which were located across genes known to have an effect on human response to pathogens. Newly emigrated Papuans would have been exposed to a number of unknown new tropical diseases and would have had little or no immunity to combat them. With the Denisovan DNA heritage, the Papuans were able to expand immunity and thus in this new environment much faster than they could have without the admixture. Other studies will focus on how other humans might have inherited immune reactions from other parts of the world.
4. When will the first barbecue be? Perhaps more than 600,000 years ago, according to a study by Irit Zohar from Israel’s Steinhardt Museum of Natural History. Researchers of human evolution knew that early humans cooked their food, and evidence indicated that this habit began around 170,000 years ago. But, evidence found at the Gesher Benot Ya’akov site in Israel suggests household-related activities and has also preserved remains of freshwater fish. In the assemblage, a high percentage of pharyngeal teeth was found, compared to a low percentage of fish bones: when fish bones are exposed to high temperatures, they tend to disintegrate while the teeth remain. Therefore, the researchers concluded that the fish may have been cooked. Also, the cloves have been exposed to heat between 400 and 930F, which is well within the range for cooked fish. All the evidence at this site suggests that those who live there discovered the benefits of cooked food, such as increased flavor and less power to break down food, perhaps much earlier than originally thought.
5. La globalization has been a hot topic for decades, but when and how did humans first migrate around the world?A study using DNA from a team discovered at Florida Atlantic University found that humans migrated from the north to South America. analyzed for two Americans who lived about 1,000 years ago in northeastern Brazil, and then compared to the genomes of Brazilians, Panamanians and Uruguayans today. -Mile of travel. This explains how settlements may have occurred, suggesting that the Atlantic coast was colonized after the Pacific coast and the Andes Mountains. Emigrated to the Americas should have done so 40,000 years ago.
2022 was a big year for human evolution, and while the major findings are listed above, there are also some honorable mentions to explore: How did Neanderthals go extinct?, Neanderthals may also have been carnivores, a jawbone from Spain, a new theory about the evolution of bipedalism, and how humans and Neanderthals would possibly have interacted.
Sources: Nobel Prize, PLOS SciComm, John Hawks