Hominins

Bone fragments from Denisova Cave (Photo courtesy Samantha Brown)

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An article published in the journal “Nature Ecology and Evolution” reports the identification of new fossil bones belonging to the Denisovans, the hominin species still mysterious from various points of view. A team of researchers led by Katerina Douka conducted a very sophisticated analysis of nearly 3,800 bone fragments too small to be identified by normal methods and found five that belonged to humans, four containing enough DNA fragments to establish that three belonged to Denisovans and one to a Neanderthal. The bones were found in a layer of Denisova Cave dating to as early as 200,000 years ago, making them some of the oldest human fossils from which it was possible to extract DNA. They’re important fossils also because they were discovered in the same sediments as animal remains and stone tools that offer information about that people’s life.

A silhouette of Australopithecus sediba showing the available bones with the vertebrae and their 3D reconstruction

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An article published in the journal “eLife” reports a study of Australopithecus sediba’s spine. A team of researchers created 3D reproductions of fossil vertebrae discovered in 2015 during excavations at the Malapa site, where the first bones attributed to this hominin species were discovered. This allowed obtaining an almost complete lower spine of the specimen cataloged as MH2 whose characteristics confirm the conclusions of previous studies that indicated that these australopithecines used their arms to climb trees like apes but used their legs in bipedal walking like the later species of the genus Homo.

A reconstruction of Leti's skull in Professor Berger's hand

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Two articles published in the journal “PaleoAnthropology” report as many studies connected to Homo naledi, the species of hominins whose fossils were discovered in the cave called Rising Star about 50 km northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa. One of the two articles reports the study of a partial skull with some teeth belonging to an individual who was still in the growth phase, possibly a child. The other article reports the results of the exploration of the subsystem of the cave called Dinaledi. These studies offer new insights into what Professor Lee Berger, who led the team that conducted the first studies on Homo naledi, called an enigmatic species.

The Bodo 1 skull (Image courtesy Jeffrey H. Schwartz / Roksandic et al.)

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An article published in the journal “Evolutionary Anthropology” reports a research on hominins of the Middle Pleistocene period that proposes the species Homo bodoensis as a classification for a series of hominin fossils discovered in Africa and some discovered in some areas of Europe. A team of researchers led by paleoanthropologist Mirjana Roksandic of the University of Winnipeg, Canada, reached this conclusion after reassessing fossils discovered over the years in Africa and Eurasia. A consequence of this proposal is the elimination of the species Homo heidelbergensis and Homo rhodesiensis with their often inconsistent definitions. A series of fossils attributed to the species Homo heidelbergensis would be Neanderthals.

Aeta actors on stage

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An article published in the journal “Current Biology” reports the results of a genetic research on 118 ethnic groups living in the Philippines which indicated that in the Aeta, or Ayta, people and in particular in the Aeta Magbukon ethnic group there is the greatest concentration found so far of genes inherited from the Denisovans, the human species whose remains identified with certainty have been discovered mainly in Siberia. A team of researchers conducted this genetic research within a collaboration between the Swedish University of Uppsala, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts of the Philippines (NCCA), and various indigenous communities. The results show an ancient interbreeding between the Aeta and the Denisovans.