The growth pattern of Neandertals, reconstructed from a juvenile skeleton from El Sidrón (Spain)
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2017
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American Association for the Advancement of Science
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Antonio Rosas et al. ,The growth pattern of Neandertals, reconstructed from a juvenile skeleton from El Sidrón (Spain).Science357,1282-1287(2017).DOI:10.1126/science.aan6463
Abstract
Ontogenetic studies help us understand the processes of evolutionary change. Previous studies on Neandertals have focused mainly on dental development and inferred an accelerated pace of general growth. We report on a juvenile partial skeleton (El Sidrón J1) preserving cranio-dental and postcranial remains. We used dental histology to estimate the age at death to be 7.7 years. Maturation of most elements fell within the expected range of modern humans at this age. The exceptions were the atlas and mid-thoracic vertebrae, which remained at the 5- to 6-year stage of development. Furthermore, endocranial features suggest that brain growth was not yet completed. The vertebral maturation pattern and extended brain growth most likely reflect Neandertal physiology and ontogenetic energy constraints rather than any fundamental difference in the overall pace of growth in this extinct human.
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We thank the entire excavation team working at El Sidrón, as well as the other members of the Paleoanthropology Group of MNCN-CSIC, including S. Garcia-Vargas, J. M. Baquero, and D. Oropesa. We are grateful to the NESPOS Society and the professionals behind it, as well as to the following Institutions and scholars for providing CT data: A. Balzeau, Muséum National D’Histoire Naturelle Paris; C. Stringer and R. Krusynski, Natural History Museum, London; F. Spoor, University College London; and P. Semal, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels. We thank H. Coqueugniot [CNRS–PACEA (De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie)] for advice on cranial reconstruction. We thank Clinica Ruber for technical support with CT scans and radiographs. We also thank the following curators and researchers for granting access to skeletal collections: J. Alves and S. García (Museu Nacional de História Natural e da Ciência, Lisbon); A. L. Santos, S. Wasterlain, T. Ferreira, and the staff of DRYAS (Universidade de Coimbra); L. Jellema (HamannTodd Osteological Collection); J. Pastor (Universidad de Valladolid); M. Benito (Universidad Complutense de Madrid); and E. Gilissen (Royal Museum of Central Africa; Synthesys grant BE-TAF-4580 to L.R.). We also thank B. Bogin for the discussion of several aspects of the research with L.R. (José Castillejo visiting research grant CAS16/00108 to Loughborough University). A. Martínez helped with the figures. A.R. was supported by a grant from the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad of Spain (CGL2016-75-109-P Convenio Principado de Asturias–Universidad de Oviedo CN-09-084). We additionally thank three anonymous referees for valuable suggestions. A.R., L.R., C.D., and H.L. wrote the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript and the overall interpretation. L.R., A.R., and H.C. compiled osteological databases. H.L. and C.D. provided human dental databases. A.R., L.R., A.E., R.H., A.G.-T., and M.B. performed fossil anatomical identification and numerical analyses and discussed the results. C.L.-F. and M.R. provided paleogenetic and archeological background information. Original fossils from the El Sidrón site are housed at MNCN.