Dataset Information

Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia.

ABSTRACT: The 2007 discovery of fragmentary human remains (two molars and an anterior mandible) at Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in South China provides insight in the processes involved in the establishment of modern humans in eastern Eurasia. The human remains are securely dated by U-series on overlying flowstones and a rich associated faunal sample to the initial Late Pleistocene, >100 kya. As such, they are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate by >60,000 y the oldest previously known modern human remains in the region. The Zhiren 3 mandible in particular presents derived modern human anterior symphyseal morphology, with a projecting tuber symphyseos, distinct mental fossae, modest lateral tubercles, and a vertical symphysis; it is separate from any known late archaic human mandible. However, it also exhibits a lingual symphyseal morphology and corpus robustness that place it close to later Pleistocene archaic humans. The age and morphology of the Zhiren Cave human remains support a modern human emergence scenario for East Asia involving dispersal with assimilation or populational continuity with gene flow. It also places the Late Pleistocene Asian emergence of modern humans in a pre-Upper Paleolithic context and raises issues concerning the long-term Late Pleistocene coexistence of late archaic and early modern humans across Eurasia.

SUBMITTER: Liu W

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2984215 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia.

Liu Wu W Jin Chang-Zhu CZ Zhang Ying-Qi YQ Cai Yan-Jun YJ Xing Song S Wu Xiu-Jie XJ Cheng Hai H Edwards R Lawrence RL Pan Wen-Shi WS Qin Da-Gong DG An Zhi-Sheng ZS Trinkaus Erik E Wu Xin-Zhi XZ

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20101025 45

The 2007 discovery of fragmentary human remains (two molars and an anterior mandible) at Zhirendong (Zhiren Cave) in South China provides insight in the processes involved in the establishment of modern humans in eastern Eurasia. The human remains are securely dated by U-series on overlying flowstones and a rich associated faunal sample to the initial Late Pleistocene, >100 kya. As such, they are the oldest modern human fossils in East Asia and predate by >60,000 y the oldest previously known mo ...[more]

PMID: 20974952

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Project description:Background and aimsBesides bananas belonging to the AAA triploid Mutika subgroup, which predominates in the Great Lakes countries, other AAA triploids as well as edible AA diploids, locally of considerable cultural weight, are cultivated in East Africa and in the nearby Indian Ocean islands as far as Madagascar. All these varieties call for the genetic identification and characterization of their interrelations on account of their regional socio-economic significance and their potential for banana breeding strategies.MethodsAn extensive sampling of all traditional bananas in East Africa and near Indian Ocean islands was genotyped with simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, with particular emphasis on the diploid forms and on the bananas of the Indian Ocean islands, which remain poorly characterized.Key resultsAll the edible AA varieties studied here are genetically homogeneous, constituting a unique subgroup, here called 'Mchare', despite high phenotypic variation and adaptions to highly diverse ecological zones. At triploid level, and besides the well-known AAA Mutika subgroup, at least two other genetically related AAA subgroups specific to this region are identified. Neither of these East African AAA genotypes can be derived directly from the local AA Mchare diploids. However, it is demonstrated that the East African diploids and triploids together belong to the same genetic complex. The geographical distribution of their wild acuminata relatives allowed identification of the original area of this complex in a restricted part of island South-East Asia. The inferred origin leads to consideration of the history of banana introduction in Africa. Linked to biological features, documentation on the embedding of bananas in founding legends and myths and convincing linguistic elements were informative regarding the period and the peoples who introduced these Asian plants into Africa. The results point to the role of Austronesian-speaking peoples who colonized the Indian Ocean islands, particularly Madagascar, and reached the East African coasts.ConclusionsUnderstanding of the relations between the components of this complex and identifying their Asian wild relatives and related cultivars will be a valuable asset in breeding programmes and will boost the genetic improvement of East African bananas, but also of other globally important subgroups, in particular the AAA Cavendish.

Dataset Information

Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia.

Publications

Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia.

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