Human Evolution Research Articles

THE DISCOURSE OF TRANSHUMANISM AND TECHNO-CULTURE IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The advent of a new culture and human evolution in the 21st century, set against the backdrop of accelerated technological advancement, artificial intelligence, and discourses surrounding technohumanism and cyberculture, is exerting a profound influence on the formation of a new reality and cultural codes. The wide variety of approaches and theories requires the systematisation of knowledge about them, as they all have both scientific and practical applications.

Design and development of a sensorized hammerstone for accurate force measurement in stone knapping experiments.

The process of making stone tools, specifically knapping, is a hominin behaviour that typically involves using the upper limb to manipulate a stone hammer and apply concentrated percussive force to another stone, causing fracture and detachment of stone chips with sharp edges. To understand the emergence and subsequent evolution of tool-related behaviours in hominins, the connections between the mechanics of stone knapping, including the delivery of percussive forces, and biomechanics and hominin anatomy, especially in the upper limb, are required. However, there is an absence of direct experimental means to measure the actual forces generated and applied to produce flakes during knapping. Our study introduces a novel solution to this problem in the form of an ergonomic hand-held synthetic hammerstone that can record the percussive forces that occur during knapping experiments. This hammerstone is composed of a deformable pneumatic 3D-printed chamber encased within a 3D-printed grip and a stone-milled striker. During knapping, hammer impact causes the pneumatic chamber to deform, which leads to a change in pressure that is measured by a sensor. Comparisons of recorded pressure data against corresponding force values measured using a force plate show that the synthetic hammer quantifies percussion forces with relatively high accuracy. The performance of this hammerstone was further validated by conducting anvil-supported knapping experiments on glass that resulted in a root mean square error of under 6%, while recording forces up to 730 N with successful flake detachments. These validation results indicate that accuracy was not sensitive to variations up to 15° from the vertical in the hammer striking angle. Our approach allows future studies to directly examine the role of percussive force during the stone knapping process and its relationship with both anatomical and technological changes during human evolution.

Pervasive findings of directional selection realize the promise of ancient DNA to elucidate human adaptation.

We present a method for detecting evidence of natural selection in ancient DNA time-series data that leverages an opportunity not utilized in previous scans: testing for a consistent trend in allele frequency change over time. By applying this to 8433 West Eurasians who lived over the past 14000 years and 6510 contemporary people, we find an order of magnitude more genome-wide significant signals than previous studies: 347 independent loci with >99% probability of selection. Previous work showed that classic hard sweeps driving advantageous mutations to fixation have been rare over the broad span of human evolution, but in the last ten millennia, many hundreds of alleles have been affected by strong directional selection. Discoveries include an increase from ∼0% to ∼20% in 4000 years for the major risk factor for celiac disease at HLA-DQB1 ; a rise from ∼0% to ∼8% in 6000 years of blood type B; and fluctuating selection at the TYK2 tuberculosis risk allele rising from ∼2% to ∼9% from ∼5500 to ∼3000 years ago before dropping to ∼3%. We identify instances of coordinated selection on alleles affecting the same trait, with the polygenic score today predictive of body fat percentage decreasing by around a standard deviation over ten millennia, consistent with the "Thrifty Gene" hypothesis that a genetic predisposition to store energy during food scarcity became disadvantageous after farming. We also identify selection for combinations of alleles that are today associated with lighter skin color, lower risk for schizophrenia and bipolar disease, slower health decline, and increased measures related to cognitive performance (scores on intelligence tests, household income, and years of schooling). These traits are measured in modern industrialized societies, so what phenotypes were adaptive in the past is unclear. We estimate selection coefficients at 9.9 million variants, enabling study of how Darwinian forces couple to allelic effects and shape the genetic architecture of complex traits.

Past climate change effects on human evolution

Past climate change effects on human evolution

An IGHG1 variant exhibits polarized prevalence and confers enhanced IgG1 antibody responses against life-threatening organisms.

Evolutionary pressures sculpt population genetics, whereas immune adaptation fortifies humans against life-threatening organisms. How the evolution of selective genetic variation in adaptive immune receptors orchestrates the adaptation of human populations to contextual perturbations remains elusive. Here, we show that the G396R coding variant within the human immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) heavy chain presents a concentrated prevalence in Southeast Asian populations. We uncovered a 190-kb genomic linkage disequilibrium block peaked in close proximity to this variant, suggestive of potential Darwinian selection. This variant confers heightened immune resilience against various pathogens and viper toxins in mice. Mechanistic studies involving severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection and vaccinated individuals reveal that this variant enhances pathogen-specific IgG1+ memory B cell activation and antibody production. This G396R variant may have arisen on a Neanderthal haplotype background. These findings underscore the importance of an IGHG1 variant in reinforcing IgG1 antibody responses against life-threatening organisms, unraveling the intricate interplay between human evolution and immune adaptation.

More Than Surface Finds: Nubian Levallois Core Metric Variability and Site Distribution Across Africa and Southwest Asia

Nubian Levallois cores are currently one of the most debated artefact types in Palaeolithic archaeology. Previous work has focused mainly on the definition and technological characteristics of these cores, with discussion of their distribution framed only in qualitative terms. Here, we present the first quantitative spatial analysis of sites with Nubian Levallois cores across the five global regions where they occur. Using modelled Pleistocene conditions for various bioclimatic and topographic variables, we compare the environmental context of 84 sites featuring Nubian cores with 81 contemporaneous sites where they are absent. Metric analysis of cores from 14 new and previously published sites offers further insights into technological and behavioural patterns at an inter-regional scale. Our results show that Nubian cores during MIS 5 are present in areas characterised by aridity, complex topography, and high biomass, whereas for MIS 3, only temperature was a significant predictor. Metric results reveal distinct patterns in both space and time, finding the largest and most standardised cores in Southern Arabia during MIS 5, with the smallest cores in MIS 3 Eastern and Southern Africa. We propose that environmental factors were a more significant driver behind the adoption of the Nubian Levallois method than previously acknowledged. Our results provide essential environmental context for future model-testing of Late Pleistocene demography and cultural connectivity during this critical phase of human evolution.

Large mammal faunas and ecosystem dynamics during the late Middle to early Late Pleistocene at Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy)

Since the beginning of the XIX century, Grotta Romanelli gained recognition in European stratigraphy as an important site for the Late Pleistocene, due to the attribution of its basal sediments to the Last Interglacial (MIS 5e). Its abundant archaeological and paleontological findings made the cave a key reference point for the study of human evolution and faunal dynamics in the larger Mediterranean area over approximately the last 130,000 years. After a century, a new chronostratigraphic reassessment of Grotta Romanelli revised the timeframe of its lower levels, predating them to the late Middle Pleistocene.In this study, we re-evaluate selected historical museum collections from the so-called “lower complex” of Grotta Romanelli and examine the new fossils excavated between 2015 and 2022. We identify three main mammal assemblages associated with three different interglacial periods spanning the last 350,000 years. Our findings offer new insights into terrestrial ecosystems in Mediterranean Europe from the late Middle Pleistocene to early Late Pleistocene. Additionally, they provide valuable information to the biochronological framework of the European large mammal faunas.

Adorning Bodies: Meaning, Evolution, and Beauty in Humans and Animals

Adorning Bodies: Meaning, Evolution, and Beauty in Humans and Animals

Preventing future zoonosis: SARS-CoV-2 mutations enhance human–animal cross-transmission

The COVID-19 pandemic has driven substantial evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, yielding subvariants that exhibit enhanced infectiousness in humans. However, this adaptive advantage may not universally extend to zoonotic transmission. In this work, we hypothesize that viral adaptations favoring animal hosts do not necessarily correlate with increased human infectivity. In addition, we consider the potential for gain-of-function mutations that could facilitate the virus’s rapid evolution in humans following adaptation in animal hosts. Specifically, we identify the SARS-CoV-2 receptor-binding domain (RBD) mutations that enhance human–animal cross-transmission. To this end, we construct a multitask deep learning model, MT-TopLap trained on multiple deep mutational scanning datasets, to accurately predict the binding free energy changes upon mutation for the RBD to ACE2 of various species, including humans, cats, bats, deer, and hamsters. By analyzing these changes, we identified key RBD mutations such as Q498H in SARS-CoV-2 and R493K in the BA.2 variant that are likely to increase the potential for human–animal cross-transmission.

Evolutionarily new genes in humans with disease phenotypes reveal functional enrichment patterns shaped by adaptive innovation and sexual selection.

New genes (or young genes) are genetic novelties pivotal in mammalian evolution. However, their phenotypic impacts and evolutionary patterns over time remain elusive in humans due to the technical and ethical complexities of functional studies. Integrating gene age dating with Mendelian disease phenotyping, our research shows a gradual rise in disease gene proportion as gene age increases. Logistic regression modeling indicates that this increase in older genes may be related to their longer sequence lengths and higher burdens of deleterious de novo germline variants (DNVs). We also find a steady integration of new genes with biomedical phenotypes into the human genome over macroevolutionary timescales (~0.07% per million years). Despite this stable pace, we observe distinct patterns in phenotypic enrichment, pleiotropy, and selective pressures across gene ages. Notably, young genes show significant enrichment in diseases related to the male reproductive system, indicating strong sexual selection. Young genes also exhibit disease-related functions in tissues and systems potentially linked to human phenotypic innovations, such as increased brain size, musculoskeletal phenotypes, and color vision. We further reveal a logistic growth pattern of pleiotropy over evolutionary time, indicating a diminishing marginal growth of new functions for older genes due to intensifying selective constraints over time. We propose a pleiotropy-barrier model that delineates higher potentials for phenotypic innovation in young genes compared to older genes, a process that is subject to natural selection. Our study demonstrates that evolutionarily new genes are critical in influencing human reproductive evolution and adaptive phenotypic innovations driven by sexual and natural selection, with low pleiotropy as a selective advantage.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration targets brain regions linked to expression of recently evolved genes.

In frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), pathological protein aggregation in specific brain regions is associated with declines in human-specialized social-emotional and language functions. In most patients, disease protein aggregates contain either TDP-43 (FTLD-TDP) or tau (FTLD-tau). Here, we explored whether FTLD-associated regional degeneration patterns relate to regional gene expression of human accelerated regions (HARs), conserved sequences that have undergone positive selection during recent human evolution. To this end, we used structural neuroimaging from patients with FTLD and human brain regional transcriptomic data from controls to identify genes expressed in FTLD-targeted brain regions. We then integrated primate comparative genomic data to test our hypothesis that FTLD targets brain regions linked to expression levels of recently evolved genes. In addition, we asked whether genes whose expression correlates with FTLD atrophy are enriched for genes that undergo cryptic splicing when TDP-43 function is impaired. We found that FTLD-TDP and FTLD-tau subtypes target brain regions with overlapping and distinct gene expression correlates, highlighting many genes linked to neuromodulatory functions. FTLD atrophy-correlated genes were strongly enriched for HARs. Atrophy-correlated genes in FTLD-TDP showed greater overlap with TDP-43 cryptic splicing genes and genes with more numerous TDP-43 binding sites compared with atrophy-correlated genes in FTLD-tau. Cryptic splicing genes were enriched for HAR genes, and vice versa, but this effect was due to the confounding influence of gene length. Analyses performed at the individual-patient level revealed that the expression of HAR genes and cryptically spliced genes within putative regions of disease onset differed across FTLD-TDP subtypes. Overall, our findings suggest that FTLD targets brain regions that have undergone recent evolutionary specialization and provide intriguing potential leads regarding the transcriptomic basis for selective vulnerability in distinct FTLD molecular-anatomical subtypes.

Human Evolution, Microgravity, and Challenges Colonizing Mars.

INTRODUCTION: Human colonization of Mars has captured the imagination of many. However, the challenges posed are immense. In microgravity, changes in human physiology, immune dysregulation, alterations of our microbiome, and enhanced virulence of various microbes are some of the barriers that stand in the way of a successful endeavor. Countermeasures can be brought to bear, but it remains unclear if success of such a mission in the foreseeable future is realistic or fanciful.Mermel L. Human evolution, microgravity, and challenges colonizing Mars. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2024; 95(9):720-721.

The 3H and Spiral Dynamics Models: A Reconciliation

Abstract: This study explores the relationship between the Spiral Dynamics and the 3H (head, heart, hands) models of human growth and development, using constructs such as empathy, moral reasoning, forgiveness, and community mindedness that have been shown to have implications for education. The specific research question is, "Can a combination of multivariate statistical techniques be utilized to find an alignment between the dimensions of these models?" We focus on practical and data-driven approaches with the primary methods including factor analysis, cluster analysis, and logistic regression. Our main finding is that the proposed methodology is robust and applicable in a variety of operational scenarios. We conclude it is feasible to empirically align and reconcile dimensions of seemingly disparate theories of educational development and human evolution with a data analysis framework based on mainstream quantitative techniques that can be easily implemented using readily available statistical software packages.

A new addition to the toolbox: stone tool use in blonde capuchin monkeys (Sapajus flavius).

The use of tools played a central role in human culture and evolution. Early studies with apes demonstrated the tool use; however, currently the works have focused on Platyrrhine, particularly capuchin monkeys. Blonde capuchin monkeys, Sapajus flavius, have been observed using sticks to fish for termites in the Atlantic Forest, where this species has been extensively studied. In this study, we presented the first evidence of stone tool use by the blonde capuchin monkeys, as well as the dimensions and weight of these tools. We gathered data from three areas of Caatinga dry forest where we discovered this new tool use among the species. The mean weight of the hammers was 475.7g (± 142 SD). The mean height of the anvils was 48.3cm (± 18.7 SD), while the mean surface area of the anvils was 1.2 m2 (± 0.4 SD). We identified fruits and/ornuts from three plant species-Prunus dulces, Cnidoscolus quercifolius, and Syagrus coronate-near the anvils at the study sites. Additionally, we passively observed six instances of stone tool use by blonde capuchin monkeys. Their use of stones to crack encased foods mirrored behaviors previously reported in Sapajus libidinosus, a species well known for using stone tools to exploit hard nuts. Our findings place blonde capuchin monkeys among the list of primates that utilize stones as tools, highlighting the species' adaptability in exploiting resources within the Caatinga. Long-term studies are essentials to comprehend the use pattern of stone tools (across both general and seasonal perspectives) and the influence of variables, such as fruit hardness, distance to watercourses, and fruit availability on the use of this technology by this primate.

Towards Inclusive Classrooms: Identification of the Role of Teachers in Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment

The development of education is vital to the expansion of human evolution. Learning philosophy and disciplinary practices advise the inclusive model of classroom teaching. The objective of this research study is to identify teachers’ role in creating inclusive classrooms in primary level schools. According to School Information System (www.sis.punjab.gov.pk), Tehsil Gojra has total 113 male primary schools where 206 teachers are teaching. By maintaining a 95% confidence level and confidence interval 5, and using www.surveysystem.com, the sample size of 134 was determined. Convenient method of sampling was used to select the respondents. Essential information was collected from the respondents through a structured questionnaire. The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) was used to process the information. This study demonstrated how important teachers are in fostering an inclusive learning environment. The highest-ranked initiative, 'Provide support for them in ways which benefit all children in your class,' having mean score 2.33, which emphasizes significance of inclusive teaching strategies that benefit the entire class rather than addressing the needs of special students only. 'Focusing on the strength of students' with mean score of 2.27 and 'Promoting empathy in students' with mean score of 2.25 follow closely, emphasizing the significance of identifying student talents and creating a caring, empathetic environment in the classroom. Teachers saw how crucial it was to use a range of tactics and adaptations to help struggling students.

The Tangle of Evolution: Walter Benjamin as a Reader of Edgar Dacqué's Natural Philosophy

Abstract: Because Walter Benjamin's main articulation of natural history is speculative and disseminated across a number of major texts, starting with the study of the Trauerspiel and the unfinished Passagenwerk, his engagement with natural history as a corpus of scientific knowledge has not yet received the scholarly attention it deserves. Against the backdrop of the recursive popularity of natural history as a literary genre for assessing "what we are and where we are going"—from Yuval Harari's overarching narrative of homo sapiens to Meike Stoverock's feminist evolutionary history—this essay takes a literal, epistemological, and historically situated approach to natural history as a Weimar-era discipline for investigating human evolution from animal to man. In particular, I provide an account of the thought of Edgar Dacqué, who was a leading geologist and paleontologist of National Socialism, the intellectual milieu in which he worked, the reasons for his popularity; not secondarily, the utility for Benjamin of critiquing this esoteric natural history and thus transferring the fascination with the "grotesque" from the realm of science to that of literature.

Human Evolution and Paleolithic Culture in Asia - Dispersal, Adaptation and Diversity

Human Evolution and Paleolithic Culture in Asia - Dispersal, Adaptation and Diversity

Siddhar Nilai

Only two things are in action in this Universe. One is energy and the other is matter. Whenever a tiny [only 4.4 %] of the energy manifests, then creation of matter starts. When the matter returns to its original nature, then destruction begins. In 1905, Albert Einstein showed that matter and energy are equivalent. But before Einstein, the great Tamil Siddha MAYAN found that matter is energy and energy is matter. According to accepted physics, energy is the capacity to do work. Also, the conservation of energy states that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. But one form of energy can be converted into another form of energy. Humans first evolved in Africa, and much of human evolution occurred on that continent. The fossils of early humans who lived between 6 and 2 million years ago come entirely from Africa. Most scientists currently recognize some 15 to 20 different species of early humans Recently, it has been found that Our species, Homo sapiens, has now spread to all parts of the world but it’s generally believed that we originated in Africa by about 200,000 years ago. We interacted with local archaic human populations as we colonized the globe. Those Africans migrated to the then Lemurrian continent also called as Kumari Kandam in Tamil literature and history. Those Tamil people were much advanced in all the types of arts and sciences. It is preached from the mouth of a Spiritual Master to the ear of the disciples that the Kumari Kandam spiritually realized Siddhars formulated the first type of yoga on earth. According to this school of thoughts, yoga is the unification of cosmic energy with bioenergy. In this brief work, the author attempts to unlock some treasures of Kumari Kanda yoga for the benefits of the entire humanity.

MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS BASED ON THE THEORY OF SPIRAL DYNAMICS

The article examines the milestones of the development of the business environment through the prism of industrial revolutions and the theory of spiral dynamics of organizational development. The past influences the present. The present shapes the future. The world is a complex, interconnected whole that is difficult to represent and understand, especially regarding complex socio-economic processes and organizational systems, including enterprises. The first radical change began precisely with the agrarian revolution when people domesticated animals as a basis for the transition from gathering to agriculture. After the agrarian revolution, radical industrial changes began in the 18th century. The first industrial revolution (from the 1760s to the 1840s) - the invention of the steam engine and the construction of railways. The second industrial revolution (the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century) - the emergence of mass production thanks to the invention of electricity and the introduction of the conveyor. The third industrial revolution, from the 1960s, - was the emergence of semiconductors and their use in large electronic computing machines, personal computers, and the Internet. The fourth industrial revolution began at the beginning of the 21st century and is characterized by the emergence of "smart enterprises". The content and essential components of these periods imposed and imposed their understanding on the development of organizational models and the way of interaction between stakeholders and the economic entities themselves, which arose at the later stages of development and are developing under the influence of global business trends. Deepening the understanding of the nature of modern approaches in management aimed at the development of organizational systems allows turning to the past and investigating issues of organizational models on the way of the history of human development based on the theory of spiral dynamics (Don et al.), which is based on a dynamic model of human development and evolution of her consciousness, change of fundamental values. So, from the standpoint of the concept of systemic perfection of a business organization, based on the theory of spiral dynamics, its consideration can be started in the system-wide understanding of the system state, which corresponds to a greater extent to the content of perfection - from the orange stage and more/less corresponds to the current trends of the fourth industrial revolution. A significant strategic gap occurs based on the mismatch between the stage of development according to the milestones of industrial revolutions and the organization's current state in relation to the theory of spiral dynamics. For example, a red organization that functions in the fourth industrial revolution era. Management of changes in paradigms of thinking is the art of management.

The Quartzite and Quartz Reference Collection from the CENIEH (Spanish National Research Centre on Human Evolution), Spain: An Online Database for Characterising a Wide Diversity of Lithic Raw Materials

The Quartzite and Quartz Reference Collection from the CENIEH (Spanish National Research Centre on Human Evolution), Spain: An Online Database for Characterising a Wide Diversity of Lithic Raw Materials