Paleoanthropology section, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
DFG Centre for Advanced Studies 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools', Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Nat Ecol Evol. 2022 Oct;6(10):1573-1585. doi: 10.1038/s41559-022-01875-z. Epub 2022 Sep 5.
Previous scientific consensus saw human evolution as defined by adaptive differences (behavioural and/or biological) and the emergence of Homo sapiens as the ultimate replacement of non-modern groups by a modern, adaptively more competitive group. However, recent research has shown that the process underlying our origins was considerably more complex. While archaeological and fossil evidence suggests that behavioural complexity may not be confined to the modern human lineage, recent palaeogenomic work shows that gene flow between distinct lineages (for example, Neanderthals, Denisovans, early H. sapiens) occurred repeatedly in the late Pleistocene, probably contributing elements to our genetic make-up that might have been crucial to our success as a diverse, adaptable species. Following these advances, the prevailing human origins model has shifted from one of near-complete replacement to a more nuanced view of partial replacement with considerable reticulation. Here we provide a brief introduction to the current genetic evidence for hybridization among hominins, its prevalence in, and effects on, comparative mammal groups, and especially how it manifests in the skull. We then explore the degree to which cranial variation seen in the fossil record of late Pleistocene hominins from Western Eurasia corresponds with our current genetic and comparative data. We are especially interested in understanding the degree to which skeletal data can reflect admixture. Our findings indicate some correspondence between these different lines of evidence, flag individual fossils as possibly admixed, and suggest that different cranial regions may preserve hybridization signals differentially. We urge further studies of the phenotype to expand our ability to detect the ways in which migration, interaction and genetic exchange have shaped the human past, beyond what is currently visible with the lens of ancient DNA.
先前的科学共识认为人类进化是由适应性差异（行为和/或生物）定义的，而智人（Homo sapiens）的出现是现代、适应性更强的群体最终取代非现代群体的结果。然而，最近的研究表明，我们起源的过程要复杂得多。虽然考古学和化石证据表明行为复杂性可能不仅局限于现代人类谱系，但最近的古基因组研究表明，不同谱系（例如尼安德特人、丹尼索瓦人、早期智人）之间的基因流动在更新世晚期反复发生，可能为我们的基因构成贡献了一些元素，这些元素可能对我们作为一个多样化、适应性强的物种的成功至关重要。随着这些进展，流行的人类起源模型已经从近乎完全取代的模型转变为更细致的部分取代模型，其中存在大量的混合。在这里，我们简要介绍了目前关于人类起源的遗传证据，包括人科动物之间杂交的普遍性及其对比较哺乳动物群体的影响，特别是它在颅骨中的表现。然后，我们探讨了在多大程度上，在晚更新世的欧亚西部的人类化石记录中看到的颅面变异与我们目前的遗传和比较数据相吻合。我们特别感兴趣的是了解骨骼数据在多大程度上可以反映混合。我们的研究结果表明，这些不同的证据之间存在一定的对应关系，将个别化石标记为可能混合的，并表明不同的颅区可能以不同的方式保存杂交信号。我们敦促进一步研究表型，以扩大我们的能力，检测迁徙、互动和基因交流在塑造人类过去方面的方式，超出目前通过古 DNA 镜头可见的范围。
