A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos

Fabrice Demeter; Clément Zanolli; Kira E. Westaway; Renaud Joannes-Boyau; Philippe Duringer; Mike W. Morley; Frido Welker; Patrick L. Rüther; Matthew M. Skinner; Hugh McColl; Charleen Gaunitz; Lasse Vinner; Tyler E. Dunn; Jesper V. Olsen; Martin Sikora; Jean Luc Ponche; Eric Suzzoni; Sébastien Frangeul; Quentin Boesch; Pierre Olivier Antoine; Lei Pan; Song Xing; Jian Xin Zhao; Richard M. Bailey; Souliphane Boualaphane; Phonephanh Sichanthongtip; Daovee Sihanam; Elise Patole-Edoumba; Françoise Aubaile; Françoise Crozier; Nicolas Bourgon; Alexandra Zachwieja; Thonglith Luangkhoth; Viengkeo Souksavatdy; Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy; Enrico Cappellini; Anne Marie Bacon; Jean Jacques Hublin; Eske Willerslev; Laura Shackelford

doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29923-z

A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos

Fabrice Demeter, Clément Zanolli, Kira E. Westaway, Renaud Joannes-Boyau, Philippe Duringer, Mike W. Morley, Frido Welker, Patrick L. Rüther, Matthew M. Skinner, Hugh McColl, Charleen Gaunitz, Lasse Vinner, Tyler E. Dunn, Jesper V. Olsen, Martin Sikora, Jean Luc Ponche, Eric Suzzoni, Sébastien Frangeul, Quentin Boesch, Pierre Olivier AntoineLei Pan, Song Xing, Jian Xin Zhao, Richard M. Bailey, Souliphane Boualaphane, Phonephanh Sichanthongtip, Daovee Sihanam, Elise Patole-Edoumba, Françoise Aubaile, Françoise Crozier, Nicolas Bourgon, Alexandra Zachwieja, Thonglith Luangkhoth, Viengkeo Souksavatdy, Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, Enrico Cappellini, Anne Marie Bacon, Jean Jacques Hublin, Eske Willerslev, Laura Shackelford

Biomedical Sciences

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Abstract

The Pleistocene presence of the genus Homo in continental Southeast Asia is primarily evidenced by a sparse stone tool record and rare human remains. Here we report a Middle Pleistocene hominin specimen from Laos, with the discovery of a molar from the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave) limestone cave in the Annamite Mountains. The age of the fossil-bearing breccia ranges between 164–131 kyr, based on the Bayesian modelling of luminescence dating of the sedimentary matrix from which it was recovered, U-series dating of an overlying flowstone, and U-series–ESR dating of associated faunal teeth. Analyses of the internal structure of the molar in tandem with palaeoproteomic analyses of the enamel indicate that the tooth derives from a young, likely female, Homo individual. The close morphological affinities with the Xiahe specimen from China indicate that they belong to the same taxon and that Tam Ngu Hao 2 most likely represents a Denisovan.

Original language	English (US)
Article number	2557
Journal	Nature communications
Volume	13
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29923-z
State	Published - Dec 2022

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© 2022, The Author(s).

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Demeter, F., Zanolli, C., Westaway, K. E., Joannes-Boyau, R., Duringer, P., Morley, M. W., Welker, F., Rüther, P. L., Skinner, M. M., McColl, H., Gaunitz, C., Vinner, L., Dunn, T. E., Olsen, J. V., Sikora, M., Ponche, J. L., Suzzoni, E., Frangeul, S., Boesch, Q., ... Shackelford, L. (2022). A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos. Nature communications, 13(1), Article 2557. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29923-z

Demeter, F, Zanolli, C, Westaway, KE, Joannes-Boyau, R, Duringer, P, Morley, MW, Welker, F, Rüther, PL, Skinner, MM, McColl, H, Gaunitz, C, Vinner, L, Dunn, TE, Olsen, JV, Sikora, M, Ponche, JL, Suzzoni, E, Frangeul, S, Boesch, Q, Antoine, PO, Pan, L, Xing, S, Zhao, JX, Bailey, RM, Boualaphane, S, Sichanthongtip, P, Sihanam, D, Patole-Edoumba, E, Aubaile, F, Crozier, F, Bourgon, N, Zachwieja, A, Luangkhoth, T, Souksavatdy, V, Sayavongkhamdy, T, Cappellini, E, Bacon, AM, Hublin, JJ, Willerslev, E & Shackelford, L 2022, 'A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos', Nature communications, vol. 13, no. 1, 2557. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-29923-z

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abstract = "The Pleistocene presence of the genus Homo in continental Southeast Asia is primarily evidenced by a sparse stone tool record and rare human remains. Here we report a Middle Pleistocene hominin specimen from Laos, with the discovery of a molar from the Tam Ngu Hao 2 (Cobra Cave) limestone cave in the Annamite Mountains. The age of the fossil-bearing breccia ranges between 164–131 kyr, based on the Bayesian modelling of luminescence dating of the sedimentary matrix from which it was recovered, U-series dating of an overlying flowstone, and U-series–ESR dating of associated faunal teeth. Analyses of the internal structure of the molar in tandem with palaeoproteomic analyses of the enamel indicate that the tooth derives from a young, likely female, Homo individual. The close morphological affinities with the Xiahe specimen from China indicate that they belong to the same taxon and that Tam Ngu Hao 2 most likely represents a Denisovan.",

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AU - Morley, Mike W.

AU - Welker, Frido

AU - Rüther, Patrick L.

AU - Skinner, Matthew M.

AU - McColl, Hugh

AU - Gaunitz, Charleen

AU - Vinner, Lasse

AU - Dunn, Tyler E.

AU - Olsen, Jesper V.

AU - Sikora, Martin

AU - Ponche, Jean Luc

AU - Suzzoni, Eric

AU - Frangeul, Sébastien

AU - Boesch, Quentin

AU - Antoine, Pierre Olivier

AU - Pan, Lei

AU - Xing, Song

AU - Zhao, Jian Xin

AU - Bailey, Richard M.

AU - Boualaphane, Souliphane

AU - Sichanthongtip, Phonephanh

AU - Sihanam, Daovee

AU - Patole-Edoumba, Elise

AU - Aubaile, Françoise

AU - Crozier, Françoise

AU - Bourgon, Nicolas

AU - Zachwieja, Alexandra

AU - Luangkhoth, Thonglith

AU - Souksavatdy, Viengkeo

AU - Sayavongkhamdy, Thongsa

AU - Cappellini, Enrico

AU - Bacon, Anne Marie

AU - Hublin, Jean Jacques

AU - Willerslev, Eske

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A Middle Pleistocene Denisovan molar from the Annamite Chain of northern Laos

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