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Research Article
Ekaterina Stansfield
University of Vienna
Corresponding Author
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When our human ancestors migrated out of Africa, they faced a considerably harsher climate, but the extent to which human cranial morphology has adapted to climate is still debated. In particular, it remains unclear when such facial adaptations arose in human populations. Here, we explore climate-associated features of face shape in a worldwide modern human sample using 3D geometric morphometrics and a novel application of reduced rank regression. Based on these data, we assess climate adaptations in two crucial Upper Palaeolithic human fossils, Sungir and Mladeč, both of which have been archaeologically associated with a boreal-to-temperate climate. We found several aspects of face shape, especially the relative dimensions of the external and internal nose as well as of the maxillary sinuses, that are strongly associated with temperature and humidity, even after accounting for auto-correlation due to geographical proximity of populations. For these features, both fossils revealed adaptations to a dry environment, with Sungir being strongly associated with cold and Mladeč with warm-to-hot temperatures. As both fossils are dated among the earliest recent modern humans in Europe, our results suggest a relatively fast rate of climate adaptation in human respiratory morphology.
Keywords
climatic adaptation, human evolution, Upper Paleolithic Hominins, mid-facial morphology, respiratory adaptation
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View the published article at Scientific Reports.
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Posted 07 Jan, 2021
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Editorial decision: Major revision
On 19 Feb, 2021
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Received 02 Feb, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 31 Jan, 2021
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Editor invited
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See the published version of this preprint at Scientific Reports.
This is a preprint, a preliminary version of a manuscript that has not completed peer review at a journal. Research Square does not conduct peer review prior to posting preprints. The posting of a preprint on this server should not be interpreted as an endorsement of its validity or suitability for dissemination as established information or for guiding clinical practice.
Learn more about In Review
Research Article
Ekaterina Stansfield
University of Vienna
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
Peer Review Timeline
CURRENT STATUS: Published
View the published article at Scientific Reports.
Version 1
Posted 07 Jan, 2021
No community comments so far
Editorial decision: Major revision
On 19 Feb, 2021
Reviews received
Received 02 Feb, 2021
Reviewers agreed
On 31 Jan, 2021
Reviewers invited
Invitations sent on 29 Jan, 2021
Editor assigned
On 12 Jan, 2021
Editor invited
On 04 Jan, 2021
Submission checks complete
On 04 Jan, 2021
First submitted
On 21 Dec, 2020
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
View the published article at Scientific Reports.
When our human ancestors migrated out of Africa, they faced a considerably harsher climate, but the extent to which human cranial morphology has adapted to climate is still debated. In particular, it remains unclear when such facial adaptations arose in human populations. Here, we explore climate-associated features of face shape in a worldwide modern human sample using 3D geometric morphometrics and a novel application of reduced rank regression. Based on these data, we assess climate adaptations in two crucial Upper Palaeolithic human fossils, Sungir and Mladeč, both of which have been archaeologically associated with a boreal-to-temperate climate. We found several aspects of face shape, especially the relative dimensions of the external and internal nose as well as of the maxillary sinuses, that are strongly associated with temperature and humidity, even after accounting for auto-correlation due to geographical proximity of populations. For these features, both fossils revealed adaptations to a dry environment, with Sungir being strongly associated with cold and Mladeč with warm-to-hot temperatures. As both fossils are dated among the earliest recent modern humans in Europe, our results suggest a relatively fast rate of climate adaptation in human respiratory morphology.
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
Figure 5
This preprint is available for download as a PDF.
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
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