TY - JOUR
T1 - A multi-proxy approach to exploring Homo sapiens’ arrival, environments and adaptations in Southeast Asia
AU - Bacon, Anne-Marie
AU - Bourgon, Nicolas
AU - Welker, Frido
AU - Cappellini, Enrico
AU - Fiorillo, Denis
AU - Tombret, Olivier
AU - Thi Mai Huong, Nguyen
AU - Tuan, Nguyen Anh
AU - Sayavonkhamdy, Thongsa
AU - Souksavatdy, Viengkeo
AU - Sichanthongtip, Phonephanh
AU - Antoine, Pierre Olivier
AU - Duringer, Philippe
AU - Ponche, Jean-Luc
AU - Westaway, Kira
AU - Joannes-Boyau, Renaud
AU - Boesch, Quentin
AU - Suzzoni, Eric
AU - Frangeul, Sébastien
AU - Patole-Edoumba, Elise
AU - Zachwieja, Alexandra
AU - Shackelford, Laura
AU - Demeter, Fabrice
AU - Hublin, Jean-Jacques
AU - Dufour, Élise
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s).
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - The capability of Pleistocene hominins to successfully adapt to different types of tropical forested environments has long been debated. In order to investigate environmental changes in Southeast Asia during a critical period for the turnover of hominin species, we analysed palaeoenvironmental proxies from five late Middle to Late Pleistocene faunas. Human teeth discoveries have been reported at Duoi U’Oi, Vietnam (70–60 ka) and Nam Lot, Laos (86–72 ka). However, the use of palaeoproteomics allowed us to discard the latter, and, to date, no human remains older than ~ 70 ka are documented in the area. Our findings indicate that tropical rainforests were highly sensitive to climatic changes over that period, with significant fluctuations of the canopy forests. Locally, large-bodied faunas were resilient to these fluctuations until the cooling period of the Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4; 74–59 ka) that transformed the overall biotope. Then, under strong selective pressures, populations with new phenotypic characteristics emerged while some other species disappeared. We argue that this climate-driven shift offered new foraging opportunities for hominins in a novel rainforest environment and was most likely a key factor in the settlement and dispersal of our species during MIS 4 in SE Asia.
AB - The capability of Pleistocene hominins to successfully adapt to different types of tropical forested environments has long been debated. In order to investigate environmental changes in Southeast Asia during a critical period for the turnover of hominin species, we analysed palaeoenvironmental proxies from five late Middle to Late Pleistocene faunas. Human teeth discoveries have been reported at Duoi U’Oi, Vietnam (70–60 ka) and Nam Lot, Laos (86–72 ka). However, the use of palaeoproteomics allowed us to discard the latter, and, to date, no human remains older than ~ 70 ka are documented in the area. Our findings indicate that tropical rainforests were highly sensitive to climatic changes over that period, with significant fluctuations of the canopy forests. Locally, large-bodied faunas were resilient to these fluctuations until the cooling period of the Marine Isotope Stage 4 (MIS 4; 74–59 ka) that transformed the overall biotope. Then, under strong selective pressures, populations with new phenotypic characteristics emerged while some other species disappeared. We argue that this climate-driven shift offered new foraging opportunities for hominins in a novel rainforest environment and was most likely a key factor in the settlement and dispersal of our species during MIS 4 in SE Asia.
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-021-99931-4
DO - 10.1038/s41598-021-99931-4
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34702921
AN - SCOPUS:85118196533
VL - 11
JO - Scientific Reports
JF - Scientific Reports
SN - 2045-2322
M1 - 21080
ER -