East and Southeast Asian hominin dispersal and evolution: A review

Rikai Sawafuji*, Takumi Tsutaya, Naoyuki Takahata, Mikkel Winther Pedersen, Hajime Ishida

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReviewResearchpeer-review

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Abstract

East and Southeast Asia have served as significant habitats for diverse hominins for more than one million years. This has been demonstrated by numerous studies over the past decade that have reported new discoveries, ages, morphological evidence, and ancient biomolecules from fossils. This has revolutionized our understanding of their evolution and dispersal. However, the existing literature lacks a comprehensive overview that combines insights from different scientific disciplines that are needed to address the still-uncertain or contentious aspects of this field. Here, we provide a synthesis of the timing and distribution of the different hominins that lived in East and Southeast Asia. We then review two biomolecular methods, ancient proteomics and sedimentary ancient DNA, which hold great promise for revealing hominin history in this area.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108669
JournalQuaternary Science Reviews
Volume333
Number of pages11
ISSN0277-3791
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors

Keywords

  • Admixture
  • Ancient proteomics
  • Denisovans
  • Homo sapiens
  • sedaDNA

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