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Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene

The Middle and Late Pleistocene is arguably the most interesting period in human evolution. This broad period witnessed the evolution of our own lineage, as well as that of our sister taxon, the Neanderthals, and related Denisovans. It is exceptionally rich in both fossil and archaeological remains,...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Harvati, Katerina, Reyes-Centeno, Hugo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Academic Press 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9703123/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36375244
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103279
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author Harvati, Katerina
Reyes-Centeno, Hugo
author_facet Harvati, Katerina
Reyes-Centeno, Hugo
author_sort Harvati, Katerina
collection PubMed
description The Middle and Late Pleistocene is arguably the most interesting period in human evolution. This broad period witnessed the evolution of our own lineage, as well as that of our sister taxon, the Neanderthals, and related Denisovans. It is exceptionally rich in both fossil and archaeological remains, and uniquely benefits from insights gained through molecular approaches, such as paleogenetics and paleoproteomics, that are currently not widely applicable in earlier contexts. This wealth of information paints a highly complex picture, often described as ‘the Muddle in the Middle,’ defying the common adage that ‘more evidence is needed’ to resolve it. Here we review competing phylogenetic scenarios and the historical and theoretical developments that shaped our approaches to the fossil record, as well as some of the many remaining open questions associated with this period. We propose that advancing our understanding of this critical time requires more than the addition of data and will necessitate a major shift in our conceptual and theoretical framework.
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spelling pubmed-97031232022-12-01 Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene Harvati, Katerina Reyes-Centeno, Hugo J Hum Evol Article The Middle and Late Pleistocene is arguably the most interesting period in human evolution. This broad period witnessed the evolution of our own lineage, as well as that of our sister taxon, the Neanderthals, and related Denisovans. It is exceptionally rich in both fossil and archaeological remains, and uniquely benefits from insights gained through molecular approaches, such as paleogenetics and paleoproteomics, that are currently not widely applicable in earlier contexts. This wealth of information paints a highly complex picture, often described as ‘the Muddle in the Middle,’ defying the common adage that ‘more evidence is needed’ to resolve it. Here we review competing phylogenetic scenarios and the historical and theoretical developments that shaped our approaches to the fossil record, as well as some of the many remaining open questions associated with this period. We propose that advancing our understanding of this critical time requires more than the addition of data and will necessitate a major shift in our conceptual and theoretical framework. Academic Press 2022-12 /pmc/articles/PMC9703123/ /pubmed/36375244 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103279 Text en © 2022 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Harvati, Katerina
Reyes-Centeno, Hugo
Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title_full Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title_fullStr Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title_full_unstemmed Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title_short Evolution of Homo in the Middle and Late Pleistocene
title_sort evolution of homo in the middle and late pleistocene
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9703123/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36375244
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103279
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