Late neandertals in southeastern Iberia: Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo, Murcia, Spain.
Middle Paleolithic fossil human remains from the Sima de las Palomas in southeastern Iberia (dated to <or=43,000-40,000 calendar years before present) present a suite of derived Neandertal and/or retained ancestral morphological features in the mandibular symphysis, mandibular ramus, dental occlusal morphology, and distal hand phalanx. These traits are combined with variation in the mandibular corpus, discrete dental morphology, tooth root lengths, and anterior dental size that indicate a frequency difference with earlier Iberian and more northern European Neandertals. The Palomas Neandertals therefore confirm the late presence of Neandertals associated with the Iberian persistence of the Middle Paleolithic, but suggest microevolutionary processes and/or population contact with contemporaneous modern humans to the north.
Walker
Michael J
MJ
Area de Antropología Física, Departamento de Zoología y Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Campus Universitario de Espinardo, Universidad de Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
Gibert
Josep
J
López
Mariano V
MV
Lombardi
A Vincent
AV
Pérez-Pérez
Alejandro
A
Zapata
Josefina
J
Ortega
Jon
J
Higham
Thomas
T
Pike
Alistair
A
Schwenninger
Jean-Luc
JL
Zilhão
João
J
Trinkaus
Erik
E
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D005580:Fossils; D015186:Hominidae / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D006801:Humans; D013030:Spain