Late Pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link Paleoamericans and modern Native Americans.
Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.
Applied Paleoscience and DirectAMS, 10322 NE 190th Street, Bothell, WA 98011, USA. paleosci@gmail.com.
James C
JC
Chatters
Department of Anthropology and Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Douglas J
DJ
Kennett
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
Yemane
Y
Asmerom
Department of Anthropology and School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164, USA.
Brian M
BM
Kemp
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001, USA.
Victor
V
Polyak
Bay Area Underwater Explorers, Berkeley, CA, USA.
Alberto Nava
AN
Blank
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
Patricia A
PA
Beddows
School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.
Eduard
E
Reinhardt
Instituto Nacional Antropología e Historia, Colonia Centro Histórico, 06060, Mexico City, DF, Mexico.
Joaquin
J
Arroyo-Cabrales
Department of Anthropology and Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
Deborah A
DA
Bolnick
Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL 61801, USA.
Ripan S
RS
Malhi
Department of Anthropology and Institutes of Energy and the Environment, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
Brendan J
BJ
Culleton
Subdirección de Arqueología Subacuática, Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, 06070 Mexico City, Mexico.
Pilar Luna
PL
Erreguerena
Waitt Institute, La Jolla, CA 92038-1948, USA.
Dominique
D
Rissolo
Department of Anthropology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
Shanti
S
Morell-Hart
Centre for AMS C, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark, and Centre for GeoGenetics, Natural History Museum of Denmark, Geological Museum, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Thomas W
TW
Stafford
D001483:Base Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000235:genetics*; D008800:Mexico; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010163:Paleontology; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D012863:Skeleton; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology
D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial