title: The Neanderthal in the karst: First dating, morphometric, and paleogenetic data on the fossil skeleton from Altamura (Italy).
abstract: In 1993, a fossil hominin skeleton was discovered in the karst caves of Lamalunga, near Altamura, in southern Italy. Despite the fact that this specimen represents one of the most extraordinary hominin specimens ever found in Europe, for the last two decades our knowledge of it has been based purely on the documented on-site observations. Recently, the retrieval from the cave of a fragment of bone (part of the right scapula) allowed the first dating of the individual, the quantitative analysis of a diagnostic morphological feature, and a preliminary paleogenetic characterization of this hominin skeleton from Altamura. Overall, the results concur in indicating that it belongs to the hypodigm of Homo neanderthalensis, with some phenetic peculiarities that appear consistent with a chronology ranging from 172 ± 15 ka to 130.1 ± 1.9 ka. Thus, the skeleton from Altamura represents the most ancient Neanderthal from which endogenous DNA has ever been extracted.
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Martina
authors: M
authors: Lari
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: Fabio
authors: F
authors: Di Vincenzo
authors: School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia. Electronic address: andrea.borsato@newcastle.edu.au.
authors: Andrea
authors: A
authors: Borsato
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy.
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Ghirotto
authors: Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università di Roma Tre, Piazza della Repubblica 10, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Micheli
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Carlotta
authors: C
authors: Balsamo
authors: Facoltà di Scienze Umanistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: Carmine
authors: C
authors: Collina
authors: Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, CNR, Via F.lli Cervi 93, 20090 Segrate, Milano, Italy.
authors: Gianluca
authors: G
authors: De Bellis
authors: School of Environmental and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan 2308, Australia.
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Frisia
authors: Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Università di Torino, Corso Massimo d'Azeglio 52, 10126 Torino, Italy.
authors: Giacomo
authors: G
authors: Giacobini
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy; Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Gigli
authors: School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia.
authors: John C
authors: JC
authors: Hellstrom
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Antonella
authors: A
authors: Lannino
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Alessandra
authors: A
authors: Modi
authors: Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, CNR, Via F.lli Cervi 93, 20090 Segrate, Milano, Italy.
authors: Alessandro
authors: A
authors: Pietrelli
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Pilli
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: Antonio
authors: A
authors: Profico
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Oscar
authors: O
authors: Ramirez
authors: Istituto di Tecnologie Biomediche, CNR, Via F.lli Cervi 93, 20090 Segrate, Milano, Italy.
authors: Ermanno
authors: E
authors: Rizzi
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Stefania
authors: S
authors: Vai
authors: Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Puglia, via Duomo 33, 74123 Taranto, Italy.
authors: Donata
authors: D
authors: Venturo
authors: Facoltà di Scienze Umanistiche, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy.
authors: Marcello
authors: M
authors: Piperno
authors: Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-UPF), Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Carles
authors: C
authors: Lalueza-Fox
authors: Dipartimento di Scienze della Vita e Biotecnologie, Università di Ferrara, via Luigi Borsari 46, 44121 Ferrara, Italy; Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy.
authors: Guido
authors: G
authors: Barbujani
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Firenze, via del Proconsolo 12, 50122 Firenze, Italy. Electronic address: david.caramelli@unifi.it.
authors: David
authors: D
authors: Caramelli
authors: Dipartimento di Biologia Ambientale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Roma, Italy. Electronic address: giorgio.manzi@uniroma1.it.
authors: Giorgio
authors: G
authors: Manzi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D059552:Caves; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D005580:Fossils; D049690:History, Ancient; D007558:Italy; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D059125:Neanderthals; D010163:Paleontology / Q000379:methods*; D010802:Phylogeny; D012540:Scapula / Q000737:chemistry; D012863:Skeleton / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004247:DNA
keywords: Ancient DNA; Geometric morphometrics; Scapula; U/TH dating