Four and a half years ago I posted about a site in Spain, known as Atapuerca (What Science is all about), in it, I mentioned two studies that came to different conclusions: one stated that the human remains there resembled Neanderthals, the other that they were closer to the Denisovans than to the Neanderthals.
Today I read a paper that was published on Nov. 30, 2018 and which states that the teeth of remains from Atapuerca's Sima de los Huesos site shows that they had a close relationship to the later Neanderthal groups found in Europe.
The paywall protected abstract says:
"Enamel and dentin patterns have awakened a considerable interest in phylogenetic studies. However, almost nothing is known about the dental tissue proportions of European Pleistocene hominins, apart from Neanderthal populations. This study aims to assess the three-dimensional dental tissue proportions of permanent canines belonging to the extensive sample of hominin teeth at Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain) through the use of microtomographic techniques. Our results show that early and middle Pleistocene populations from Atapuerca exhibit large coronal and root dentine dimensions, as well as a thinly enamelled pattern, which has been traditionally considered an autapomorphic Neanderthal trait. Therefore, these results might support an early enamel thickness decrease which is already observed 800 kyr ago in Homo antecessor and maintained in later groups such as Sima de los Huesos and Neanderthal populations during the middle Pleistocene."
This is important because it shows that the Sima de los Huesos remains had a close relationship with the Homo neanderthalensis.
Patagonian Monsters - Cryptozoology, Myths & legends in Patagonia Copyright 2009-2018 by Austin Whittall ©
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