Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie

Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie

Max-Planck-Institut
für evolutionäre Anthropologie
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
MPI für evolutionäre Anthropologie Š Deutscher Platz 6 Š D-04103 Leipzig
Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Press Release
Sandra Jacob
Tel.: ++49-(0)341/3550-122
Fax: ++49-(0)341/3550-119
[email protected]
Unser Zeichen: sj
8. Oktober 2007
Synchrotron Light to Reveal How Early Homo sapiens
and Neanderthals Grew Up
An international team of researchers led by scientists from the Max Planck
Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) and the European
Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is working together in Grenoble
(France) to study the teeth of some famous fossil children, which will reveal
if different species of humans experienced similar timings of maturation and
reproduction. Scientists want to compare the Neanderthal fossils, discovered
approximately 100 years ago from the famous sites Le Moustier (France)
and Krapina (Croatia), to early fossil Homo sapiens from Qafzeh (Israel) and
Jebel Irhoud (Morocco). The Israeli Homo sapiens children are from one of
the earliest groups of modern humans to leave Africa between 100-90,000
years ago, approximately 100,000 years after the origin of our species.
Figure 1: The Le Moustier 1 Neanderthal jaw (center of laser) poses for a National
Geographic photographer on the ID19 beamline at the European Synchrotron Radiation
Facility in Grenoble, France. Fossil courtesy of the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte
Berlin. Photo credit: Paul Tafforeau.
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Reporters from National Geographic and Science magazines are documenting this
historic meeting of hominin fossils at the powerful European Synchrotron
Radiation Facility (ESRF). By using an application of X-ray synchrotron
microtomography developed by ESRF paleontologist Paul Tafforeau, the team is
able to see inside the teeth to reveal tiny daily growth lines without any damage to
these invaluable fossils. Currently, only the ESRF in Grenoble offers the possibility
of such cutting edge imaging on teeth. From this information, MPI-EVA scientist
Tanya Smith and Paul Tafforeau and colleagues will reconstruct the time of tooth
growth and the age of the children at death. This will reveal if these fossils show
the typical slow maturation and long childhood of living people. This is likely to
resolve long-standing debates over developmental differences between
Neanderthals and our own species.
The team recently used the new application, detailed in a forthcoming issue of the
Journal of Human Evolution, to demonstrate the earliest evidence of modern
human life history in the early Homo sapiens juvenile from Jebel Irhoud (Morocco)
(published in the April 10 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of
Sciences, USA). “This is really a historic event - thanks to the synchrotron we are
able to go inside the teeth non-destructively to precisely assess the timing of tooth
formation, which relates to other developmental landmarks, including the duration
of childhood and the age at first reproduction,” says Tanya Smith.
Figure 2: Fossil Homo sapiens child from Qafzeh Cave in Israel. The skeleton was
originally found at the feet of an adult female skeleton, and is believed to be one of the
earliest instances of intentional burial. Fossil courtesy of the Department of Anatomy and
Anthropology (Tel Aviv University) and Rockefeller Museum (Tel Aviv). Photo credit:
Paul Tafforeau.
References:
Smith, T.M., Tafforeau, P.T., Reid, D.J., Grün, R., Eggins, S., Boutakiout, M. &
Hublin, J.-J. (2007) Earliest evidence of modern human life history in North
African early Homo sapiens. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104:6128-6133.
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Tafforeau, P.T. & Smith, T.M. (in press) Non-destructive imaging of hominoid
dental microstructure using phase contrast x-ray synchrotron microtomography. J.
Hum. Evol.
Contacts:
Tanya M. Smith
Department of Human Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)341 355 0362
E-mail: [email protected]
Paul Tafforeau
European Synchrotron Radiation Facility,
6 rue Horowitz BP 220
38046 Grenoble Cedex
France
Phone: +33 (0)438 88 1974
E-mail: [email protected]
Jean-Jacques Hublin
Department of Human Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6
D-04103 Leipzig
Germany
Phone: +49 (0)341 355 0350
E-mail: [email protected]
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