According to a new study led by scientists at the University of Barcelona and Alcala, the bottleneck event took place between 130,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Neanderthal. Image credit: Trustee of the Museum of Natural History in London.
“Neanderthals are the most well-written humans in the fossil record in terms of morphology, genetics, behavior and culture,” said Dr. Alessandro Urciori, a colleague of a University of Barcelona.
“Recent molecular clock-based analyses, along with Denisovan, have divergences from 765,000-550,000 years old or older human lineages based on morphological data.”
“The Neanderthal lineage was differentiated soon after, and is testified by genetic and morphological evidence from the Simah delos Hussians of the Middle Pleistocene, which was previously thought to be expressed. . HOMO HEIDELBERGENSIS And now it is considered the early population of the Neanderthal lineage. ”
“Genetic divergence times are now well established for the entire clade, but also include relationships with the medieval Pleistocene populations of Europe, the medieval and late Pleistocene Neanderthal populations, and the evolution of the complete. There is a continuing debate over the connected evolutionary processes” Classic Neanderthal “Form of the late Neanderthal.”
“This is due to the mosaic form of the intermediate Pleistocene specimen, which is claimed to have evolved by the Neanderthals.”
In this study, the researchers measured the morphological diversity of semicircular canals, the structure of the inner ear that caused sense of balance.
They focus on two exceptional collections of fossils. One is from the site of Sima de los Husos in Spain, and dates 430,000 years old, making up the largest sample of pre-production available in the fossil record. Another location 130,000 to 120,000 years ago in Krapina, Croatia.
They calculated the amount of morphological diversity (i.e., disparity) in the semicircular canals in both samples, compared them to one another, and compared them with classic Neanderthal samples of different ages and geographical origins. .
The findings show that the morphological diversity of the semicircular canals of classical Neanderthals is clearly lower than the diversity of early Neanderthal morphologies before the Nianderthals, consistent with previous palaeogenesis results. It is revealed.
“The inclusion of fossils from a wide range of geographical and temporal ranges allowed us to capture a comprehensive photograph of the evolution of Neanderthal,” said Dr. Mercedes Conde Valvade, a researcher at Alcala University. .
“The reduced diversity observed between Krapina samples and classic Neanderthals is particularly impressive and clear, providing strong evidence of bottleneck events.”
“The results, on the other hand, challenge the previously accepted idea that Neanderthal origins are associated with a significant loss of genetic diversity and encourage the need to propose a new explanation of their origins.”
“We were surprised that pre-Neanderthal people in Sima de los Husos exhibited similar morphological diversity as early Neanderthals in Krapina,” Dr. Urshuuori said.
a paper The findings were published in the journal Natural Communication.
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A. Urushiuori et al. 2025. A semicircular canal that sheds light on bottleneck events in the evolution of the Neanderthal clade. Nut commune 16, 972; doi:10.1038/s41467-025-56155-8
Source: www.sci.news
