Possible further evidence of low genetic diversity in the El Sidrón (Asturias, Spain) Neandertal group: congenital clefts of the atlas
[EN] We present here the first cases in Neandertals of congenital clefts of the arch of the atlas. Two atlases from El Sidrón, northern Spain, present respectively a defect of the posterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.73% to 3.84%), and anterior (frequency in extant...
| Autores: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2015 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universidad de León |
| Repositorio: | BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/25750 |
| Acesso em linha: | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0136550 https://hdl.handle.net/10612/25750 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Antropología física Paleontología Paleogenetics Neanderthals Inbreeding Congenital disorders Scanning electron microscopy Congenital anomalies Bone imaging Pleistocene epoch 2402 Antropología (Física) 2402.99 Otras (Evolución humana) 2402.10 Biología de Poblaciones 2416.05 Paleontología de los vertebrados 2402.05 Constitución del Cuerpo |
| Resumo: | [EN] We present here the first cases in Neandertals of congenital clefts of the arch of the atlas. Two atlases from El Sidrón, northern Spain, present respectively a defect of the posterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.73% to 3.84%), and anterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.087% to 0.1%) arch, a condition in most cases not associated with any clinical manifestation. The fact that two out of three observable atlases present a low frequency congenital condition, together with previously reported evidence of retained deciduous mandibular canine in two out of ten dentitions from El Sidrón, supports the previous observation based on genetic evidence that these Neandertals constituted a group with close genetic relations. Some have proposed for humans and other species that the presence of skeletal congenital conditions, although without clinical significance, could be used as a signal of endogamy or inbreeding. In the present case this interpretation would fit the general scenario of high incidence of rare conditions among Pleistocene humans and the specific scenariothat emerges from Neandertal paleogenetics, which points to long-term small and decreasing population size with reduced and isolated groups. Adverse environmental factors affecting early pregnancies would constitute an alternative, non-exclusive, explanation for a high incidence of congenital conditions. Further support or rejection of these interpretations will come from new genetic and skeletal evidence from Neandertal remains |
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