Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans

James C. Chatters; Douglas J. Kennett; Yemane Asmerom; Brian M. Kemp; Victor Polyak; Alberto Nava Blank; Patricia A. Beddows; Eduard Reinhardt; Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales; Deborah A. Bolnick; Ripan S. Malhi; Brendan J. Culleton; Pilar Luna Erreguerena; Dominique Rissolo; Shanti Morell-Hart; Thomas W. Stafford

doi:10.1126/science.1252619

Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans

James C. Chatters^*, Douglas J. Kennett, Yemane Asmerom, Brian M. Kemp, Victor Polyak, Alberto Nava Blank, Patricia A. Beddows, Eduard Reinhardt, Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales, Deborah A. Bolnick, Ripan S. Malhi, Brendan J. Culleton, Pilar Luna Erreguerena, Dominique Rissolo, Shanti Morell-Hart, Thomas W. Stafford

^*Corresponding author for this work

Earth and Planetary Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

140 Scopus citations

Abstract

Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico' s Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	750-754
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	344
Issue number	6185
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252619
State	Published - 2014

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Chatters, J. C., Kennett, D. J., Asmerom, Y., Kemp, B. M., Polyak, V., Blank, A. N., Beddows, P. A., Reinhardt, E., Arroyo-Cabrales, J., Bolnick, D. A., Malhi, R. S., Culleton, B. J., Erreguerena, P. L., Rissolo, D., Morell-Hart, S., & Stafford, T. W. (2014). Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans. Science, 344(6185), 750-754. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252619

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title = "Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans",

abstract = "Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico' s Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.",

author = "Chatters, {James C.} and Kennett, {Douglas J.} and Yemane Asmerom and Kemp, {Brian M.} and Victor Polyak and Blank, {Alberto Nava} and Beddows, {Patricia A.} and Eduard Reinhardt and Joaquin Arroyo-Cabrales and Bolnick, {Deborah A.} and Malhi, {Ripan S.} and Culleton, {Brendan J.} and Erreguerena, {Pilar Luna} and Dominique Rissolo and Shanti Morell-Hart and Stafford, {Thomas W.}",

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Chatters, JC, Kennett, DJ, Asmerom, Y, Kemp, BM, Polyak, V, Blank, AN, Beddows, PA, Reinhardt, E, Arroyo-Cabrales, J, Bolnick, DA, Malhi, RS, Culleton, BJ, Erreguerena, PL, Rissolo, D, Morell-Hart, S & Stafford, TW 2014, 'Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans', Science, vol. 344, no. 6185, pp. 750-754. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1252619

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AU - Chatters, James C.

AU - Kennett, Douglas J.

AU - Asmerom, Yemane

AU - Kemp, Brian M.

AU - Polyak, Victor

AU - Blank, Alberto Nava

AU - Beddows, Patricia A.

AU - Reinhardt, Eduard

AU - Arroyo-Cabrales, Joaquin

AU - Bolnick, Deborah A.

AU - Malhi, Ripan S.

AU - Culleton, Brendan J.

AU - Erreguerena, Pilar Luna

AU - Rissolo, Dominique

AU - Morell-Hart, Shanti

AU - Stafford, Thomas W.

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico' s Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.

AB - Because of differences in craniofacial morphology and dentition between the earliest American skeletons and modern Native Americans, separate origins have been postulated for them, despite genetic evidence to the contrary. We describe a near-complete human skeleton with an intact cranium and preserved DNA found with extinct fauna in a submerged cave on Mexico' s Yucatan Peninsula. This skeleton dates to between 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years ago and has Paleoamerican craniofacial characteristics and a Beringian-derived mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup (D1). Thus, the differences between Paleoamericans and Native Americans probably resulted from in situ evolution rather than separate ancestry.

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Late pleistocene human skeleton and mtDNA link paleoamericans and modern Native Americans

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