mtDNA与现代人类的起源和迁徙

对现代人类线粒体DNA（mtDNA)类型在各人群中分布特点的研究表明,人类起源于约20万年前的非洲,然后向全球各个角落迁徙,并演化为现代人。     

浅谈现代人类的起源

对目前争论不休的关于现代人类起源的2种主要学说的观点和依据进行综述和适当的比较。同时引进了这2种主流观点之外的第3方观点。     

现代人类起源的“夏娃”理论

现代人类起源的“夏娃”理论龚缨晏（杭州大学历史系３１００２８）从上个世纪开始,人类一直在寻求人类起源问题的科学答案,并形成了许多理论。最近,国外一些科学家提出了一个新的现代人类起源理论,被称为“夏娃”理论,从而引发了一场颇为热烈的讨论。“夏娃”理论是...     

线粒体DNA和人类进化

线粒体ＤＮＡ（ｍｔＤＮＡ）由于自身比较独特的遗传特性（母系遗传、缺乏重组和进化速率高）而被广泛地应用于人类群体的起源和演化研究。通过对其全序列的限制性酶切和Ｄ－环高变区序列数据的分析,ｍｔＤＮＡ较好地阐明了人类学中诸如现代人类起源、人群过去动态的估计以及单个人群的区域性微分化和人口历史学等问题。综述了近年来世界各人群ｍｔＤＮＡ的研究进展、研究方法的改进、ｍｔＤＮＡ与核基因标记结果的异同、ｍｔＤＮＡ     

分子人类学与现代人的起源*

1953年Watson & Crick 对于DNA双螺旋结构模型的提出及对其遗传机理的解释,标志着现代分子生物学的诞生。其后短短50年的时间里,分子生物学在各个学科之间广泛渗透,相互促进,不断深入和发展。在以研究人类的起源和进化为首要任务的人类学领域,由于现代分子生物学理论和方法的应用,诞生了分子人类学这一全新的结合型分支学科,为人类学的发展提供了科学可信的研究方法和具发展前景的研究方向。系统地介绍了分子人类学的发展历史、研究方法及原理;另外,结合分子人类学在古人类学研究中的应用,讨论了关于现代人起源的“非洲起源说”和“多地区连续演化说”。Abstract: Since Watson & Crick put forward the double-helix model of DNA structure and hereditary mechanism in 1953, it is generally accepted that this event marks the birth of modern molecular biology. This new field of biology has experienced a flourishing development in the past 50 years. On one hand, the development of molecular biology has been deeply influencing many relative fields; on the other hand, its own proceeding pace has been accelerated by the reaction from the other fields. Anthropology is one of the fields most deeply impacted by the theory and method of molecular biology. Most importantly, molecular anthropology was born as a result of combination of molecular biology, anthropology as well as paleoanthropology. This new branch provides reliable method and vital direction for paleoanthropology. This paper systematically reviews the history, principle and method of molecular anthropology. Two hypotheses on the origin of modern human, which include “out-of-African theory” and “theory of multiregional evolution” are also discussed for the purpose of showing how molecular anthropology is applied in paleoanthropology.     

森林古猿下地生活在人类起源中的意义

人类是从３７０多万年前的森林古猿进化来的已成为学术界公认的历史事实 ,即由森林古猿经过西瓦古猿〈ｓｉｖａｐｉｔｈｅｃｕｓ〉、南方古猿〈Ａｕｓｔｒａｌｏｐｉｔｈｅｃｕｓ〉进化为人类。人类起源的原因 ,即由森林古猿进化为人类的原因 ,迄今仍众说纷云 ,莫衷一是 ,笔者认为森林古猿进化为人类的原因固然很复杂 ,很多 ,至今尚无充足的证据将其证实 ,但森林古猿下地生活 ,是其进化为人类的最关键、最重要的一步 ,森林古猿下地生活在人类起源中具十分重要的意义。一、森林古猿下地生活 ,有利于其向直立行走方向进化人与古猿的重要区别之…     

人类对生命起源的认识

今天的地球,是个瑰丽多姿的生物世界。据估计,目前地球上植物约有三十多万种,动物约有一百五十多万种,微生物约有十多万种,而且随着时间的推移,生物新种逐年都有发现,所以实际上还不止这个数。但是,在三十多亿年前,我们这个星球上却是一片死寂,且不说花草人畜,就连小小的虫豸菌藻也没有踪迹。生命,只是原始地球发展到一定时期的产物。     

南京2号人类头骨化石的复位和形态

南京2号人类头骨化石仅保留部分的额骨、顶骨、枕骨和颞骨,为一不完整的颅盖骨。其顶骨和枕骨有数条断裂缝,各断块之间有程度不一的错动,致使该颅盖骨显得外形异常。本项研究是对该颅盖骨的错动部分进行复位,结果表明,南京2号头骨有较大的顶骨、较小的上枕鳞相对宽度、可能较大的颅容量。这些形态提示该头骨与直立人有所不同而与早期智人相近。该头骨所具有的角圆枕、颞鳞顶缘形状、枕骨圆枕发育程度、枕骨的枕平面与项平面过渡情况、枕内隆突点与枕外隆突点的距离、头骨骨壁厚度、脑膜中动脉分支情况、头骨枕面观之轮廓线样式等形态细节,还很难作为可靠的依据把南京2号头骨鉴定为直立人。南京2号头骨很大可能是属于智人亚种(Homo sapiens sapiens)中的一员。     

中国古人类牙齿尺寸演化特点及东亚直立人的系统地位

对中国境内不同时代人类牙齿测量数据的发析显示,中国古人类牙齿尺寸的总体演化趋势与世界其它地区人类一致,呈缩小变化,其中一个表现特点是中国直立人与早期智人在牙齿尺寸上不差别不大,但作者根据对中国古人类化石形态特征,生存年代等方面的综合分析认为中国直立人在化石形态,生存年代等方面均与智人有明显的不同,取消直立人,将其并入智人意见的证据还是不够充分的,目前仍宜将直立人与智人作为人属内两个不同的种来看待,     

对人类进化全过程的思索

本文从人类的诞生,人类发展过程的连续与间断,人类进化过程中体质发展的不平衡性和现代人的进化等４方面来论述人类进化的全过程．     

Tooth components of mandibular deciduous molars of Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis: a radiographic study.

Tooth components of deciduous molars were measured from standardized radiographs of Homo sapiens sapiens and Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Enamel height and width were greater in deciduous teeth of Homo sapiens sapiens than in Homo sapiens neanderthalensis and the differences were statistically significant (p less than 0.01). Dentin height showed no significant differences between the two groups, but enamel to floor of pulp chamber and pulp height and width dimensions were significantly greater in Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. Discriminant analysis carried out between groups, using deciduous tooth components, showed an accuracy of 98-100% for identification of Homo sapiens sapiens and 83-92% for identification of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. The results obtained in this study on dental dimensions support the hypothesis of a distinct evolutionary line for Neanderthals.     

Human evolution — Where from here?

Thanks to language, mankind is rapidly developing into a eusocial1 animal, within a single world-wide structure. Biological evolution based on random genetic events is no longer a part of the future of the species, and cultural evolution has taken its place. Ease of communication between minds means that distinction between individuals is becoming irrelevant. Future progress in the single world-wide community to which mankind is rapidly developing will rather be a self-guided process — evolution by self-design.      

中更新世非洲Bodo人类头骨化石与周口店直立人的比较--中国与非洲人类头骨特征对比之三

发现于埃塞俄比亚MiddleAwash地区Bodo地点距今60万年的人类头骨化石是迄今发现的最为古老和完整的非洲中更新世人类化石。由于Bodo头骨化石在形态特征上兼有直立人与智人的特点,多年来学术界对其分类地位一直存在争议。Rightmire认为Bodo头骨化石与BrokenHill及Petralona等在分类上属于古老型智人的中更新世人类更为接近,是非洲直立人向古老型智人过渡的代表。至少在距今60万年的中更新世早期直立人向古老型智人转变的成种事件在非洲就已经发生。以Bodo头骨为代表的一批更新世中期非洲和欧洲人类化石构成了可能是后期人类祖先的人属海德堡种。这些观点导致了近年学术界对古老型智人在非洲及欧亚出现时间以及更新世中期非洲和欧亚地区古人类相互之间演化关系的关注。基于这样的背景,本文对年代与Bodo化石接近的周口店直立人头骨特征与Bodo头骨的相似及差异表现情况进行了对比研究。结果发现Bodo头骨在一系列特征上与周口店直立人相似,同时在包括颅容量在内的其它一些特征上呈现出后期智人的特点,但总体形态上似乎与直立人更为相似。作者认为尽管这种进化上的镶嵌现象在中国古人类化石记录上也广泛存在,但由于中国人类化石标本在年代上的不确定性,目前还没有可靠的证据说明这种集直立人与智人化石特征为一体的镶嵌性在中国古人类化石出现的时间接近或早于非洲。考虑到中国与非洲直立人生存年代的巨大差异及人类演化的不同步或地区间差异,具有较多后期人类特征表现的人类首先出现在非洲是完全可能的。根据这些研究对比,作者就人类演化的镶嵌现象、更新世中期非洲与亚洲地区人类演化上的差异等问题进行了讨论。     

Size variation in early human mandibles and molars from Klasies River,South Africa: Comparison with other middle and late Pleistocene assemblages and with modern humans

Previous studies of the Middle Stone Age human remains from Klasies River have concluded that they exhibited more sexual dimorphism than extant populations, but these claims have not been assessed statistically. We evaluate these claims by comparing size variation in the best‐represented elements at the site, namely the mandibular corpora and M₂s, to that in samples from three recent human populations using resampling methods. We also examine size variation in these same elements from seven additional middle and late Pleistocene sites: Skhūl, Dolní Věstonice, Sima de los Huesos, Arago, Krapina, Shanidar, and Vindija. Our results demonstrate that size variation in the Klasies assemblage was greater than in recent humans, consistent with arguments that the Klasies people were more dimorphic than living humans. Variation in the Skhūl, Dolní Věstonice, and Sima de los Huesos mandibular samples is also higher than in the recent human samples, indicating that the Klasies sample was not unusual among middle and late Pleistocene hominins. In contrast, the Neandertal samples (Krapina, Shanidar, and Vindija) do not evince relatively high mandibular and molar variation, which may indicate that the level of dimorphism in Neandertals was similar to that observed in extant humans. These results suggest that the reduced levels of dimorphism in Neandertals and living humans may have developed independently, though larger fossil samples are needed to test this hypothesis. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Hypermutability of genes in Homo sapiens due to the hosting of long mono-SSR

Simple sequence repeats (SSRs) are very common short repeatsin eukaryotic genomes. "Long" SSRs are considered "hypermutable"sequences because they exhibit a high rate of expansion andcontraction. Because they are potentially deleterious, longSSRs tend to be uncommon in coding sequences. However, severalgenes contain long SSRs in their exonic sequences. Here, weidentify 1,291 human genes that host a mononucleotide SSR longenough to be prone to expansion or contraction, being calledhypermutable hereafter. On the basis of Gene Ontology annotations,we show that only a restricted number of functions are overrepresentedamong those hypermutable genes including cell cycle and maintenanceof DNA integrity. Using a probabilistic model, we show thatgenes involved in these functions are expected to host longSSRs because they tend to be long and/or are biased in nucleotidecomposition. Finally, we show that for almost all functionswe observe fewer hypermutable sequences than expected undera neutral model. There are however interesting exceptions, forexample, genes involved in protein and RNA transport, as wellas meiosis and mismatch repair functions that have as many hypermutablegenes as expected under neutrality. Conversely, there are functions(e.g., collagen-related genes) where hypermutable genes aremore often avoided than in other functions. Our results showthat, even though several functions harbor unusually long SSRin their exons, long SSRs are deleterious sequences in almostall functions and are removed by purifying selection. The strengthof this purifying selection however greatly varies from functionto function. We discuss possible explanations for this intriguingresult.     

Contrasting signatures of population growth for mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosomes among human populations in Africa

A history of Pleistocene population expansion has been inferred from the frequency spectrum of polymorphism in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of many human populations. Similar patterns are not typically observed for autosomal and X-linked loci. One explanation for this discrepancy is a recent population bottleneck, with different rates of recovery for haploid and autosomal loci as a result of their different effective population sizes. This hypothesis predicts that mitochondrial and Y chromosomal DNA will show a similar skew in the frequency spectrum in populations that have experienced a recent increase in effective population size. We test this hypothesis by resequencing 6.6 kb of noncoding Y chromosomal DNA and 780 basepairs of the mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit III (COIII) gene in 172 males from 5 African populations. Four tests of population expansion are employed for each locus in each population: Fu's Fs statistic, the R(2) statistic, coalescent simulations, and the mismatch distribution. Consistent with previous results, patterns of mtDNA polymorphism better fit a model of constant population size for food-gathering populations and a model of population expansion for food-producing populations. In contrast, none of the tests reveal evidence of Y chromosome growth for either food-gatherers or food-producers. The distinct mtDNA and Y chromosome polymorphism patterns most likely reflect sex-biased demographic processes in the recent history of African populations. We hypothesize that males experienced smaller effective population sizes and/or lower rates of migration during the Bantu expansion, which occurred over the last 5,000 years.     

Whole-mtDNA genome sequence analysis of ancient African lineages

Studies of human mitochondrial (mt) DNA genomes demonstrate that the root of the human phylogenetic tree occurs in Africa. Although 2 mtDNA lineages with an African origin (haplogroups M and N) were the progenitors of all non-African haplogroups, macrohaplogroup L (including haplogroups L0-L6) is limited to sub-Saharan Africa. Several L haplogroup lineages occur most frequently in eastern Africa (e.g., L0a, L0f, L5, and L3g), but some are specific to certain ethnic groups, such as haplogroup lineages L0d and L0k that previously have been found nearly exclusively among southern African "click" speakers. Few studies have included multiple mtDNA genome samples belonging to haplogroups that occur in eastern and southern Africa but are rare or absent elsewhere. This lack of sampling in eastern Africa makes it difficult to infer relationships among mtDNA haplogroups or to examine events that occurred early in human history. We sequenced 62 complete mtDNA genomes of ethnically diverse Tanzanians, southern African Khoisan speakers, and Bakola Pygmies and compared them with a global pool of 226 mtDNA genomes. From these, we infer phylogenetic relationships amongst mtDNA haplogroups and estimate the time to most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) for haplogroup lineages. These data suggest that Tanzanians have high genetic diversity and possess ancient mtDNA haplogroups, some of which are either rare (L0d and L5) or absent (L0f) in other regions of Africa. We propose that a large and diverse human population has persisted in eastern Africa and that eastern Africa may have been an ancient source of dispersion of modern humans both within and outside of Africa.