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Neanderthals, who lived in central Europe about 35,000 years ago, suffered from diseases such as: tuberculosis (TB), revealed by new DNA analysis of their bones.This is the first time this disease has been confirmed in Japan. neanderthal manquestions have arisen as to whether tuberculosis contributed to their extinction.
In two research studies published in December 2023 in the journal Tuberculosis, one international research team reanalyzed the remains of two Neanderthals discovered in a Hungarian cave in 1932, and another A team examined the remains. Mycobacterium tuberculosisthe bacteria that causes tuberculosis.
Svaliyuk Cave, located in the Buk Mountains of northern Hungary, has been used many times over the centuries as a shelter for animals and humans, and is considered a very important site from the Middle to Late Paleolithic period. . The hominin remains found in one of the layers near the entrance were those of an adult female and a child approximately 3 to 4 years old at the time of death.
Given the combination of Neanderthal and human skeletal features, researchers have long believed that Svaliyuk’s remains represented some of the last Neanderthals of central Europe. Carbon dating of remains In early 2023, it was confirmed that children died about 33,000 to 34,000 years ago, and adults died earlier, about 37,000 to 38,000 years ago.
Related: Our messy human family: 8 extinct human relatives (and 1 that didn’t)
It is already interesting that the time of their death was relatively recent, as Neanderthals went extinct around this time, and the bones of the Subarcians may contain further clues about their lives, and perhaps their deaths. Masu.
Clear evidence of skeletal infection was found in both Neanderthals, including bony lesions along the spines of adults and inside the skulls of children. These skeletal changes, called lytic lesions, reflect bone loss and result in holes. The hole is then filled with new bone. Lytic lesions can be caused by many diseases, including cancer, but their location and pattern within the bodies of Svaliyuk Neanderthals strongly suggests a diagnosis of tuberculosis, the team led by Dr. Ta. Gyorgy Palfi He received his PhD from the University of Szeged, Hungary.
To verify this diagnosis, the following research team was led. Oona Lee Researchers from the University of Birmingham in the UK took bone samples from two skeletons and analyzed them for the presence of bone. Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA. Both were positive. Additionally, a method called spoligotyping used to identify the genetic sequence of tuberculosis in a sample supports this child’s diagnosis, while lipid biomarkers help characterize the microbial community in the sample. The analysis also showed that both Neanderthals had tuberculosis.
“Based on both morphological observations and its biomolecular support, we can conclude that tuberculosis was present in central Europe during the late Pleistocene, approximately 36,000 to 39,000 years ago,” Palfi et al. is written in the paper. One of the new research.
The discovery of tuberculosis in Neanderthals raised a further question: How did they become infected with tuberculosis? Evidence of tuberculosis in large animals throughout ancient Europe, particularly bison, suggests the answer. Neanderthals who hunted and ate these animals may have contracted tuberculosis from them. Tuberculosis therefore poses a danger “both through being a direct health risk and through reducing prey animal populations,” Lee et al. write in their paper. Another new study.
Cory FilipekA paleopathologist at the University of Derby in the UK who was not involved in the study told Live Science in an email that the study “offers an interesting approach that goes beyond our own species’ understanding of this disease. “There is,” he said. The study “may provide a means of understanding how human and non-human actions have brought these pathogens into our disease landscape.”
However, Filipek cautioned that “comprehensive non-destructive analysis should always be done first, especially given the rarity.” [Neanderthal] material. “
Future research along these lines could provide new evidence about the diseases that affected Neanderthals, and perhaps why they became extinct, according to the research team.
Lee, Pálfi, and their colleagues concluded that their results supported “the possibility that tuberculosis contributed to the extinction of Neanderthals,” and suggested that this hypothesis “should be thoroughly investigated.” .
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