Climate shifts orchestrated hominin interbreeding events across Eurasia

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ruan, Jiaoyang; Timmermann, Axel; Raia, Pasquale; Yun, Kyung-Sook; Zeller, Elke; Mondanaro, Alessandro; Di Febbraro, Mirko; Lemmon, Danielle; Castiglione, Silvia; Melchionna, Marina
• 署名单位: Institute for Basic Science - Korea (IBS); Pusan National University; Pusan National University; University of Florence; University of Molise
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-12722
• DOI: 10.1126/science.add4459
• 发表日期: 2023-08-11
• 页码: 699-703
• 关键词: denisova cave; neanderthals; co2; pleistocene; dispersals; sequence; genome

摘要

When, where, and how often hominin interbreeding happened is largely unknown. We study the potential for Neanderthal-Denisovan admixture using species distribution models that integrate extensive fossil, archaeological, and genetic data with transient coupled general circulation model simulations of global climate and biomes. Our Pleistocene hindcast of past hominins' habitat suitability reveals pronounced climate-driven zonal shifts in the main overlap region of Denisovans and Neanderthals in central Eurasia. These shifts, which influenced the timing and intensity of potential interbreeding events, can be attributed to the response of climate and vegetation to past variations in atmospheric carbon dioxide and Northern Hemisphere ice-sheet volume. Therefore, glacial-interglacial climate swings likely played an important role in favoring gene flow between archaic humans.