scholarly journals In search of the last common ancestor: new findings on wild chimpanzees

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1556) ◽  
pp. 3267-3276 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. C. McGrew
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Pan Paniscus ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Percussive Technology ◽  
Shelter Construction

Modelling the behaviour of extinct hominins is essential in order to devise useful hypotheses of our species' evolutionary origins for testing in the palaeontological and archaeological records. One approach is to model the last common ancestor (LCA) of living apes and humans, based on current ethological and ecological knowledge of our closest living relations. Such referential modelling is based on rigorous, ongoing field studies of the chimpanzee ( Pan troglodytes ) and the bonobo ( Pan paniscus ). This paper reviews recent findings from nature, focusing on those with direct implications for hominin evolution, e.g. apes, using elementary technology to access basic resources such as food and water, or sheltering in caves or bathing as thermoregulatory adaptations. I give preference to studies that directly address key issues, such as whether stone artefacts are detectible before the Oldowan, based on the percussive technology of hammer and anvil use by living apes. Detailed comparative studies of chimpanzees living in varied habitats, from rainforest to savannah, reveal that some behavioural patterns are universal (e.g. shelter construction), while others show marked (e.g. extractive foraging) or nuanced (e.g. courtship) cross-populational variation. These findings allow us to distinguish between retained, primitive traits of the LCA versus derived ones in the human lineage.

scholarly journals Pore timing: the evolutionary origins of the nucleus and nuclear pore complex

F1000Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark C. Field ◽  
Michael P. Rout
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Pore Complex ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Nuclear Pore ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Evolutionary Path ◽  
Evolutionary Origins

The name “eukaryote” is derived from Greek, meaning “true kernel”, and describes the domain of organisms whose cells have a nucleus. The nucleus is thus the defining feature of eukaryotes and distinguishes them from prokaryotes (Archaea and Bacteria), whose cells lack nuclei. Despite this, we discuss the intriguing possibility that organisms on the path from the first eukaryotic common ancestor to the last common ancestor of all eukaryotes did not possess a nucleus at all—at least not in a form we would recognize today—and that the nucleus in fact arrived relatively late in the evolution of eukaryotes. The clues to this alternative evolutionary path lie, most of all, in recent discoveries concerning the structure of the nuclear pore complex. We discuss the evidence for such a possibility and how this impacts our views of eukaryote origins and how eukaryotes have diversified subsequent to their last common ancestor.

scholarly journals Social prediction modulates activity of macaque superior temporal cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lea Roumazeilles ◽  
Matthias Schurz ◽  
Mathilde Lojkiewiez ◽  
Lennart Verhagen ◽  
Urs Schüffelgen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theory Of Mind ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Predictive Coding ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Superior Temporal Cortex ◽  
Social Prediction ◽  
Computational Properties

AbstractThe ability to attribute thoughts to others, also called theory of mind (TOM), has been extensively studied. Computationally, the basis of TOM in humans has been interpreted within the predictive coding framework and associated with activity in the temporo-parietal junction (TPJ). However, the evolutionary origins of these human mindreading abilities have been challenged since the concept was coined. Here we identify a brain region in the Rhesus macaque that shares computational properties with the human TPJ. We revealed, using a non-linguistic task and functional magnetic resonance imaging, that activity in a region of the macaque middle superior temporal cortex was specifically modulated by the predictability of social interactions. As in human TPJ, this region could be distinguished from other temporal regions involved in face processing. Our result suggests the existence of a precursor for the theory of mind ability in the last common ancestor of human and old-world monkeys.

scholarly journals Experimental evidence for yawn contagion in orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus)

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Evy van Berlo ◽  
Alejandra P. Díaz-Loyo ◽  
Oscar E. Juárez-Mora ◽  
Mariska E. Kret ◽  
Jorg J. M. Massen
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Great Apes ◽  
Pongo Pygmaeus ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Contagious Yawning ◽  
Proximate Mechanism ◽  
Social Species ◽  
Ultimate Causation

AbstractYawning is highly contagious, yet both its proximate mechanism(s) and its ultimate causation remain poorly understood. Scholars have suggested a link between contagious yawning (CY) and sociality due to its appearance in mostly social species. Nevertheless, as findings are inconsistent, CY’s function and evolution remains heavily debated. One way to understand the evolution of CY is by studying it in hominids. Although CY has been found in chimpanzees and bonobos, but is absent in gorillas, data on orangutans are missing despite them being the least social hominid. Orangutans are thus interesting for understanding CY’s phylogeny. Here, we experimentally tested whether orangutans yawn contagiously in response to videos of conspecifics yawning. Furthermore, we investigated whether CY was affected by familiarity with the yawning individual (i.e. a familiar or unfamiliar conspecific and a 3D orangutan avatar). In 700 trials across 8 individuals, we found that orangutans are more likely to yawn in response to yawn videos compared to control videos of conspecifics, but not to yawn videos of the avatar. Interestingly, CY occurred regardless of whether a conspecific was familiar or unfamiliar. We conclude that CY was likely already present in the last common ancestor of humans and great apes, though more converging evidence is needed.

scholarly journals Sixty Years with the Chrysobalanaceae

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ghillean T. Prance
Keyword(s):  
Economic Botany ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Molecular Evidence ◽  
New Techniques ◽  
Conservation Ecology ◽  
The Past ◽  
New Findings ◽  
The Family ◽  
Molecular Studies ◽  
Economic Use

AbstractA review is given of the studies of Ghillean Prance and associates on the Chrysobalanaceae over the past sixty years. This has focussed on defining the generic boundaries in the family and on monographic work with a worldwide approach to this pantropical family. The importance of field studies for work on monographs and Floras is emphasized. Monographs are still the basis for much work on conservation, ecology and economic botany and are needed as a foundation for molecular studies. The importance of being open to experimenting with new techniques and as a result being willing to change the taxonomy in accordance with new findings is demonstrated and emphasized. The twelve genera of the Chrysobalanaceae at the beginning of this career-long study have now increased to twenty-eight in order to present a much better monophyletic and evolutionary arrangement based on recent molecular evidence. In particular it was necessary to divide and rearrange the originally large genera Parinari and Licania into a number of smaller segregate genera. All known species were included in a worldwide monograph published in 2003. A brief review of the economic use for the family is given.

Evolution of vacuolar H+-ATPases: immunological relationships of the nucleotide-binding subunits

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (6) ◽  
pp. 306-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morris F. Manolson ◽  
Judith M. Percy ◽  
David K. Apps ◽  
Xiao-Song Xie ◽  
Dennis K. Stone ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Anaerobic Bacterium ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Sequence Data ◽  
Structural Features ◽  
Eukaryotic Cells ◽  
Clostridium Pasteurianum ◽  
Chromaffin Granules ◽  
Α Subunit ◽  
Evolutionary Origins ◽  
Vacuolar Membranes

The evolution of the endomembrane systems of eukaryotic cells can be examined by exploring the evolutionary origins of the endomembrane H+-ATPases. Recent studies suggest that certain polypeptides are common to all H+ pumps of this type. Tonoplast H+ -ATPase from Beta vulgaris L. was purified and antibodies raised to two of its subunits. Each of these antisera reacted with a polypeptide of the corresponding size in bovine chromaffin granules, bovine clathrincoated vesicles, and yeast vacuolar membranes, suggesting common structural features and a common ancestor for endomembrane H+-ATPases of different organelles and different kingdoms. The antiserum raised against the 57-kDa polypeptide of plant tonoplast H+ -ATPase also reacted with subunit "a" of the H+-ATPase from the obligately anaerobic bacterium Clostridium pasteurianum and to the α subunit of the H+ -ATPase from Escherichia coli. There was no reactivity with chloroplast or mitochondrial ATPases. These results are discussed in relation to recent sequence data which suggest that endomembrane H+-ATPases may be evolutionarily related to the F0F1 ATPases.Key words: H+ -ATPase, evolution, immunology, vacuole, endomembrane.

scholarly journals Recombinant transfer in the basic genome ofEscherichia coli

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (29) ◽  
pp. 9070-9075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Purushottam D. Dixit ◽  
Tin Yau Pang ◽  
F. William Studier ◽  
Sergei Maslov
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Recipient Cell ◽  
Gene Clusters ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Genome Sequences ◽  
Bacterial Genomes ◽  
Basic Genome ◽  
Single Base Pair ◽  
Generalized Transduction

An approximation to the ∼4-Mbp basic genome shared by 32 strains ofEscherichia colirepresenting six evolutionary groups has been derived and analyzed computationally. A multiple alignment of the 32 complete genome sequences was filtered to remove mobile elements and identify the most reliable ∼90% of the aligned length of each of the resulting 496 basic-genome pairs. Patterns of single base-pair mutations (SNPs) in aligned pairs distinguish clonally inherited regions from regions where either genome has acquired DNA fragments from diverged genomes by homologous recombination since their last common ancestor. Such recombinant transfer is pervasive across the basic genome, mostly between genomes in the same evolutionary group, and generates many unique mosaic patterns. The six least-diverged genome pairs have one or two recombinant transfers of length ∼40–115 kbp (and few if any other transfers), each containing one or more gene clusters known to confer strong selective advantage in some environments. Moderately diverged genome pairs (0.4–1% SNPs) show mosaic patterns of interspersed clonal and recombinant regions of varying lengths throughout the basic genome, whereas more highly diverged pairs within an evolutionary group or pairs between evolutionary groups having >1.3% SNPs have few clonal matches longer than a few kilobase pairs. Many recombinant transfers appear to incorporate fragments of the entering DNA produced by restriction systems of the recipient cell. A simple computational model can closely fit the data. Most recombinant transfers seem likely to be due to generalized transduction by coevolving populations of phages, which could efficiently distribute variability throughout bacterial genomes.

Improved resolution of recalcitrant nodes in the animal phylogeny through the analysis of genome gene content and morphology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ksenia Juravel ◽  
Luis Porras ◽  
Sebastian Hoehna ◽  
Davide Pisani ◽  
Gert Wörheide
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Sister Group ◽  
The Other ◽  
Gene Content ◽  
Statistical Hypothesis ◽  
Phylogenetic Position ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Statistical Hypothesis Testing ◽  
Animal Phylogeny ◽  
Phylogenetic Hypotheses

An accurate phylogeny of animals is needed to clarify their evolution, ecology, and impact on shaping the biosphere. Although multi-gene alignments of up to several hundred thousand amino acids are nowadays routinely used to test hypotheses of animal relationships, some nodes towards the root of the animal phylogeny are proving hard to resolve. While the relationships of the non-bilaterian lineages, primarily sponges (Porifera) and comb jellies (Ctenophora), have received much attention since more than a decade, controversies about the phylogenetic position of the worm-like bilaterian lineage Xenacoelomorpha and the monophyly of the "Superphylum" Deuterostomia have more recently emerged. Here we independently analyse novel genome gene content and morphological datasets to assess patterns of phylogenetic congruence with previous amino-acid derived phylogenetic hypotheses. Using statistical hypothesis testing, we show that both our datasets very strongly support sponges as the sister group of all the other animals, Xenoacoelomorpha as the sister group of the other Bilateria, and largely support monophyletic Deuterostomia. Based on these results, we conclude that the last common animal ancestor may have been a simple, filter-feeding organism without a nervous system and muscles, while the last common ancestor of Bilateria might have been a small, acoelomate-like worm without a through gut.

Inductive patterning of the embryonic brain in Drosophila

Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (9) ◽  
pp. 2121-2128
Author(s):  
Damon T. Page
Keyword(s):  
Brain Development ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Embryonic Brain ◽  
Germ Layers ◽  
Brain Anomaly ◽  
Prechordal Plate ◽  
Foregut Endoderm ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Brain Patterning

In vertebrates (deuterostomes), brain patterning depends on signals from adjacent tissues. For example, holoprosencephaly, the most common brain anomaly in humans, results from defects in signaling between the embryonic prechordal plate (consisting of the dorsal foregut endoderm and mesoderm) and the brain. I have examined whether a similar mechanism of brain development occurs in the protostome Drosophila, and find that the foregut and mesoderm act to pattern the fly embryonic brain. When the foregut and mesoderm of Drosophila are ablated, brain patterning is disrupted. The loss of Hedgehog expressed in the foregut appears to mediate this effect, as it does in vertebrates. One mechanism whereby these defects occur is a disruption of normal apoptosis in the brain. These data argue that the last common ancestor of protostomes and deuterostomes had a prototype of the brains present in modern animals, and also suggest that the foregut and mesoderm contributed to the patterning of this ‘proto-brain’. They also argue that the foreguts of protostomes and deuterostomes, which have traditionally been assigned to different germ layers, are actually homologous.

Natural history of ABC systems: not only transporters

2011 ◽  
Vol 50 ◽  
pp. 19-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elie Dassa
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Last Common Ancestor ◽  
Abc Proteins ◽  
Hypothetical Scenario ◽  
History Of ◽  
Phylogenetic Perspective ◽  
Living Organisms

In recent years, our understanding of the functioning of ABC (ATP-binding cassette) systems has been boosted by the combination of biochemical and structural approaches. However, the origin and the distribution of ABC proteins among living organisms are difficult to understand in a phylogenetic perspective, because it is hard to discriminate orthology and paralogy, due to the existence of horizontal gene transfer. In this chapter, I present an update of the classification of ABC systems and discuss a hypothetical scenario of their evolution. The hypothetical presence of ABC ATPases in the last common ancestor of modern organisms is discussed, as well as the additional possibility that ABC systems might have been transmitted to eukaryotes, after the two endosymbiosis events that led to the constitution of eukaryotic organelles. I update the functional information of selected ABC systems and introduce new families of ABC proteins that have been included recently into this vast superfamily, thanks to the availability of high-resolution three-dimensional structures.

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