The early hunting dog from Dmanisi with comments on the social behaviour in Canidae and hominins
Bartolini-Lucenti, Saverio (University of Florence. Earth Science Department)
Madurell-Malapeira, Joan (Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont)
Martínez-Navarro, Bienvenido (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social)
Palmqvist, Paul (Universidad de Málaga. Departamento de Ecología y Geología)
Lordkipanidze, David (Georgian National Museum)
Rook, Lorenzo (University of Florence. Earth Science Department)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	The renowned site of Dmanisi in Georgia, southern Caucasus (ca. 1. 8 Ma) yielded the earliest direct evidence of hominin presence out of Africa. In this paper, we report on the first record of a large-sized canid from this site, namely dentognathic remains, referable to a young adult individual that displays hypercarnivorous features (e. g. , the reduction of the m1 metaconid and entoconid) that allow us to include these specimens in the hypodigm of the late Early Pleistocene species Canis (Xenocyon) lycaonoides. Much fossil evidence suggests that this species was a cooperative pack-hunter that, unlike other large-sized canids, was capable of social care toward kin and non-kin members of its group. This rather derived hypercarnivorous canid, which has an East Asian origin, shows one of its earliest records at Dmanisi in the Caucasus, at the gates of Europe. Interestingly, its dispersal from Asia to Europe and Africa followed a parallel route to that of hominins, but in the opposite direction. Hominins and hunting dogs, both recorded in Dmanisi at the beginning of their dispersal across the Old World, are the only two Early Pleistocene mammal species with proved altruistic behaviour towards their group members, an issue discussed over more than one century in evolutionary biology.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CGL2016-78577-P Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación CGL2016-80975-P Agencia Estatal de Investigación CGL2017-82654-P Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-859 Agència de Gestió d'Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca 2017/SGR-416
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Subject:	Anthropology ; Palaeontology ; Social evolution
Published in:	Scientific reports, Vol. 11 (July 2021) , art. 13501, ISSN 2045-2322

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92818-4
PMID: 34326360

10 p, 2.3 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ICP)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles