Human cooperation and evolutionary transitions in individuality.

A major evolutionary transition in individuality involves the formation of a cooperative group and the transformation of that group into an evolutionary entity. Human cooperation shares principles with those of multicellular organisms that have undergone transitions in individuality: division of labour, communication, and fitness interdependence. After the split from the last common ancestor of hominoids, early hominins adapted to an increasingly terrestrial niche for several million years.

Morphological characteristics of preparator air-scribe marks: Implications for taphonomic research.

Taphonomic analyses of bone-surface modifications can provide key insights into past biotic involvement with animal remains, as well as elucidate the context(s) of other biostratinomic (pre-burial) processes, diagenesis, excavation, preparation and storage. Such analyses, however, first require researchers to rigorously disambiguate between continuums of damage morphologies prior to attributing individual marks to specific actors and effectors (e.g.

Bovid ecomorphology and hominin paleoenvironments of the Shungura Formation, lower Omo River Valley, Ethiopia.

The Shungura Formation in the lower Omo River Valley, southern Ethiopia, has yielded an important paleontological and archeological record from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of eastern Africa. Fossils are common throughout the sequence and provide evidence of paleoenvironments and environmental change through time. This study developed discriminant function ecomorphology models that linked astragalus morphology to broadly defined habitat categories (open, light cover, heavy cover, forest, and wetlands) using modern bovids of known ecology.

American alligator proximal pedal phalanges resemble human finger bones: Diagnostic criteria for forensic investigators.

A scientific approach to bone and tooth identification requires analysts to pursue the goal of empirical falsification. That is, they may attribute a questioned specimen to element and taxon only after having ruled out all other possible attributions. This requires analysts to possess a thorough understanding of both human and non-human osteology, particularly so for remains that may be morphologically similar across taxa.

Earliest archaeological evidence of persistent hominin carnivory.

The emergence of lithic technology by ≈ 2.6 million years ago (Ma) is often interpreted as a correlate of increasingly recurrent hominin acquisition and consumption of animal remains. Associated faunal evidence, however, is poorly preserved prior to ≈ 1.

Oldest evidence of tool making hominins in a grassland-dominated ecosystem.

Background: Major biological and cultural innovations in late Pliocene hominin evolution are frequently linked to the spread or fluctuating presence of C(4) grass in African ecosystems. Whereas the deep sea record of global climatic change provides indirect evidence for an increase in C(4) vegetation with a shift towards a cooler, drier and more variable global climatic regime beginning approximately 3 million years ago (Ma), evidence for grassland-dominated ecosystems in continental Africa and hominin activities within such ecosystems have been lacking.

Methodology/principal Findings: We report stable isotopic analyses of pedogenic carbonates and ungulate enamel, as well as faunal data from approximately 2.

Accuracy of mild traumatic brain injury diagnosis.

Objective: To determine how often emergency department (ED) patients meeting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) criteria were diagnosed with a mild TBI by the ED physician.

Design: Prospective identification of cases of mild TBI in the ED by study personnel using scripted interviews and medical record data was compared with retrospective review of ED medical record documentation of mild TBI.

Setting: EDs of a level I trauma center and an academic nontrauma hospital.