Neanderthals versus Modern Humans: Evidence for Resource Competition from Isotopic Modelling

During later MOIS3, in Europe two populations were present, autochthonous Neanderthals and modern humans. Ecological competition between these two populations has often been evoked but never demonstrated. Our aim is to establish whether resource competition occurred. In this paper, in order to examine the possibility of ecological competition between these two populations, 599 isotopic data were subjected to rigorous statistical treatment and analysis through mixing models. The aim of this paper was to compare dietary strategies of Neanderthals and modern humans over time. Our conclusions suggest that Neanderthals and modern humans shared dietary habits in the particular environmental context of MOIS3 characterised in Europe by climatic deterioration. In this environmental context, the resource competition between Neanderthals and modern humans may have accelerated the disappearance of the Neanderthal population

Réponse démographique des Néandertaliens face aux pressions environnementales du stade isotopique 3 (approche par modélisation écologique)

Les Néandertaliens, dont l'évolution a eu lieu en Europe sur environ 300kans, disparaissent vers 30kans. Les déterminants de cette disparition restent encore aujourd'hui très discutés et plusieurs hypothèses tentent d'en expliquer les causes. Parmi celles privilégiées à ce jour on peut citer l'influence du climat, d'une compétition avec Homo sapiens, d'une épidémie ou de modifications démographiques. Cette recherche doctorale revisite ces différentes hypothèses par le biais de la modélisation mathématique. Cette approche originale synthétise et potentialise les données de la paléontologie classique afin de mieux comprendre les phénomènes associés à l'extinction des Néandertaliens. Après avoir réalisé une étude démographique à l'aide de modèle classiques, nous avons conçu des modèles déterministes spécifiques pour analyser les Néandertaliens et la chaine alimentaire à laquelle ils sont associés. Une fois ces modèles testés et validés, nous les avons utilisés pour analyser l'évolution démographique de la population néandertalienne au cours du stade isotopique 3 et nous avons comparés nos résultats avec les données des études préhistoriques, archéozoologiques ou encore paléoanthropologiques. Suite à notre analyse, nous suggérons d'exclure certaines hypothèses souvent avancées comme la compétition pour la ressource, les oscillations climatiques ou encore les épidémies. Une modification des caractéristiques intrinsèques de la population (fécondité et/ou vitesse de maturation) nous semble être une hypothèse bien plus plausible pour expliquer la disparition des Néandertaliens.The Neanderthal population lived and thrived in Europe during about 300ky in Middle Pleistocene. The causes of their disappearance about 30ky ago are strongly debated. Among the current hypotheses developed to explain this demographical crisis, competition with Modern humans, climate changes, epidemic diseases or demographical changes have often been evoked. The aim of this thesis was to re-analyse these assumptions and their determinants by using mathematical modelling. Models are used here to synthesize the data obtained by classical paleoanthropological studies and try to understand the complex and unknown phenomenon relative to the dramatic demographic fluctuation observed in Neanderthal populations during OIS3. Classical mathematical models are firstly used to analyse the influence of both demographical parameters and environmental stresses on the Neanderthal population. Next, we created new deterministic models more specified to the Neanderthal population. After checking the relevance of these models, we used them to analyse the demographical crisis of OIS3 and the information given by modelling have been checked with the information supplied by classical paleoanthropological, zooarchaeological and prehistorical studies. Our results allowed us to exclude the assumption of an epidemic disease or a climate change or even a resource competition as a cause of Neanderthal extinction whereas competition in a broad sense and above all demographic change could have led, under specific conditions, to Neanderthal demise. A demographic modification in the Neanderthal population across the time, in terms of fecundity or maturation speed, could be the reason of Neanderthals disappearance.AIX-MARSEILLE2-Bib.electronique (130559901) / SudocSudocFranceF

Modélisation mathématique de l'entrée de l'Homme moderne en Europe

National audienc

The ecology of Neanderthal and sapiens explored through a food web approach

Food webs are networks of trophic interactions among species. Research on food webs focuses on the structure of direct and indirect interactions among diverse species to get some clues about the functioning of ecosystems and what role species play in this functioning (i.e. providing energy, spreading impacts, affecting ecosystem stability). Beyond its application to study nowadays ecosystems, the 'food web approach' has also been used to study trophic relationships in the fossil record of ex..

Approche patronymique dans des études de génétique

Degioanni Anna. Approche patronymique dans des études de génétique. In: Nouvelle revue d'onomastique, n°35-36, 2000. pp. 3-12

Anthropologie biologique (notice)

International audienc

« Race » méditerranéenne (notice)

International audienc

Homo sapiens, une espèce mosaïque

L’étude du génome humain et de plusieurs fossiles montre que nos ancêtres se sont hybridés à diverses reprises avec les espèces humaines archaïques qu’ils ont rencontrées. Nous devons beaucoup à ces métissages

ADFIT V1.7 (ADmixture FIles Tool) : Input files creating tool for population genetic admixture estimation software

The sixt most commonly used software programs in the literature for population genetic admixture estimation since 20 years, are ADMIX, ADMIX95,Mistura, Admix 2.0, LEA, and LEADMIX, and each one has its own specific file format and filename extensions. We present a specific tool that can help in the file creation process : AdFiT (Admixture Files Tool) version 1.7, a multi-language software (English, French and Spanish). It allows, from a common file containing date, to instantaneoulsy create input files for these six software programs and two others, Parallel LEA (ParLEA) and Mixtur. The use of several software programs and all the available genetic markers appears to be mandatory to estimate efficiently the admixture rates. This requires the creation of multiple input files, for each software file format and leads to a wide data handling, increasing the risk of keyboarding errors. AdFiT can do it quickly, simply (easily) and without errors. AdFiT is freely available online for academic users