Head Lice

[Cognito]

As some of you know I have been following this article's aftermath with some interest:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3715132.stm

It indicates that the American version of head lice differentiated from the rest of the world over one million years ago. Further, it states that the investigators want to research pubic lice to determine if they will find the same anomoly due to our forebears having sex with another species. For those of you who are uninformed, pubic lice = "crabs", the scourge of college fraternities. David Reed, Florida Museum of Natural History is quoted in the article as saying: "We either battled with them, or lived with them or mated with them. Regardless, we touched them."

I communicated with David Reed recently about the status of his pubic lice research. He told me that everything is proceeding slower than intended due to a lack of subjects. As a result, I have volunteered the genitalia of all posters on this site for investigation. I'm sure he'll find plenty of research material here.

PLEASE REPORT TO FLORIDA FOR YOUR EXAM !!

[Forum Monk]

Are you nit-picking?

[Beagle]

I have volunteered the genitalia of all posters on this site for investigation.

Well Cogs, I'm pushing 57 yrs. old, but I still need my genitalia for a while. Someday, maybe, Florida is welcome to them.

I'm glad you posted this topic - very interesting. Let's keep it going.

[Beagle]

This quote from Allen Shumaker at the Valsequillo forum.

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A few months ago a paper was published on the genetics of human head lice. It is available free http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~vsmith ... index.html
on PLOS.

The Abstract

Parasites can be used as unique markers to investigate host evolutionary history, independent of host data. Here we show that modern human head lice, Pediculus humanus, are composed of two ancient lineages, whose origin predates modern Homo sapiens by an order of magnitude (ca. 1.18 million years). One of the two louse lineages has a worldwide distribution and appears to have undergone a population bottleneck ca. 100,000 years ago along with its modern H. sapiens host. Phylogenetic and population genetic data suggest that the other lineage, found only in the New World, has remained isolated from the worldwide lineage for the last 1.18 million years. The ancient divergence between these two lice is contemporaneous with splits among early species of Homo, and cospeciation analyses suggest that the two louse lineages codiverged with a now-extinct species of Homo and the lineage leading to modern H. sapiens. If these lice indeed codiverged with their hosts ca. 1.18 MYA, then a recent host switch from an archaic species of Homo to modern H. sapiens is required to explain the occurrence of both lineages on modern H. sapiens. Such a host switch would require direct physical contact between modern and archaic forms of Homo.
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So this raises an interesting question - Why is the species of louse that has been isolated from the worldwide lineage for 1.18 million years only found in the Americas?

Now there are many possible solutions that would involve some rather unlikely sequences of events. A straight forward answer would be that some early variety of Homo carried this ancient lineage to the Americas where it was isolated from the rest of the world and later Homo sapiens entering the Americas became the new host.

Interesting

[Cognito]

Are you nit-picking?

No I am not nit-picking, and it is NOT true that they can pole vault from a toilet seat either! ... er, right?

[Charlie Hatchett]

He told me that everything is proceeding slower than intended due to a lack of subjects. As a result, I have volunteered the genitalia of all posters on this site for investigation. I'm sure he'll find plenty of research material here.

Seriously, though, this could turn out to be a major piece of evidence supporting human habitation in the Americas before 1,000,000 B.P.

In light of this research, Berkeley's 1.1 million B.P. date on the Hueyatlaco artifacts doesn't seem quite so crazy.

Two totally different branches of science coming up with similar answers.

The orthodoxistas over at Ma'at can't even get over 11,500 B.P.

By the way, you should post this over at Ma'at, Cog, just to yank their chains a bit.

[Cognito]

By the way, you should post this over at Ma'at, Cog, just to yank their chains a bit.

It's alright, Charlie. I dodge bullets at work ... why not Ma'at also? To explain the head lice findings, either:

(a) Orthodox view: An ancient hominid existed in complete isolation for over a million years in Asia, passed head lice to H. sapiens who were passing through to the Americas, and then went extinct, or

(b) Alternate view: An ancient hominid was isolated in the Americas for over a million years and then went extinct after H. sapiens arrived.

Option (a) seems too complicated. Occam and I will vote for (b).

[Minimalist]

(b) Alternate view: An ancient hominid was isolated in the Americas for over a million years and then went extinct after H. sapiens arrived.

Gave them plenty of time to invent the hand axe.

[Forum Monk]

Now I understand why our ancestors tended toward less hair and why HN disappeared. He scratched himself into extinction.

[Beagle]

Now there are many possible solutions that would involve some rather unlikely sequences of events. A straight forward answer would be that some early variety of Homo carried this ancient lineage to the Americas where it was isolated from the rest of the world and later Homo sapiens entering the Americas became the new host.

Stating the obvious here, but the "ancient lineage" in the Americas (or wherever) had to still be in exiistence and there had to be intimate contact between the two peoples.

[marduk]

He scratched himself into extinction

[Beagle]

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articl ... .0x9584c20

Parasites can be used as unique markers to investigate host evolutionary history, independent of host data. Here we show that modern human head lice, Pediculus humanus, are composed of two ancient lineages, whose origin predates modern Homo sapiens by an order of magnitude (ca. 1.18 million years). One of the two louse lineages has a worldwide distribution and appears to have undergone a population bottleneck ca. 100,000 years ago along with its modern H. sapiens host. Phylogenetic and population genetic data suggest that the other lineage, found only in the New World, has remained isolated from the worldwide lineage for the last 1.18 million years. The ancient divergence between these two lice is contemporaneous with splits among early species of Homo, and cospeciation analyses suggest that the two louse lineages codiverged with a now extinct species of Homo and the lineage leading to modern H. sapiens. If these lice indeed codiverged with their hosts ca. 1.18 million years ago, then a recent host switch from an archaic species of Homo to modern H. sapiens is required to explain the occurrence of both lineages on modern H. sapiens. Such a host switch would require direct physical contact between modern and archaic forms of Homo.

This is the abstract of a much longer paper. Wolpoff is a multi-regionalist.
Naturally, the simpler solution of humans in the Americas in very ancient times is not discussed.

[Cognito]

This is the abstract of a much longer paper. Wolpoff is a multi-regionalist.
Naturally, the simpler solution of humans in the Americas in very ancient times is not discussed.

Thanks for the article, Beags. Interestingly enough, Wolpoff's multiregionalist theory only holds up if the ancient hominids were isolated in Australia or the Americas. Charlie, maybe I'll invite him to the party.

[Charlie Hatchett]

Thanks for the article, Beags. Interestingly enough, Wolpoff's multiregionalist theory only holds up if the ancient hominids were isolated in Australia or the Americas. Charlie, maybe I'll invite him to the party.

Sounds like a good idea.

Lets pick his brain.

[Cognito]

Actually, I think Milford resembles a modern-day Neanderthal. That could explain his interest in the subject!

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wolpoff/

Let the games begin!