Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons02:54

Evolutionary Relationships through Genome Comparisons

Genome comparison is one of the excellent ways to interpret the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The basic principle of genome comparison is that if two species share a common feature, it is likely encoded by the DNA sequence conserved between both species. The advent of genome sequencing technologies in the late 20th century enabled scientists to understand the concept of conservation of domains between species and helped them to deduce evolutionary relationships across diverse...
Phylogeny01:23

Phylogeny

Phylogeny is concerned with the evolutionary diversification of organisms or groups of organisms. A group of organisms with a name is called a taxon (singular). Taxa (plural) can span different levels of the evolutionary hierarchy. For instance, the group containing all birds is a taxon (comprising the class Aves), and the group of all species of daisies (the genus Bellis) is a taxon. Phylogenies can likewise include just one genus (i.e., depict species relationships) or span an entire kingdom.
Microbial Phylogeny01:28

Microbial Phylogeny

Understanding the evolutionary relationships among microorganisms is fundamental to microbial ecology and taxonomy. Phylogenetic trees are essential tools for inferring these relationships, relying primarily on comparative analyses of molecular sequences such as DNA, RNA, or proteins. In microbial studies, these trees typically depict the evolutionary paths of diverse bacterial and archaeal species by mapping genetic differences accumulated over time.Phylogenetic trees are composed of tips,...
Synteny and Evolution02:31

Synteny and Evolution

John H. Renwick first coined the term “synteny” in 1971, which refers to the genes present on the same chromosomes, even if they are not genetically linked. The species with common ancestry tend to show conserved syntenic regions. Therefore, the concept of synteny is nowadays used to describe the evolutionary relationship between species.
Around 80 million years ago, the human and mice lineages diverged from the common ancestor. During the course of evolution, the ancestral chromosome underwent...
Phylogenetic Trees03:21

Phylogenetic Trees

Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.
Phylogenetic Trees03:21

Phylogenetic Trees

Phylogenetic trees come in many forms. It matters in which sequence the organisms are arranged from the bottom to the top of the tree, but the branches can rotate at their nodes without altering the information. The lines connecting individual nodes can be straight, angled, or even curved.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Brain Charts for the Rhesus Macaque Lifespan.

bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology·2024
Same author

Intra- and inter-tooth variation in strontium isotope ratios from prehistoric seals by laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry.

Rapid communications in mass spectrometry : RCM·2018
Same author

Linking initial microstructure and local response during quasistatic granular compaction.

Physical review. E·2018
Same author

Stable isotopes and the metabolism of the European cave bear.

Oecologia·2017
Same author

The futures of pastoralism in the Horn of Africa: pathways of growth and change.

Revue scientifique et technique (International Office of Epizootics)·2016
Same author

Brain microbiota disruption within inflammatory demyelinating lesions in multiple sclerosis.

Scientific reports·2016
Same journal

Therapeutic potential of crude protein extracts from two Egyptian freshwater snails Lanistes carinatus and Bellamya unicolor.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Microbial contamination of donor corneas and post-keratoplasty endophthalmitis: a comparison between Japanese and U.S. eye banks using cold storage.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Prevalence and contributing factors of virological non-suppression among adult patients on first-line antiretroviral therapy in tertiary hospitals in Ethiopia.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

An in vitro comparison of color stability between alkasite and different restorative materials in various staining solutions.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

Toward accessible mRNA LNP formulation: systematic evaluation of mixing strategies and key parameters.

Scientific reports·2026
Same journal

A network analysis of personality traits, mentalizing, and psychological health in Chinese college students.

Scientific reports·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

Dating human cultural capacity using phylogenetic principles.

J Lind1, P Lindenfors, S Ghirlanda

  • 1Centre for the Study of Cultural Evolution, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden. johan.lind@zoologi.su.se

Scientific Reports
|May 8, 2013
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Human cultural capacity, essential for complex societies, is at least 170,000 years old, predating modern human lineage splits. This capacity may have existed even earlier, potentially in Neanderthals.

More Related Videos

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
14:38

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Published on: November 2, 2012

Amplification of Near Full-length HIV-1 Proviruses for Next-Generation Sequencing
10:18

Amplification of Near Full-length HIV-1 Proviruses for Next-Generation Sequencing

Published on: October 16, 2018

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 11, 2026

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin
08:57

Using Phylogenetic Analysis to Investigate Eukaryotic Gene Origin

Published on: August 14, 2018

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning
14:38

Creating Objects and Object Categories for Studying Perception and Perceptual Learning

Published on: November 2, 2012

Amplification of Near Full-length HIV-1 Proviruses for Next-Generation Sequencing
10:18

Amplification of Near Full-length HIV-1 Proviruses for Next-Generation Sequencing

Published on: October 16, 2018

Area of Science:

  • Anthropology
  • Paleogenetics
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • The emergence of complex culture in humans is linked to a unique "cultural capacity."
  • The precise age of this human cultural capacity remains a subject of scientific debate.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the age of the human "cultural capacity" using an interdisciplinary approach.
  • To integrate diverse evidence to establish a timeline for the evolution of complex culture.

Main Methods:

  • Phylogenetic principles were applied to date the origin of cultural capacity.
  • Evidence was integrated from archaeology, genetics, paleoanthropology, and linguistics.
  • Key indicators included hyoid bone morphology, FOXP2 gene alleles, and early tool/behavioral evidence.

Main Results:

  • Cultural capacity predates the divergence of the modern human lineage, estimated at a minimum of 170,000 years old.
  • Evidence suggests Neanderthals may have possessed cultural capacity as early as 500,000 years ago.
  • The capacity for complex culture likely preceded the actual development of complex cultural behaviors.

Conclusions:

  • The human capacity for complex culture is ancient, with origins potentially extending back hundreds of thousands of years.
  • Early stages of cultural evolution may have been characterized by very slow progress.
  • This research provides a revised timeline for a critical aspect of human evolution.