Palaeoanthropology: Of humans, dogs and tiny tools

Abstract

Reporting in 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences', Pugach and colleagues provide genetic evidence of a possible mid-Holocene (4,230 years ago) link between human populations in India and Australia. Their data confirm the results of some genetic studies, but contradict others Intriguingly, the authors also link this evidence to the arrival of the dingo and the appearance of microlithic stone tools, which appeared in India as early as 34,000 years ago but much more recently in Australia. The fascination with human migration to Australia began in the eighteenth century, when European explorers reached its coastline. They were surprised to find indigenous human inhabitants and dogs on a continent that was otherwise filled with alien flora and fauna. Australia was separated from both the Asian mainland and the Indonesian archipelago by sea, so where had Aboriginal Australians and dogs come from, and when?