Takumi Tsutaya

The Japanese Archipelago sheltered cave lions, not tigers, during the Late Pleistocene
doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

We have applied ultra-fine time-series stable isotope analysis to a single chimpanzee hair sample and demonstrated that daily-to-weekly dietary changes can be retrospectively reconstructed using this method.

Our new paper is out. Kalinzu Forest Reserve in Uganda has been added to the list of wild chimpanzee populations with stable isotope analysis.
doi.org/10.1002/ajp....

Thank you, @zandraselina.bsky.social and @bharathabnair.bsky.social, for reviewing the script. Also, David kindly agreed to publish the R version of the script.

The Python script reported in Mackie et al. 2018 (Angew Chem Int 57:736–7374) for calculating N and Q deamidation rates from proteomic results has now been ported to the R environment.

GitHub
github.com/tsutatsuta/r...

Zenodo
doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

The survey also revealed even worse cases in others...
djrenrakukai.org/enquete.html...

I have changed my surname to experience the burden typically imposed on females. And the result was bad: identity confusion, time and economic costs of changing official documents, unwanted disclosure of marital status and family information, and difficulties in fieldwork overseas.

Japan requires name change after marriage — with big effects on female scientists Survey finds law requiring married couples to share the same family name causes havoc for researchers.

Actually, my legal surname was no longer Tsutaya, due to this outdated law in Japan.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

First ever skull from ‘Denisovan’ reveals what ancient people looked like Ancient proteins and calcified dental plaque identify heavy-browed fossil from China as a Denisovan.

Amazed at the molecular investigations of the Harbin cranium. These are important results that further clarify the distribution and morphology of Denisovans.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

I have provided my comments for an interview with Nature magazine.
doi.org/10.1038/d415...

Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern Africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrome...

Hello,

Our paper on enamel proteins from Paranthropus robustus has finally been peer reviewed, please have a read here: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Paranthropus robustus has been puzzling scientists since its discovery in 1938 in South Africa, where a high number of fossils have been found.

Expert reaction to study confirming Denisovan fossil in Taiwan from the journal Science - 台灣科技媒體中心 Expert reaction to study confirming Denisovan fossil in Taiwan from the journal Science.

Researchers' voices from Taiwan on the newly identified Denisovan mandible from Taiwan.
smctw.tw/18409/

Also, I really appreciate the wonderful colleagues involved in this study, Rikai, Alberto, @zandraselina.bsky.social , Ioannis, Gaudry, Meaghan, Gakuhari, Oota, Tsai, @jespervolsen.bsky.social , Yousuke, Chang, Enrico, and @fridowelker.bsky.social !

Finally, this study would not have been possible without the contributions and support of many people. I am deeply grateful to the people of Taiwan for granting us the opportunity to analyze this precious specimen, a treasure of Taiwan. I hope this publication serves as a way to give back.

An image of a male Denisovan in Taiwan

Second, Denisovan morphology becomes clearer. At least male Denisovans had robust jaws and teeth, distinct from Homo sapiens and Neanderthals. As more molecularly identified Denisovan fossils are discovered, a clearer understanding of their morphological traits and evolutionary history is obtained.

Coast of Penghu Islands, Taiwan

The male Denisovan identity of Penghu provides two important insights. First, it confirms Denisovans inhabited warm and humid environments. This study closes the gap between genomic estimates (hotspots of interbreeding in SE Asia) and fossil occurrence (mostly northern Asia, like Siberia and Tibet).

Penghu 1 mandible in hand

#Paleoproteomics played a key role here. By thoroughly testing extraction strategies using Penghu faunal bones, we obtained a high-quality ancient proteome from Penghu 1 with minimal destruction. We detected multiple Denisovan-related variants and identified a male-specific isoform.

A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau - Nature Fossil evidence indicates that Denisovans occupied the Tibetan Plateau in the Middle Pleistocene epoch and successfully adapted to this high-altitude hypoxic environments long before the regional arri...

In 2019, a Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau was reported, and morphological similarities led to the inference that Penghu 1 may also have originated from the Denisovans.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
However, an attempt to extract ancient DNA from Penghu 1 has, so far, failed.

Denisovans, reported in 2010, are an "enigmatic human lineage" in Asia in the Middle to Late Pleistocene. They are defined by genetic data, and their morphology is still mostly unknown. Many skeletal remains are suspected to be Denisovan, but their identity remains unclear without genetic data.

The first archaic Homo from Taiwan - Nature Communications Growing evidence reveals great diversity of archaic Asian hominins. Here, Chang and colleagues describe a newly discovered archaic Homomandible from Taiwan, which suggests the survival of multiple evo...

The fossil mandible, Penghu 1, has been dredged from the sea bottom of Penghu Channel of Taiwan and was discovered in a private collection by researchers in 2009. The distinct morphological traits of Penghu 1 were reported in 2015, but its phylogenetic position was unknown.
doi.org/10.1038/ncom...

A male Denisovan mandible from Pleistocene Taiwan Denisovans are an extinct hominin group defined by ancient genomes of Middle to Late Pleistocene fossils from southern Siberia. Although genomic evidence suggests their widespread distribution through...

Our paper on the #palaeoproteomic identification of a male Denisovan mandible from Taiwan is out in @science.org !
doi.org/10.1126/scie...

Thank you, Frido! It was a really nice experience for me, and I enjoyed working with wonderful colleagues in Copenhagen. This research would not have been possible without the contributions of everyone involved.

Visited GSSP of Chibanian in this winter holiday

Dietary partitioning in sympatric Paradoxurinae civets in Borneo suggested by compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of amino acids - Progress in Earth and Planetary Science We applied stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses to understand the faunivory of the four sympatric wild Paradoxurinae civet species in Borneo, which share similar ecological characteristics. We...

Our paper was out in PEPS. Using compound-specific stable #isotope analysis of amino acids, we quantitatively demonstrated subtle differences in faunivory in four sympatric civet species in Borneo.
doi.org/10.1186/s406...

Retrospective isotope analysis of ancient remains to distinguish between tamed and wild animals - Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences The origin and process of the domestication of wild animals have long fascinated scientists. However, there are no reliable methods to distinguish between tamed and wild animals. Here, we present a ne...

Co-authored paper was published. We applied sequential stable #isotope analysis to brown bear femurs to identify a tamed juvenile for the bear cult in Ainu.
doi.org/10.1007/s125...