A new medium-sized hominoid mandibular fossil was discovered at an early Late Miocene site, Tebingan area, south of Magway city, central Myanmar. The specimen is a left adult mandibular corpus preserving strongly worn M₂ and M₃, fragmentary roots of P₄ and M₁, alveoli of canine and P₃, and the lower half of the mandibular symphysis. In Southeast Asia, two Late Miocene medium-sized hominoids have been discovered so far: Lufengpithecus from the Yunnan Province, southern China, and Khoratpithecus from northern Thailand and central Myanmar. In particular, the mandibular specimen of Khoratpithecus was discovered from the neighboring village of Tebingan. However, the new mandible shows apparent differences from both genera in the shape of the outline of the mandibular symphyseal section. The new Tebingan mandible has a well-developed superior transverse torus, a deep intertoral sulcus (= genioglossal fossa), and a thin, shelf-like inferior transverse torus. In contrast, Lufengpithecus and Khoratpithecus each have very shallow intertoral sulcus and a thick, rounded inferior transverse torus. The characteristic morphology of the mandibular symphysis in the Tebingan specimen suggests a different taxon from Khoratpithecus. In central Myanmar at least two kinds of medium-sized hominoids were likely present in the early Late Miocene.

Paleolithic evidence of the Indian subcontinent is often expressed through the wealth of lithic antiquities from the Stone Age. In this region, the earliest known lithic remains comprise simple cores and flakes recovered from the Siwalik Hills. The Siwalik Hills are the foothills of the southern edge of the Himalayas, and area goldmine zone for Soanian lithic implements. Although Acheulean remains have also been reported, their occurrences are few. Nevertheless, these remains have been known date from the Pleistocene, which shows varied patterns of land use and intraregional versatility. In the Siwalik Hills, Soanian implements are of two kinds: (i) a chopper type of the Lower Paleolithic period and (ii) a flake type belonging to the Middle Paleolithic period. The present study was undertaken at a newly discovered Stone Age locality, Bam, located within the frontal range of the Siwalik Hills in the Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The area under study plays an important role in understanding the relationship between people and land. The paper explores the Soanian cultural remains of the site to obtain an in-depth understanding of its nature against the backdrop of raw material availability and exploitation. The study also throws light on the local geological and geomorphological settings of the area.

Telomere length has recently gained popularity as a biomarker of aging-related diseases. Dried blood spot (DBS) samples are commonly used to measure telomere length for human biology research, but studies assessing intra- and inter-assay variations are scarce. The objective of the present study was to analyze and elucidate the extent of intra- and inter-assay variation of DBS telomere length measurement. The DBS telomere length of a male subject was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) using four different protocols with two different container types (96-well plates and 8-well tubes) and two different primer sets (tel1b–tel2b and tel1–tel2). The measurement of telomere length with 8-well tubes and the tel1–tel2 primer set demonstrated the lowest intra-assay coefficient of variation (CV) (6.0%) and gave an inter-assay CV of 5.0%. The protocol for 96-well plates typically resulted in high intra-assay CVs (>27%). Assessment of intra-assay variation is essential when DBS telomere length is measured by qPCR.