The dental proteome of Homo antecessor

Frido Welker (), Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Petra Gutenbrunner, Meaghan Mackie, Shivani Tiwary, Rosa Rakownikow Jersie-Christensen, Cristina Chiva, Marc R. Dickinson, Martin Kuhlwilm, Marc Manuel, Pere Gelabert, María Martinón-Torres, Ann Margvelashvili, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Eudald Carbonell, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Kirsty Penkman, Eduard Sabidó, Jürgen Cox, Jesper V. Olsen, David Lordkipanidze, Fernando Racimo, Carles Lalueza-Fox, José María Bermúdez de Castro (), Eske Willerslev () and Enrico Cappellini ()
Additional contact information
Frido Welker: University of Copenhagen
Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal: University of Copenhagen
Petra Gutenbrunner: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Meaghan Mackie: University of Copenhagen
Shivani Tiwary: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Rosa Rakownikow Jersie-Christensen: University of Copenhagen
Cristina Chiva: Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Marc R. Dickinson: University of York
Martin Kuhlwilm: University Pompeu Fabra
Marc Manuel: University Pompeu Fabra
Pere Gelabert: University Pompeu Fabra
María Martinón-Torres: Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)
Ann Margvelashvili: Georgian National Museum
Juan Luis Arsuaga: Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos
Eudald Carbonell: Departamento d’Història i Història de l’Art, Universidad Rovira i Virgili
Tomas Marques-Bonet: Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Kirsty Penkman: University of York
Eduard Sabidó: Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology
Jürgen Cox: Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry
Jesper V. Olsen: University of Copenhagen
David Lordkipanidze: Georgian National Museum
Fernando Racimo: University of Copenhagen
Carles Lalueza-Fox: University Pompeu Fabra
José María Bermúdez de Castro: Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH)
Eske Willerslev: University of Copenhagen
Enrico Cappellini: University of Copenhagen

Nature, 2020, vol. 580, issue 7802, 235-238

Abstract: Abstract The phylogenetic relationships between hominins of the Early Pleistocene epoch in Eurasia, such as Homo antecessor, and hominins that appear later in the fossil record during the Middle Pleistocene epoch, such as Homo sapiens, are highly debated1–5. For the oldest remains, the molecular study of these relationships is hindered by the degradation of ancient DNA. However, recent research has demonstrated that the analysis of ancient proteins can address this challenge6–8. Here we present the dental enamel proteomes of H. antecessor from Atapuerca (Spain)9,10 and Homo erectus from Dmanisi (Georgia)1, two key fossil assemblages that have a central role in models of Pleistocene hominin morphology, dispersal and divergence. We provide evidence that H. antecessor is a close sister lineage to subsequent Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins, including modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. This placement implies that the modern-like face of H. antecessor—that is, similar to that of modern humans—may have a considerably deep ancestry in the genus Homo, and that the cranial morphology of Neanderthals represents a derived form. By recovering AMELY-specific peptide sequences, we also conclude that the H. antecessor molar fragment from Atapuerca that we analysed belonged to a male individual. Finally, these H. antecessor and H. erectus fossils preserve evidence of enamel proteome phosphorylation and proteolytic digestion that occurred in vivo during tooth formation. Our results provide important insights into the evolutionary relationships between H. antecessor and other hominin groups, and pave the way for future studies using enamel proteomes to investigate hominin biology across the existence of the genus Homo.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2153-8 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:580:y:2020:i:7802:d:10.1038_s41586-020-2153-8

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2153-8

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().