Unlocking Secrets of Ancient Hominins: A Breakthrough Study of 2-Million-Year-Old Proteins

When it comes to understanding ancient hominins, the absence of a specific protein called AMELY can indicate that a sample is female. However, this isn’t certain. Sometimes, rare male specimens, including a Neanderthal, can lack this protein altogether.

Another interesting point is the variation in 425 amino acid locations among hominin species. Even within the Paranthropus genus, different individuals show unique traits. This variation can help clarify how these species relate to one another and the number of distinct Paranthropus species that existed.

Researchers conducted a test by comparing the amino acid variation in four ancient samples to that in four randomly chosen human genomes. They found that the level of variation might be typical for any group of four individuals, but they noted that the population of modern humans is considerably larger than that of Paranthropus. Therefore, their conclusion lacked certainty.

Among those 425 amino acids, 16 showed unique variations specific to different hominin species. Surprisingly, the species Paranthropus robustus appeared to be the closest relative to our genus, Homo, based on this data. But again, the researchers emphasized the need for more information to draw solid conclusions.

This paper is led by Enrico Cappellini from the University of Copenhagen, who specializes in developing techniques for studying ancient DNA. He hopes to increase our understanding of extinct hominins in the future. However, researchers face challenges, as collecting data sometimes destroys part of these rare samples, which are crucial links to our past.

As time goes on, advancements in technology may allow scientists to gather more data without damaging these invaluable specimens. The quest for understanding our ancient relatives continues, shedding light on our own evolution.

For more detailed findings, you can check out the original research in Science: 10.1126/science.adt9539.

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