Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus.
Saved in:
| Title: | Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Madupe, Palesa P., Koenig, Claire, Patramanis, Ioannis, Rüther, Patrick L., Hlazo, Nomawethu, Mackie, Meaghan, Tawane, Mirriam, Krueger, Johanna, Taurozzi, Alberto J., Troché, Gaudry, Kibii, Job, Pickering, Robyn, Dickinson, Marc R., Sahle, Yonatan, Kgotleng, Dipuo, Musiba, Charles, Manthi, Fredrick, Bell, Liam, DuPlessis, Michelle, Gilbert, Catherine |
| Source: | Science. 5/29/2025, Vol. 388 Issue 6750, p969-973. 5p. |
| Subjects: | Paranthropus, Dental enamel, Sex (Biology), Genetic variation, Anthropological research |
| Abstract: | 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 spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four ~2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South Africa. The identification of AMELY-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. A single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern African Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in African Early Pleistocene hominins. Editor's summary: It is now well known that the early hominin fauna was species rich, with many overlapping lineages existing in the African Pleistocene. However, our knowledge of diversity within many of these lineages has been limited because current ancient DNA technologies have not been able to reveal genetic sequences older than around 0.2 million years. Madupe et al. examined protein sequences from approximately 2-million-year-old Paranthropus robustus teeth that were particularly well preserved. Using proteomics approaches, the authors were able to assign the individual teeth to sex and to identify patterns of diversity suggesting the existence of multiple populations. —Sacha Vignieri [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Science is the property of American Association for the Advancement of Science and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | 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 spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four ~2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South Africa. The identification of AMELY-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. A single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern African Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in African Early Pleistocene hominins. Editor's summary: It is now well known that the early hominin fauna was species rich, with many overlapping lineages existing in the African Pleistocene. However, our knowledge of diversity within many of these lineages has been limited because current ancient DNA technologies have not been able to reveal genetic sequences older than around 0.2 million years. Madupe et al. examined protein sequences from approximately 2-million-year-old Paranthropus robustus teeth that were particularly well preserved. Using proteomics approaches, the authors were able to assign the individual teeth to sex and to identify patterns of diversity suggesting the existence of multiple populations. —Sacha Vignieri [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 00368075 |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.adt9539 |
