400,000-year-old teeth reveal a hidden link in human evolution
Scientists have developed a non-destructive paleoproteomics technique to extract molecular data from 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth. This breakthrough helps researchers better understand the genetic history and evolutionary links of early human species.
Why it matters
It provides a new way to study human origins without damaging irreplaceable fossil records, potentially solving long-standing mysteries about human evolution.
Scientists at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have uncovered molecular evidence that could point to a previously unknown connection between Homo erectus and modern humans. At the same time, the team developed new paleoproteomics techniques that can extract valuable information from fossils while causing very little damage.
Homo erectus, or H. erectus, occupies an important place in human evolutionary history because it was the first species in the genus Homo known to have migrated out of Africa. Yet scientists still know relatively little about its genetic makeup, the diversity of its populations, or how it may have been related to later human groups.
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