Enamel proteins from six Homo erectus specimens across China - PubMed
3 days ago
- #ancient-proteins
- #homo-erectus
- #human-evolution
- Ancient enamel proteins were extracted from six Middle Pleistocene Homo erectus specimens (five male, one female) from Zhoukoudian, Hexian, and Sunjiadong sites in China, dating to approximately 0.4 million years ago.
- Two amino acid variants were identified across all specimens: A253G in AMBN, which is unique and not found in other human lineages, and AMBN(M273V), previously known in Denisovans, suggesting a possible genetic link.
- The findings indicate that regions of the Denisovan genome attributed to super-archaic introgression likely originated from Homo erectus, implying coexistence and interactions in East Asia during the Late Middle Pleistocene.