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In a first , scientists have used ancient proteins to determine the sexual activity of an archaic human relation that lived up to 3.5 million years ago , a fresh study reports .
An international team of scientist examine a set of proteins call the proteome . They compile this fabric from the tooth enamel of anAustralopithecus africanusindividual whose corpse were found in a South African cave decennium ago . The method they used , call paleoproteomics , has never successfully work on such an old hominin ( modernistic humans along with their ancient relatives and ancestors ) , the researchers say in a written report published in theSouth African Journal of Scienceon Friday ( Feb. 7 ) .
Skulls of a young (left) and an adult (right)Australopithecus africanus
" To my noesis , among the publically partake in hominin enamel proteomes , A. africanusis the sure-enough hominin to be subjected to palaeoproteomic analysis , " study lead authorPalesa Madupe , a postdoctoral researcher in the Section for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen , told Live Science in an email .
Paleoproteomics , the study of ancient protein trapped in tooth enamel , was developed about 30 class ago . Because protein can preserve longer thanDNA , paleoproteomics is used to study the genetic edifice blocks of creatures that are millions of years honest-to-goodness , such as an80 million - yr - oldBrachylophosaurus . Only recently , however , have paleoanthropologists been capable to pull up these protein from our fossil ancestors .
Madupe and her team have been working to recover traces of proteins from hominin fossils in South Africa ’s Cradle of Humankind , where at least six hominin species live , includingA. africanus(3.5 million to 2.0 million years ago ) andHomo naledi(335,000 to 236,000 years ago ) . Paleoproteomics , they wrote in the study , can help investigator well understand how the different species vary . This would include determining the sex of these soul , which is not always straightforward given the fragmentary nature of fossilised skeletons .
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Using a minimally incursive technique , the investigator extracted over 100 peptide — short chains of amino acids that are work up into proteins — from the tooth of oneA. africanusindividual found in theSterkfontein limestone cavesin South Africa . Several of these peptide were unique to amelogenin , a protein that is fundamental in normal tooth developing . Because male and female build this protein slightly otherwise , the researchers could tell theA. africanustooth was from a male individual .
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The field of study was published as part of a particular outlet of theSouth African Journal of Sciencein honor of the 100th day of remembrance of the " Taung Child . " The famous child ’s tiny skull was unexpectedly get word by prey workers who were blare a limestone drop in South Africa . In a innovational study published in the journalNatureon Feb. 7 , 1925 , Australian anthropologist Raymond Dart boldly paint a picture thatA. africanuswas a human relative , making it the first ancient hominin ever discovered in Africa .
Although the newfangled study proved that protein can be recovered from hominin fogey up to 3 million years old in South Africa , Madupe wants to go for the technique to a wider ambit of regions and climates around the world .
" These are all unbelievably exciting find that are poise to revolutionize our understanding of human evolution , " the research worker drop a line .
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