Carles Lalueza Fox - Paleoproteomic analysis and human evolution

Carles Lalueza Fox - Paleoproteomic analysis and human evolution

Part of #NEANDERTHAL: The Conference which was organised by the Gibraltar National Museum from 13th to 15th September 2018 at the University of Gibraltar.

The recovery of ancient DNA from past remains has provided a new tool to study the evolutionary relationships amongst living and extinct taxa, including hominins. It has been possible to retrieve genetic material from a 560,000 to 780,000-year-old horse bone, found in conditions that are exceptional for DNA preservation such as permafrost. The most ancient human DNA yet recovered, dated to 430,000 years ago, comes from Sima de los Huesos site in Atapuerca (Spain), again an exceptional site that consists in a deep shaft located 500 m from the current cave entrance and that has a constant and low temperature along the year. Unfortunately, crucial events for understanding the complexities of human evolution took place in temperate or warm environments, were no such thermal conditions are expected. Therefore, in most parts of the world, including Africa, Melanesia or South Asia, it will not be possible to study DNA sequences that are older than few tens of thousands of years. The possibility that offers the retrieval of ancient proteins from archaic hominin fossils of going further back in time than DNA thus opens a unique possibility of exploring the complex phylogenetic relationships within the Homo genus. We will review some of the evolutionary hypothesis that could be tested with this approach, as well as the methodological problems associated to this emerging field.

© Gibraltar National Museum, 2018