Mysterious human ancestor finds its place in our family tree | Science | AAAS

Mysterious human ancestor finds its place in our family tree | Science | AAAS

Protein pinpoints our ancient ancestor

The enigmatic hominin Homo antecessor has found its place in our family tree thanks to the 800,000-year-old proteins in fossil teeth. Researchers used mass spectrometry to analyse a sliver of enamel from a molar found in Spain’s Gran Dolina cave. The tooth reveals that H. antecessor was a close relative of the last common ancestor of humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. “We see that antecessor falls as a sister group — close, very close — to the branch that leads to us,” says geneticist Enrico Cappellini.

Science | 5 min readReference: Nature paper