Record #243828 - GSI Repository

PROSPER

Hominin phyloproteomics for the Pleistocene: PalaeoPROteomics of Skeletal Parts for Evolutionary Research

Grant period	2020-12-01 - 2025-11-30
Funding body	European Union
Call number	ERC-2020-STG
Grant number	948365
Identifier	G:(EU-Grant)948365

Note: A new picture of our own ancestral past has emerged through the elucidation of the complex evolutionary relationships between Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans. How preceding hominin populations fit into their story is currently unknown, but it has become clear that Pleistocene hominin populations were highly diverse. In addition to Homo erectus and Homo antecessor, they also include recently described populations such as the Denisovans, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis, and Homo naledi, and previously known but elusive populations such as Homo heidelbergensis. These hominins were present across Africa and Eurasia, with large portions of the hominin fossil record far beyond the reach of ancient DNA research. It is therefore difficult to understand the distribution in time and space of these hominin populations, and elucidate their relation to the emergence of novel hominin behaviours evident in the archaeological record, using traditional approaches. Palaeoproteomic analysis of skeletal proteomes has recently emerged as a potential alternative biomolecular approach across the Pleistocene, and can provide independent molecular evidence on hominin evolutionary relationships on a global scale. PROSPER will make this opportunity a reality by developing novel sampling and extraction protocols for ancient skeletal proteomes, thereby minimizing the destructive sampling of highly unique, often fragmentary, hominin fossils, while simultaneously maximizing the proteomic data generated. With these methods available, PROSPER will generate unique insights into the evolutionary relationships between Pleistocene hominins across their African and Eurasian distribution, including the emergence and dispersal of our own species, Homo sapiens. PROSPER will be able to settle phylogenetic debates on hominin population relationships in a unique, novel manner, and can be expected to open up new avenues of research in palaeoanthropology.

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Record created 2021-10-10, last modified 2023-02-14

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