Projektbeschreibung
Massenspektometrisch basierte Analyse in der Evolutionsforschung über die Hominini
Jüngste Entdeckungen haben ein neues Bild von den komplexen evolutionären Beziehungen zwischen Neandertalern, Denisova-Menschen und dem modernen Menschen gezeichnet. Neben dem Homo erectus und Homo antecessor zählen nun auch Denisova-Menschen, Homo florensiensis, Homo luzonensis, Homo naledi und möglicherweise Homo heidelbergensis zu den Hominini-Populationen des Pleistozäns. Die Paläoproteomik ist die Anwendung der Massenspektrometrie in der Erforschung alter Proteome und wird seit kurzem Zeit als alternativer biomolekularer Ansatz genutzt, um molekulare Nachweise über die evolutionären Beziehungen der Hominini zu erbringen. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt PROSPER wird neue Probenahme- und Extraktionsprotokolle für skelettale Proteome aus der Urzeit entwickeln. Damit möchte es die destruktive Probenahme von einzigartigen homininen Fossilien minimieren und neue Wege für die Forschung eröffnen.
Ziel
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.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
Programm/Programme
Thema/Themen
Finanzierungsplan
ERC-STG - Starting GrantGastgebende Einrichtung
1165 Kobenhavn
Dänemark