Proteins “resurrect” the biggest primate on Earth
- López, B. & Rueda, A.
- 16 dic 2019
- 2 Min. de lectura
Gigantopithecus blacki was a giant hominid that inhabited densely forested environments of Southeast Asia during Pleistocene 1.9 million years ago. It was thought that this species reached 3 meters high and weighed more than half a ton. However, the reasons of its extinction 100 kya ago are still unknown.
This species might have coexisted with today modern humans. However, there is a debate whether it was an ancestor of today's humans, a relative of other apes or a new and unknown branch of the primate family tree. Hundreds of teeth belonging to these species have been discovered and even a piece of mandible but no signs of a cranium. As a result this has imped clarifying its exact place in the evolutionary tree.
A group of researches in Spain have published an article bases on a G. blacki tooth found in a cave in southern China. These scientist have managed to obtain almost 500 amino acids corresponding to six dental enamel proteins that have surprisingly been preserved for almost two million years. When comparing these proteins to those of humans and other primates, researchers have demonstrated that in fact this was a sister species of orangutans that diverged from them 10 million years ago.
One of the six recruited proteins, AHSG, promotes teeth and bone mineralization and probably enabled this giant primate to develope its enormous molars with which it chewed bamboo, leaves and fruits. Contrary to DNA, proteins degrade at a much slower rate which enables scientist to travel much further back in time. These in fact are the oldest molecular remains ever been extracted from a fossil.
The possibility of identifying proteins of these specimen is particularly relevant since there is strong debate about the taxonomic assignment of other teeth found in Asia. However, the reason it became extinct remains a mystery.
Sources
Comments