Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus

Palesa P. Madupe; Claire Koenig; Ioannis Patramanis; Patrick L. Rüther; Nomawethu Hlazo; Meaghan Mackie; Mirriam Tawane; Johanna Krueger; Alberto J. Taurozzi; Gaudry Troché; Job Kibii; Robyn Pickering; Marc R. Dickinson; Yonatan Sahle; Dipuo Kgotleng; Charles Musiba; Fredrick Manthi; Liam Bell; Michelle DuPlessis; Catherine Gilbert; Bernhard Zipfel; Lukas F.K. Kuderna; Esther Lizano; Frido Welker; Pelagia Kyriakidou; Jürgen Cox; Catherine Mollereau; Caroline Tokarski; Jonathan Blackburn; Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal; Tomas Marques-Bonet; Kirsty Penkman; Clément Zanolli; Lauren Schroeder; Fernando Racimo; Jesper V. Olsen; Rebecca R. Ackermann; Enrico Cappellini

doi:10.1126/science.adt9539

Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus

Palesa P. Madupe, Claire Koenig, Ioannis Patramanis, Patrick L. Rüther, Nomawethu Hlazo, Meaghan Mackie, Mirriam Tawane, Johanna Krueger, Alberto J. Taurozzi, Gaudry Troché, Job Kibii, Robyn Pickering, Marc R. Dickinson, Yonatan Sahle, Dipuo Kgotleng, Charles Musiba, Fredrick Manthi, Liam Bell, Michelle DuPlessis, Catherine GilbertBernhard Zipfel, Lukas F.K. Kuderna, Esther Lizano, Frido Welker, Pelagia Kyriakidou, Jürgen Cox, Catherine Mollereau, Caroline Tokarski, Jonathan Blackburn, Jazmín Ramos-Madrigal, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Kirsty Penkman, Clément Zanolli, Lauren Schroeder, Fernando Racimo, Jesper V. Olsen, Rebecca R. Ackermann, Enrico Cappellini

Paleo Research Institute

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four ~2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South africa. The identification of aMELy-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. a single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern african Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in african Early Pleistocene hominins.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	969-973
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	388
Issue number	6750
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt9539
Publication status	Published - 29 May 2025

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Multidisciplinary

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Madupe, P. P., Koenig, C., Patramanis, I., Rüther, P. L., Hlazo, N., Mackie, M., Tawane, M., Krueger, J., Taurozzi, A. J., Troché, G., Kibii, J., Pickering, R., Dickinson, M. R., Sahle, Y., Kgotleng, D., Musiba, C., Manthi, F., Bell, L., DuPlessis, M., ... Cappellini, E. (2025). Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus. Science, 388(6750), 969-973. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt9539

@article{54ef802de7b24c278e58c4480eff0c3b,

title = "Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus",

abstract = "Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four \textasciitilde{}2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South africa. The identification of aMELy-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. a single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern african Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in african Early Pleistocene hominins.",

author = "Madupe, \{Palesa P.\} and Claire Koenig and Ioannis Patramanis and R{\"u}ther, \{Patrick L.\} and Nomawethu Hlazo and Meaghan Mackie and Mirriam Tawane and Johanna Krueger and Taurozzi, \{Alberto J.\} and Gaudry Troch{\'e} and Job Kibii and Robyn Pickering and Dickinson, \{Marc R.\} and Yonatan Sahle and Dipuo Kgotleng and Charles Musiba and Fredrick Manthi and Liam Bell and Michelle DuPlessis and Catherine Gilbert and Bernhard Zipfel and Kuderna, \{Lukas F.K.\} and Esther Lizano and Frido Welker and Pelagia Kyriakidou and J{\"u}rgen Cox and Catherine Mollereau and Caroline Tokarski and Jonathan Blackburn and Jazm{\'i}n Ramos-Madrigal and Tomas Marques-Bonet and Kirsty Penkman and Cl{\'e}ment Zanolli and Lauren Schroeder and Fernando Racimo and Olsen, \{Jesper V.\} and Ackermann, \{Rebecca R.\} and Enrico Cappellini",

year = "2025",

month = may,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1126/science.adt9539",

language = "English",

volume = "388",

pages = "969--973",

journal = "Science",

issn = "0036-8075",

publisher = "American Association for the Advancement of Science",

number = "6750",

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Madupe, PP, Koenig, C, Patramanis, I, Rüther, PL, Hlazo, N, Mackie, M, Tawane, M, Krueger, J, Taurozzi, AJ, Troché, G, Kibii, J, Pickering, R, Dickinson, MR, Sahle, Y, Kgotleng, D, Musiba, C, Manthi, F, Bell, L, DuPlessis, M, Gilbert, C, Zipfel, B, Kuderna, LFK, Lizano, E, Welker, F, Kyriakidou, P, Cox, J, Mollereau, C, Tokarski, C, Blackburn, J, Ramos-Madrigal, J, Marques-Bonet, T, Penkman, K, Zanolli, C, Schroeder, L, Racimo, F, Olsen, JV, Ackermann, RR & Cappellini, E 2025, 'Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus', Science, vol. 388, no. 6750, pp. 969-973. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adt9539

TY - JOUR

T1 - Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus

AU - Madupe, Palesa P.

AU - Koenig, Claire

AU - Patramanis, Ioannis

AU - Rüther, Patrick L.

AU - Hlazo, Nomawethu

AU - Mackie, Meaghan

AU - Tawane, Mirriam

AU - Krueger, Johanna

AU - Taurozzi, Alberto J.

AU - Troché, Gaudry

AU - Kibii, Job

AU - Pickering, Robyn

AU - Dickinson, Marc R.

AU - Sahle, Yonatan

AU - Kgotleng, Dipuo

AU - Musiba, Charles

AU - Manthi, Fredrick

AU - Bell, Liam

AU - DuPlessis, Michelle

AU - Gilbert, Catherine

AU - Zipfel, Bernhard

AU - Kuderna, Lukas F.K.

AU - Lizano, Esther

AU - Welker, Frido

AU - Kyriakidou, Pelagia

AU - Cox, Jürgen

AU - Mollereau, Catherine

AU - Tokarski, Caroline

AU - Blackburn, Jonathan

AU - Ramos-Madrigal, Jazmín

AU - Marques-Bonet, Tomas

AU - Penkman, Kirsty

AU - Zanolli, Clément

AU - Schroeder, Lauren

AU - Racimo, Fernando

AU - Olsen, Jesper V.

AU - Ackermann, Rebecca R.

AU - Cappellini, Enrico

PY - 2025/5/29

Y1 - 2025/5/29

N2 - Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four ~2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South africa. The identification of aMELy-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. a single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern african Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in african Early Pleistocene hominins.

AB - Paranthropus robustus is a morphologically well-documented Early Pleistocene hominin species from southern africa with no genetic evidence reported so far. In this work, we describe the mass spectrometric sequencing of enamel peptides from four ~2 million–year-old dental specimens attributed morphologically to P. robustus from the site of Swartkrans in South africa. The identification of aMELy-specific peptides enabled us to assign two specimens to male individuals, whereas semiquantitative mass spectrometric data analysis attributed the other two to females. a single amino acid polymorphism and the enamel-dentine junction shape variation indicated potential subgroups present within southern african Paranthropus. This study demonstrates how palaeoproteomics can help distinguish sexual dimorphism from other sources of variation in african Early Pleistocene hominins.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105007482789

U2 - 10.1126/science.adt9539

DO - 10.1126/science.adt9539

M3 - Article

C2 - 40440366

AN - SCOPUS:105007482789

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 388

SP - 969

EP - 973

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6750

ER -

Enamel proteins reveal biological sex and genetic variability in southern African Paranthropus

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