Ancient tooth proteins suggest link between Homo erectus and modern humans

Overview

Updated Sep 11

Six 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth from China have yielded the oldest hominin proteins ever recovered in East Asia. The proteins carry two mutations that tie these ancient humans to a single evolutionary lineage, and one of them also appears in Denisovans, an archaic human group that interbred with modern humans.

Chinese Academy of Sciences researchers propose that mutation passed from Homo erectus into Denisovans, then into modern populations in Southeast Asia and Oceania. If correct, it is the first molecular evidence that Homo erectus contributed to the ancestry of living people. Some paleoanthropologists dispute the interpretation, arguing the teeth may actually be Denisovan.

Why it matters

If confirmed, Homo erectus contributed DNA to living humans through Denisovans — rewriting the human family tree.

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Key Indicators

Homo erectus teeth analyzed

Six teeth from three Chinese fossil sites yielded enamel proteins.

Chinese fossil sites sampled

Zhoukoudian (Peking Man), Hexian, and Sunjiadong.

400,000+

Minimum age of the fossils, in years

Oldest hominin proteome recovered in East Asia; the prior record was roughly 160,000 years.

Protein mutations identified

AMBN A253G, unique to these H. erectus, and AMBN M273V, shared with Denisovans.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

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People Involved

Fu Qiaomei

Lead researcher, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences

Leading the team that published the Nature study

John Hawks

Paleoanthropologist, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Questioned whether the teeth are actually Homo erectus

Organizations Involved

Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology

Research institute

Lead institution in the study

Chinese Academy of Sciences institute specializing in vertebrate paleontology and paleoanthropology.

National Natural Science Foundation of China

Government funding agency

Funded the research under grant number L2424324

China's main government funding agency for basic research.

Timeline

May 2026 September 2026

3 events Latest: September 10th, 2026 · 2 months ago

September 2026
CAS alert on discovery circulates widely
Latest Announcement

Chinese Academy of Sciences alert on the teeth findings reaches broader audiences via ScienceDaily and other outlets.
September 10th, 2026
July 2026
NSFC touts findings as breakthrough
Statement

Funding agency highlights the study as clarifying East Asian hominin evolution.
July 7th, 2026
May 2026
Nature publishes enamel protein study
Publication

Fu Qiaomei's team reports proteins from six Homo erectus teeth across three Chinese sites.
May 13th, 2026

Scenarios

New fossils confirm Homo erectus interbred with Denisovans

Possible Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Fu Qiaomei's research team and the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Further proteomic or genomic data from Homo erectus, Denisovan, or Middle Pleistocene specimens strengthens the case that the AMBN M273V mutation entered Denisovans through interbreeding. More fossil sites with molecular data would settle whether the variant flowed from H. erectus to Denisovans to modern Southeast Asian and Oceanian populations.

Teeth reclassified as Denisovan, not Homo erectus

Unlikely Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: John Hawks, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Hawks argues the isolated teeth may not be H. erectus at all — their shapes are not clearly H. erectus-like, and Chinese H. erectus fossils from the same period are scarce. He suggests the specimens could be Denisovan, meaning the protein variants simply reflect Denisovan variation rather than interbreeding. New fossil finds or ancient DNA from the same sites could settle the classification.

Question stays open as evidence accumulates

Uncertain Resolves by End of 2028

Discussed by: Researchers in both camps acknowledge the need for more data

Neither hypothesis gains conclusive support. The acid-etching proteomics technique is applied to more fossils, and findings from other sites could eventually show whether the mutation's presence in Denisovans reflects H. erectus interbreeding, distinct Denisovan variation, or something else. Without decisive molecular evidence, the classification question lingers.

Historical Context

3 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

March 2010

First Denisovan discovery (2010)

A team led by Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute sequenced DNA from a roughly 40,000-year-old finger bone in Siberia's Denisova Cave. The DNA belonged to an unknown hominin group, later named Denisovans, that was neither Neanderthal nor modern human.

Then

Revealed a new archaic human population that had interbred with ancestors of modern Melanesians and other Asian groups.

Now

Established that multiple archaic hominin groups interbred with modern humans, reshaping models of human migration and ancestry.

Why this matters now

Denisovans are the same group the new study proposes interbred with East Asian Homo erectus — a direct sequel to that 2010 discovery.

April 2020

Homo antecessor enamel proteome (2020)

Researchers including Frido Welker recovered dental enamel proteins from an 800,000-year-old Homo antecessor fossil at Atapuerca, Spain, the oldest hominin proteins then known. The work proved proteins can survive far beyond the reach of ancient DNA.

Then

Showed paleoproteomics could recover evolutionary information from fossils too old for DNA.

Now

Opened a new window into deep-time hominin relationships; the new China study extends that record in East Asia to at least 400,000 years.

Why this matters now

The acid-etching technique used on the Chinese teeth builds directly on this protein-recovery breakthrough.

1929

Peking Man excavations begin (1929)

Excavations at Zhoukoudian near Beijing, led by Chinese and Western researchers, uncovered skulls and teeth of Homo erectus dating from roughly 700,000 to 200,000 years ago. The site gave East Asian Homo erectus its iconic place in the human story, though the original skulls were lost during the Second World War.

Then

Established Homo erectus as a central chapter in human evolutionary history in Asia.

Now

A century of morphological debate over whether East Asian H. erectus was one lineage or several — a question the new protein data addresses directly.

Why this matters now

Zhoukoudian is one of the three sites in the new study; the same fossils that defined East Asian Homo erectus are now yielding proteomic data.