Des protéines dentaires anciennes suggèrent un croisement entre Homo erectus et les Dénisoviens

13 mai 2026

Rapporté par l'IA

Des chercheurs ont extrait des protéines significatives de six dents supposées appartenir à Homo erectus, offrant de nouveaux indices moléculaires sur les relations de cette espèce avec d'autres hominidés anciens. Les résultats indiquent un possible croisement avec les Dénisoviens en Asie il y a environ 400 000 ans.

Une équipe dirigée par Qiaomei Fu, de l'Institut de paléontologie des vertébrés et de paléoanthropologie de Pékin, a analysé les dents provenant de sites en Chine, notamment Zhoukoudian, Hexian et Sunjiadong. Les protéines provenaient de l'émail dentaire et ont révélé deux variantes clés. L'une semble propre à Homo erectus, tandis que l'autre correspond à des séquences précédemment identifiées chez les Dénisoviens.

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