{"id":759447,"date":"2026-06-25T13:49:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759447\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:49:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T13:49:10","slug":"protein-analysis-of-homo-naledi-fossils-finds-zero-male-markers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/759447\/","title":{"rendered":"Protein analysis of Homo naledi fossils finds zero male markers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"National<\/a>Picture Supplied.<\/p>\n

New analysis of the fossils reveals hints to the first known example of a sex-specific burial site from a non-human species.<\/p>\n

An international team of researchers successfully extracted and analysed the first-ever protein fragments from fossil teeth of Homo naledi, an extinct human relative found in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, South Africa.<\/p>\n

In a study published today in Cell, scientists from the University of Copenhagen, the University of the Witwatersrand, the National Geographic Society\u2019s Rising Star project and 13 collaborating global institutions found no signs of any biological males within the group of Homo naledi remains tested, offering intriguing insights into potential cultural behaviours that may have existed before Homo sapiens.<\/p>\n

The analysis examined 23 teeth representing at least 20 Homo naledi individuals. To determine the biological sex of each individual, researchers looked for Amelogenin-Y \u2013 a protein that is uniquely coded onto the male Y chromosome \u2013 within the tooth enamel. <\/p>\n

Thorough examination of ancient proteins from the enamel of 23 Homo naledi teeth revealed a complete absence of the marker, indicating a strong likelihood that each individual discovered in the Rising Star Cave system was biologically female. Among hominins, like all other mammals, females typically exhibit two X chromosomes and males carry an X and a Y chromosome. Because only males have a Y chromosome, finding amelogenin-Y tells researchers with certainty that the tooth belonged to a male.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike those found in other remains like bone fragments, proteins in tooth enamel are preserved because dental enamel \u2013 the hardest tissue in the human body \u2013 shields proteins from environmental contamination even for millions of years. This makes them ideal carriers of genetic information from deep time,\u201d said South African-born scientist and lead study author Palesa Madupe. <\/p>\n

Madupe is a molecular scientist who was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Copenhagen at the time of the study and currently a researcher at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. \u201cOur study helps resolve the long-standing mystery of why Homo naledi lacked significant variation; it\u2019s probably because they could have all belonged to one sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the largest extinct hominin population to ever be examined using ancient protein analysis, the findings raise new questions about the biology, evolution, culture, and potential mortuary practices of Homo naledi.<\/p>\n

When the Wits University team first discovered and excavated the Homo naledi remains in 2013, they noticed something puzzling \u2014 the adult fossils found in the Dinaledi Chamber were all very similar. The adult fossils had very little variation in size, shape, and other physical traits. Typically, some variation is expected among hominins, especially among males and females, otherwise known as sexual dimorphism.<\/p>\n

To investigate this anomaly, researchers applied a minimally destructive acid etching technique to carefully extract fragments of ancient proteins \u2014 called peptides \u2014 from the remains. The peptide samples were then analyzed with a mass spectrometer to identify all of the proteins present in the remains, including amelogenin \u2014 a process called paleoproteomic analysis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt appears that the most likely explanation for the observed absence of an Amelogenin-Y marker in these individuals is that we are seeing a sex-bias in mortuary practice \u2014 a practice until now only observed in contemporary human cultures,\u201d said National Geographic Explorer in Residence and corresponding author of the study Lee Berger<\/a>, who is still and Honorary Professor at Wits University. \u201cThe chance of having sampled twenty individuals and they are all from one sex, is quite literally one in a million.\u201d<\/p>\n

First described<\/a> by Berger and colleagues from the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system, Homo naledi is an extinct hominin species with a combination of human-like and pre-human-like features that lived between 335,000 and 241,000 years ago. Fueled by a curiosity that reaches deep into millennia-old cave systems, an all-female team of \u201cunderground astronauts\u201d in 2013 excavated more than 1,500 fossils and 150 hominin teeth \u2014 the largest ever discovered on the continent of Africa \u2014 which at the time represented at least 15 individuals. Later, this number grew as more fossils were found by the Rising Star team in this and other areas of the cave. Wits University is the custodian of the Homo naledi fossils.<\/p>\n

The results of this study build upon previous insights from the Rising Star team about Homo naledi\u2019s purported behavior. In 2023, the Rising Star team discovered evidence of possible Homo naledi fire, symbols, and burials<\/a> and in 2025, the team published additional evidence to support their findings of intentional burial practices and the creation of rock engravings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many past human societies with sex-specific burial practices, but we\u2019ve found very little hard evidence of this from the earliest burial sites of modern humans or Neanderthals,\u201d said John Hawks, a co-author of the paper and member of the Rising Star team. \u201cThese remains of Homo naledi are older than any known Neanderthal or modern human burial site, and it\u2019s remarkable to see that they may all be female.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the research team acknowledges in this work that there could be another reason for the absence of male markers in the tested Homo naledi remains: the Amelogenin-Y gene may have mutated or have been deleted over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the deletion of the entire AMELY gene has already been observed in extant male humans and even in the DNA of a Neanderthal male, it\u2019s very unlikely that this would be the case among even half of the 20 individuals we studied or for an entire population,\u201d explained Enrico Cappellini, professor of paleoproteomics at the Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, where the analytical work took place, and senior and corresponding author of the study. <\/p>\n

\u201cEither scenario, namely the absence of H. naledi males in the Rising Star cave system or a systematic deletion of their AMELY gene, is fascinating and would have deep implications for a better understanding of the biology and evolution of this species.\u201d<\/p>\n

This finding is particularly significant because Homo naledi is anatomically distinct from modern humans, possessing a brain size only slightly larger than that of a chimpanzee, the authors said. Despite this smaller cranial capacity, a growing body of research suggests the species appears to have engaged in practices once considered uniquely human.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeking to understand where we come from is truly core to the human experience. These new findings are amazing because they\u2019re challenging us to rethink what we thought we knew about our place in human history,\u201d said Ian Miller, chief science and innovation officer at the National Geographic Society. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I love about the Rising Star team is their restless curiosity. They keep pushing the boundaries of paleoanthropology, and reminding us that the biggest discoveries are still yet to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

The paper, \u201cProteomic analysis of dental enamel from 20 Homo naledi individuals shows no male markers,\u201d was published June 24, 2026 in the journal Cell.<\/p>\n

Learn more about Berger\u2019s work, the discovery of Homo naledi and the Rising Star program in the new National Geographic Museum of Exploration, opening in Washington D.C. on Friday, 26 June 2026.<\/p>\n

This story first appeared on the Wits University Website.<\/p>\n

\u00a9Higher Education Media Services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Picture Supplied. New analysis of the fossils reveals hints to the first known example of a sex-specific burial…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":759448,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[64,63,128],"class_list":["post-759447","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759447","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=759447"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/759447\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/759448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=759447"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=759447"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=759447"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}