Cape Town, South Africa - June 26, 2025 Storyline: In a scientific first, a team led by African researchers has successfully extracted two-million-year-old enamel proteins from fossilized teeth discovered in South Africa, unlocking rare biological details about Paranthropus robustus, an extinct species that once coexisted with early humans. The fossils were unearthed at the Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Johannesburg known as the richest source of hominin remains in the world. Scientists applied a cutting-edge technique known as palaeoproteomics, which analyzes ancient proteins that outlast DNA, especially in warm climates like Africa's. For the first time, researchers are using molecular traces from ancient teeth to reconstruct partial genetic profiles of extinct hominins. This enables scientists to delve deeper into our evolutionary biology than ever before. That echo is especially important in Africa, where DNA rarely survives in ancient remains. The protein-based method offers a new way to peer into the deep past. The team extracted proteins from four fossilized teeth found at the Swartkrans Cave site, identifying their biological sex and other traits. The project also marks a shift in leadership in a field that Western researchers have long dominated. This time, scientists from the continent are at the forefront. Living between 2.8 and 1.2 million years ago, Paranthropus robustus followed a separate evolutionary path from early humans. With this breakthrough, African scientists are not only decoding long-lost biological information but also reclaiming their role in telling the human story at its very origin. Shotlist: Cape Town, South Africa - June 26, 2025: 1. Road leading to Cradle of Humankind, a UNESCO World Heritage Site 2. Fossils 3. Dr. Robyn Pickering (L), associate professor of geological sciences at University of Cape Town, in interview 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Robyn Pickering, associate professor of geological sciences at University of Cape Town (starting with shot 3/ending with shot 5): "The cradle of humankind is the single richest place in the whole world to find these, our early pre-human relatives, these hominin fossils. And the reason for this has to do with the geology. So our pre-human relatives would have lived all over the southern African landscape." 5. Various of Pickering talking about fossil 6. Various of Pickering with colleague working on computer, talking about skulls 7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Robyn Pickering, associate professor of geological sciences at University of Cape Town (starting with shot 6): "The study is so groundbreaking because we can understand a lot from the fossils themselves. These teeth are like these little time capsules that preserve the enamel proteins. And those proteins, of course, are made by DNA. So we get like, this little echo of the DNA from 2 million years ago." 8. Various of Dr. Rebecca Ackermann, professor of Department of Archaeology of University of Cape Town, working on computer 9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rebecca Ackermann, professor of Department of Archaeology of University of Cape Town (starting with shot 8): "We haven't had any genetic evidence for anything, really, within Africa older than 20,000 years ago. And that's why the proteins, the ancient proteins, are so important. The ancient DNA doesn't seem to, at least as far as we're aware, now survive into the deep past in an African context. But these proteins do. And so they can actually give us an insight into not even just 500,000 years ago. But in the case of this study, you know, 2 million years ago." 10. Various of Ackermann, colleagues working on computer 11. Various of Dr. Lauren Schroeder, associate professor of biological anthropology at University of Toronto, introducing study; skulls on table 12. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Lauren Schroeder, associate professor of biological anthropology at University of Toronto: "We found, that through these four teeth, some of them are male, some of them are female. So we were able to say something about sexual dimorphism. And so that is really something that we wouldn't be able to do without those proteins." 13. Various of skulls on table; scientists working on computer 14. Various of pictures showing Dr. Palesa Madupe doing research 15. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Palesa Madupe, research associate at University of Cape Town and postdoctoral fellow at University of Copenhagen (starting with shot 14/ending with shot 15): "This research is predominately done in Western labs where I truly hope that going forward, this type of research, especially when we are looking at palaeoproteomics, ancient biomolecules. It will include African scientists, South American scientists, essentially the global majority in this type of work." 16. Various of scientists in group discussions. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]