Palaeoproteomic insights into the evolutionary history of cave bears from southwestern Europe
Dental enamel proteomics provides access to molecular information from time periods far beyond the reach of ancient DNA, offering a powerful means to investigate evolutionary dynamics in deep time. Here we present the first large-scale enamel proteomic dataset for 55 cave bears to date, analysing fossils spanning the Early to Late Pleistocene across southwestern Europe, including key specimens from Atapuerca sites. Using a non-enzymatic demineralization workflow and LC-MS/MS analysis we consistently recovered rich enamel proteomes and identified taxonomically informative peptides alongside two previously unknown amino acid variations in AMBN-249 and SERPINA1-341 positions. Phylogenetic analyses are consistent with a basal position of Ursus dolinensis within the speleoid clade, providing new molecular evidence relevant to its debated taxonomy. Together, these findings show that enamel proteomes preserve phylogenetic structure and lineage-specific molecular signals, highlighting the potential of palaeoproteomics to inform evolutionary relationships within the speleoid clade across the Pleistocene.
Authors
- Joan Daura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8364-3655)
- Esther Lizano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3304-9807)
- María Martinón‐Torres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2750-4554)
- Joào Zilhão (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5937-3061)
- Ana García‐Vázquez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9041-4148)
- Elena Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6012-6313)
- Asier Gómez‐Olivencia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7831-3902)
- Mónica Villalba de Alvarado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2589-2792)
- José Marı́a Bermúdez de Castro (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1314-3273)
- Juan Luís Arsuaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5361-2295)
- David M. Alba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8886-5580)
- Lorenzo Rook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8923-5428)
- Ricardo Fong-Zazueta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1212-7837)
- Milagros Sanz
- Amanda Gutiérrez-Carbajal (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6823-4482)
- Aurora Grandal-d’Anglade
- Tomas Marques-Bonet
- Luca Pandolfi
Institutions
- University of Pisa (IT)
- Universidade da Coruña (ES)
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ES)
- Universidad Complutense de Madrid (ES)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES)
- University of Bucharest (RO)
- University of Lisbon (PT)
- University of the Basque Country (ES)
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra (ES)
- Universidad de Alcalá (ES)
- Ayuntamiento de San Sebastián (ES)
- Biogipuzkoa Health Research Institute (ES)
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (ES)
- Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas (ES)
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva (ES)
- Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (ES)
- Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont (ES)
- University of Florence (IT)
- University College London (GB)
- Université de Montréal (CA)
- Universitat de Barcelona (ES)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Scientific Reports
- Published
- 2026-06-24
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-58093-x
- Primary Topic
- Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Leakey Foundation
- Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades
- Centres de Recerca de Catalunya
- European Commission
- Generalitat de Catalunya
- Eusko Jaurlaritza
- Junta de Castilla y León
- European Regional Development Fund
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación