Molecular-Based Phylogeny of Mammals and Hominins From Sierra De Atapuerca
ESR5 Amanda Gutiérrez Carbajal
I have always wanted to study biology due to my love for nature, and finally, during my Bachelor´s Degree, my curiosity for anthropology turned into a passion.
After that, I decided to continue on this path. During my Master’s degree, I started to explore all the possibilities offered by molecular biology applied to anthropology´s field. I have focused on the fascinating world of the evolutionary origins of human diversity. Later, I had the opportunity to collaborate in different laboratories when I began to be interested in ancient biomolecules, which had a very important role in archaeological and paleobiological research. All this has led me to take part in this exciting project.
My objectives in this PhD is deepen in molecular anthropology and especially, in paleoproteomic world, through the most innovative technologies, as well as to continue expanding and improving my data analysis skills.
My PhD Project
Moving back to Europe, the Atapuerca sites (Burgos, Spain) have become a reference place to explore the evolution and palaeocology of the hominins that inhabited Europe during the Pleistocene. Among the ground-breaking discoveries from these localities, the finding of over 150 human fossils assigned to a new hominin species, H. antecessor, dated to ca. 860 ka represents a change of paradigm in our understanding of the first hominin settlement of the continent. Recently, the recovery and analysis of H. antecessor proteins (Welker et al., 2020 Nature) has opened a new venue of research in palaeoanthropology. The dental proteome of H. antecessor has helped to refine the phylogenetic assessment of this species, reinforcing the proposal of its close relationship with the origins of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. My PhD project aims to study the proteome of the emblematic cave bear lineage by analysin the species represented at the Early (Ursus dolinensis), Middle (U. deningeri) and Late Pleistocene (U. spelaeus) sites from Atapuerca and compare them to other ursids from Europe. The Atapuerca cave bears have been recovered from the same levels where human presence (hominins and/or lithics) was documented such as Sima del Elefante (ca. 1.2 Ma), Gran Dolina (ca. 860 ka) and Sima de los Huesos and Galería (ca. 400 ka). Once the analysis of the Ursus paleoproteins proves successful, the project will extend its scope to the hominin groups and investigate the taxonomy and phylogeny of other Eurasian Pleistocene hominins.
Planned secondments
Secondment period of 4 months at Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF) to receive training and supervision by Tomas Marques-Bonet on palaeoproteomic data generation and analysis.
CV
October 2018 - June 2019 |
Erasmus+ Experience in Centre of Molecular Anthropology for Ancient DNA Studies |University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy
October 2017 - July 2018
Master's degree in Physical and Forensic Anthropology, University of Granada, Andalucia, Spain
· Stage during 10 months in Human identification laboratory. Legal medicine, toxicology and physical anthropology Department
· Master Thesis: "Population genetic data of 20 insertion-null allele markers in the Andalusian population"
September 2012 - July 2017
Bachelor´s Degree in Biology | University of Oviedo, Asturias, Spain
· Thesis: "Dental wear in a medieval population (12th-14th century) of Castilla y León, Spain"
Publications
Saiz, M., Gutierrez-Carbajal, A., Galvez, X., Lorente, J. A., & Alvarez, J. C. Population genetic data of 20 insertion-null allele markers in the Andalusian population. International Journal of Legal Medicine volume 133, pages1397–1400(2019),
Giulia Bartoli, Amanda Gutierrez, Cristina Martinez Labarga (2019). Bioarchaeological investigation of Roman imperial population (1st-3rd centuries CE) of Passo Corese (Rieti, Italy).
Host Institution
Spain 🇪🇸
Acad. Supervisor
José-Miguel Carretero 🇪🇸
Header Image: Atapuerca´s Foundation