Denisovans were genetically identified in 2010 from a finger bone at Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Russia; a toe bone from the same cave was found that year. Their remains include a jaw from the Tibetan Plateau. Aboriginal Australians, Papuans and some Southeast Asian populations carry Denisovan DNA. Most non-African populations carry about 1–2% Neanderthal DNA, up to roughly 4% in some groups, reflecting several episodes of interbreeding. Homo floresiensis lived in Indonesia, Homo luzonensis in the Philippines, and Homo naledi was discovered in South Africa in 2013. Back-migration carried some Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry into Africa. “Ghost” lineages are inferred from genetic signals without diagnostic fossils.
Denisovans and Neanderthals interbred with Homo sapiens; other hominins add context
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Key facts
- Denisovans were genetically identified in 2010 from a finger bone at Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia, Russia; a toe bone from the same cave was also found in 2010.
- Denisovan remains are known from Siberia and the Tibetan Plateau, while Denisovan ancestry occurs in parts of Southeast Asia and Oceania.
- Aboriginal Australians, Papuans, and some Southeast Asian populations carry Denisovan DNA.
- Most non-African populations carry roughly 1–2% Neanderthal DNA, rising to about 4% in some groups, reflecting several admixture events, including one around 50,000–60,000 years ago.
- Homo floresiensis was found in Indonesia, Homo luzonensis in the Philippines, and Homo naledi was discovered in South Africa in 2013.
- Back-migration introduced some Neanderthal and Denisovan ancestry into African populations.
- Ghost lineages are inferred from genetic signatures without diagnostic physical remains.
Sources
Fossil finger bone yields genome of a previously unknown human ...news.ucsc.edu
Found in a Siberian cave. The finger bone was found in 2008 by Russian scientists in Denisova Cave, an archaeological site in southern Siberia.
Denisova Cave | School of Archaeologyarch.ox.ac.uk
Denisova cave first came to worldwide attention in 2010, with the publication of the genome obtained from the fingerbone of a girl belonging to a group of ...
The Finger Bone That Changed Everything - Anthropology.netanthropology.net
In 2010, researchers extracted the entire nuclear genome from the Denisova finger. ... an ancient finger bone found in Denisova Cave. DNA ...
The Denisova Hominin, a Third Kind of Human - History of Informationhistoryofinformation.com
On March 24, 2010 scientists announced the discovery of a finger bone Offsite Link fragment of an eight year old girl who lived about 41,000 years ago ...
Fossilised finger points to previously unknown group of human ...theguardian.com
'Denisovans' shared Asia with Neanderthals and modern humans 30,000 years ago, DNA analysis of the finger shows.
Denisova Caveen.wikipedia.org
In 2010, a toe bone was discovered in the cave, in layer 11.4 of the East Gallery, and therefore contemporary with the Denisovan finger bone.
From a tiny bone, clues to a new humanbroadinstitute.org
Denisova Cave, located in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia, when they discovered a small finger bone at least 30,000 years old. The team ...
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