The ancient humans have been dubbed “Denisovans” after the caves in Siberia where their remains were found. There is also evidence that this population was widespread in Eurasia. A study in Nature journal shows that Denisovans co-existed with Neanderthals and interbred with other ancestors of the human species – perhaps around 50,000 years ago.
An international group of researchers sequenced a complete genome from one of the ancient hominins (human-like creatures), based on nuclear DNA extracted from a finger bone. Professor Chris Stringer: “It’s nothing short of sensational – we didn’t know know how ancient people in China related to these other humans”. Scientists say an entirely separate type of human identified from bones in Siberia co-existed and interbred with Neanderthal, Cro Magnon, and others.
The implications of the finding have been described by Professor Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London as “nothing short of sensational”.
Scientists were able to analyse DNA from a tooth and from a finger bone excavated in the Denisova cave in southern Siberia. The individuals belong to a genetically distinct group of humans that were distantly related to Neanderthals but even more distantly related to the ancestors of Cro Magnon, universally considered the first fully "modern" human.