For millennia, our species advanced in lockstep with the Denisovans and it is hard to work out from archaeological finds why they disappeared from the planet while we now dominate it Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24933192-700-was-it-just-luck-that-our-species-survived-and-the-denisovans-didnt/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Tag: Denisovans
Did early humans in Africa interbreed with a mysterious, extinct species?
New research suggests that early humans in Africa interbred with a ghost population that likely split from the ancestors of humans and Neanderthals between 360,000 and 1.02 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/early-humans-africa-interbred-with-extinct-species…
DNA analysis of people in West Africa reveals ‘ghost’ human ancestor
Four West African populations may carry genes from an undiscovered archaic hominin that diverged from a shared ancestor of Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2233488-dna-analysis-of-people-in-west-africa-reveals-ghost-human-ancestor/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Twenty years of discoveries changing story of human evolution
Archaeological discoveries are happening faster than ever before, helping refine the human story. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/archaeological-discoveries-changing-story-of-human-evolution…
Homo erectus lived recently enough that it may have met Denisovans
Homo erectus may have survived in Indonesia until 108,000 years ago – which may have been long enough to meet a second population called the Denisovans Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2228015-homo-erectus-lived-recently-enough-that-it-may-have-met-denisovans/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
AI genome scanner says Denisovans could live until 38 years old
Artificial intelligence may be able to work out the maximum lifespans of extinct species and early humans. The technique relies on analysing specific regions of DNA that are linked to ageing Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2227290-ai-genome-scanner-says-denisovans-could-live-until-38-years-old/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Early Humans Domesticated Themselves, New Genetic Evidence Suggests
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Science Magazine: A new study — citing genetic evidence from a disorder that in some ways mirrors elements of domestication — suggests modern humans domesticated themselves after they split from their extinct relatives, Neanderthals and Denisovans, approximately 600,000 years ago. Domestication encompasses a whole suite of genetic changes that arise as a species is…
Engraved bones reveal that symbolism had ancient roots in East Asia
Denisovans might have etched line patterns on two animal bone fragments more than 100,000 years ago in what’s now northern China. Source: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/engraved-bones-reveal-symbolism-had-ancient-roots-east-asia4…
Oldest Denisovan art discovered on 100,000-year-old bone fragments
Etchings on pieces of ancient bone found in China could be the clearest evidence yet found that the mysterious Denisovans were capable of advanced cognition Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2210461-oldest-denisovan-art-discovered-on-100000-year-old-bone-fragments/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Mystery hominin had sex with ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans
A strange signal in ancient and modern human DNA suggests the ancestors of Neanderthals and Denisovans must have mated with an unknown species of human Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2206003-mystery-hominin-had-sex-with-ancestors-of-neanderthals-and-denisovans/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…