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Denisovan
extinct species of early humans (Homo) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are archaic humans in the genus Homo. They are either an extinct species or subspecies.
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They were first discovered in March 2010 in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in Siberia. This cave that has also been lived in by Neanderthals and modern humans.[1][2][3]
A finger bone fragment of a juvenile female was discovered. She lived about 41,000 years ago, with about 3% to 5% of the DNA of Melanesians and Aboriginal Australians and around 6% in Papuans deriving from Denisovans.[4][5][6]
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the finger bone showed it was genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans. The nuclear genome from this specimen suggested that Denisovans shared a common origin with Neanderthals.[7]
DNA analysis has indicated that modern humans, Neanderthals, and the Denisova hominin last shared a common ancestor around 1 million years ago.[8]
The mtDNA analysis also suggested that this species was the result of a migration out of Africa that came between a migration by Homo erectus individuals and later ones by some ancestors of most modern humans.[8]