Denisovan
extinct species of early humans (Homo) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are archaic humans in the genus Homo. They are extinct. They are either a species of Homo or a subspecies.
Denisova Cave
Location of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia
Denisovans lived in Siberia and southeast Asia[1] during the Middle to Late Pleistocene epoch, around 200,000–30,000[2] years ago.
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Discovery
Denisovan fossils were first discovered in March 2010 in Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains. Neanderthals and modern humans also lived in this cave at different times.[3][4][5]
Fossils
Scientists have identified the fossils of four distinct Denisovans from Denisova Cave. There are fossils of two young females (named Denisova 2 and Denisova 3) and two adult males (Denisova 4 and Denisova 8).[6]
Anatomy
So far, a finger bone, a toe bone and two teeth are the only Denisovan body parts that have been found and securely identified.[2]
The finger bone is from a juvenile woman. She lived about 41,000 years ago. The finger bone is broader than a human finger. This fact suggests that Denisovans were more robust than any modern humans.
In 2025, two head bones found in east Asia were identified as probably being Denisovan, based on protein and DNA analysis. One is a mandible (jaw bone) found off the coast of Taiwan.[7] The other is a skull, the "Dragon Man," (Homo longi) from Harbin, China. [8]
Based on the Dragon Man skull, Denisovans had a "prominent brow ridge with a brain as large as modern humans and Neanderthals . . . ." [9]
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DNA analysis
The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the finger bone showed it was genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.
The mtDNA from the finger bone differs from that of modern humans by 385 nucleotides in the mtDNA strand out of approximately 16,500. This is more than the difference between modern humans and Neanderthals, which is around 202 bases.[5]
Denisovans shared a common origin with Neanderthals, as proven by the nuclear genome from the finger bone specimen.[10] Modern humans, Neanderthals, and the Denisova hominin last shared a common ancestor around 1 million years ago, according to DNA analysis.[11]
The mtDNA analysis also suggested that Denisovans migrated out of Africa between a migration by Homo erectus individuals and later migrations by the ancestors of most modern humans.[11]
Denisovans and modern humans interbred multiple times.[12][13] So did Neanderthals and Denisovans.[14] Today, Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, and some Filipinos have up to 5% Denisovan DNA.[15] The finger bone specimen had about 3% to 5% of the DNA of Melanesians and Aboriginal Australians, and around 6% of Papuans deriving from Denisovans.[16][17][18]
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References
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