Scientists Unlock Ancient Secrets in Denisovan DNA

Scientists Unlock Ancient Secrets in Denisovan DNA. While Neanderthals were renowned for their robust builds and strength, the Siberian Denisovans might have been physically even more formidable. Denisovans and Neanderthals interacted and interbred in regions where their ranges overlapped, including Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Genetic research shows that Neanderthals in Europe and Denisovans in Asia shared a common ancestor and interacted genetically. This shared Denisovan-Neanderthal ancestry may explain why Denisovan genes appear in populations far beyond their known range, including in Europe.

The mystery of Denisovan fossils in Europe stems from the fact that, while genetic evidence indicates Denisovans influenced the ancestry of modern humans in Europe, no direct Denisovan fossils have been found in the region. This paradox raises intriguing questions about the Denisovans' range and interactions with other hominins, such as Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. One of the intriguing theories arising from fossil analysis in Eastern Europe and Russian is that some Eastern Neanderthals could, in fact, be Denisovans or Denisovan hybrids.

SOURCES:
Reconstructing Denisovan Anatomy Using DNA Methylation Maps
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0...
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science...


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