Slashdot Mirror
DNA Analysis Suggests Humans Interbred With Denisovans
ananyo writes "Tens of thousands of years ago modern humans crossed paths with the group of hominins known as the Neandertals. Researchers now think they also met another, less-known group called the Denisovans. The only trace that we have found, however, is a single finger bone and two teeth, but those fragments have been enough to cradle wisps of Denisovan DNA across thousands of years inside a Siberian cave. Now a team of scientists has been able to reconstruct their entire genome from these meager fragments. The analysis supports the idea that Neandertals and Denisovans were more closely related to one another than either was to modern humans and also suggests new ways that early humans may have spread across the globe."
wombatmobile linked to an article that focuses on the new techniques used to sequence the DNA of the bone fragments in question.
This probably won't be popular because it's not especially PC, but it's starting to actually appear that the 3 classical types of human as defined by 19th century Racial Science are becoming more scientifically delineated. Or at least things are breaking down broadly in similar ways. After-all, at some point there was a gross separation between Asians, Africans, Europeans, and the rest (that are usually a mix of 1+ of the others).
One of the authors of this study or the others I read was talking about how he believed for a long time that Neandarthals are a sub-species of homo sapiens, while from this un-mixed homo sapiens are more closely related to the original and modern-day Africans, and then this Denisovans are related to more eastern groups including Pacific Islanders, Aboriginal Australian, and (maybe) what was classically related to Mongoloids?
Still homo sapiens from a breeding standpoint but noticeably distinct even if it's 0.1-0.5% of the DNA. Doesn't mean anyone is better than others but we're phenotypically different if only in body morphology.
This post was generated by a Cadre of Uber Monkeys for Monkey-Man2000 (603495).
Provide us with a scientific definition of "language". Or else we'll have to give up on simplistic notions like English, German and French as well.
That's not actually unlikely. And the same reasoning would show why Neanderthal mitochondria don't show up in modern humans.
In particular, it appears (or has appeared to a few anthropoligists several years ago) that Neanderthal women had a smaller birth canal that Cro-Magnon women, so if a normal Cro-Magnon infant were to attempt to be born to a Neanderthal woman, there would likely be a brith problem fatal to both the mother and the child. Going the other way around, however, should work. Neanderthal heads were slimmer than Cro-Magnon heads. And since mitochondria are only inherited along the maternal line, that would explain the absence of Neanderthal mitochondria in modern humans.
This may not be quite what you meant, but it's the way I think it happened.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.