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DNA Analysis Suggests Humans Interbred With Denisovans

Posted by Unknown on from the star-trek-romance dept.

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.

12 of 157 comments (clear)

  1. Considering... by camperdave · · Score: 5, Funny

    Considering what I've seen on the net, it doesn't surprise me in the least that H.Sapiens has interbred with anything and everything. The only surprising element would be whether or not there were offspring.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    1. Re:Considering... by Monkey-Man2000 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      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).
    2. Re:Considering... by MightyMartian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      First of all you have to provide a scientific definition of "race". What the Victorians had was anything but a scientific definition. They had no genetic data, no real knowledge of the migration patterns out of Africa. Hell, most of the Victorian racial theorists assumed that humans arose in Eurasia, and that Africa was some sort of dead-beat dead-end where the lower races ended up.

      So, get to it. Give us a genetically meaningful definition of "race". I think you will find what most geneticists who have studied the issue have found, that if there are races; or more preferably sub-types of H. sapiens sapiens, they really do not line up very well at all with the morphological divisions that the Europeans set up. We have a much clearer picture now of how things went down when modern humans pushed out of sub-Saharan Africa. Still holes, but enough to tell us that simplistic notions like "negroid", "caucasian" and "mongoloid" do not give anything close to a reasonable picture of genetic patterns.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    3. Re:Considering... by quenda · · Score: 5, Insightful

      First of all you have to provide a scientific definition of "race".

      There are similar problems trying to define species, genus etc. DNA and other new data shows that the tree of life is more complex than we realised.
      But a lack of a single simple definiton does not mean that species or race are invalid or unuseful categories.

    4. Re:Considering... by HiThere · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.
  2. Denisovans Extinct? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Funny

    I beg to differ. The Denisovan's were our next-door neighbors, when I was in grade-school.

    --
    "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
    Never been known to fail..."
    1. Re:Denisovans Extinct? by okcdan · · Score: 4, Funny

      Kind of dating yourself there Jeremiah. I do applaud older folks who embrace technology like the interwebs though, congrats!

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      D.
    2. Re:Denisovans Extinct? by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 3, Funny

      Carbon dating myself....

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    3. Re:Denisovans Extinct? by jamstar7 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Carbon dating myself....

      Nope. Just dating yourself ;)

      Strange, he didn't mention he's from Arkansas...

      --
      Understanding the scope of the problem is the first step on the path to true panic.
  3. Alyson Hannigan by tdelaney · · Score: 3, Funny

    Alyson Hannigan is modern-day proof of homo sapiens interbreeding with Denisovans.

  4. Re:And this is news how, exactly? by WastedMeat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It makes much more sense, and is perfectly compatible with the rest of the plot, if you replace his period of muteness with a delay to learn the language. I have a suspicion this is what was originally intended but they did not want subtitles on the whole film.

  5. Denisovans are not exinct by Taco+Cowboy · · Score: 4, Informative

    Many Melanesians, Indonesians, Malays, Polynesians, Filipinos, as well as indigenous tribe on island of Taiwan, have Denisovan genes in them

    In fact, this isn't news anymore

    Back in 2010 there have been reports of similar findings. Here's one report from the BBC -

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12059564

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    Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !