Humans bred with this mysterious species more than once, new study shows

Discussion in 'Off-Topic' started by truebluefan, Mar 15, 2018.

  1. truebluefan

    truebluefan Administrator Staff Member Administrator

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2010
    Messages:
    212,768
    Likes Received:
    821
    Trophy Points:
    113
    [​IMG]

    We rarely portray Neanderthals, our close relatives, as telegenic. Museum exhibits give them wild tangles of hair, and Hollywood reduces them to grunting unsophisticates. Their skulls suggest broad faces, tiny chins and jutting brows. But to mock Neanderthals is to mock ourselves: Homo sapiens had lots of sex with Homo neanderthalensis. Neanderthal genes supply between 1 percent and 4 percent of the genome in people from homelands on several continents, from Britain to Japan to Colombia.

    DNA from another humanlike primate, the Denisovans, lurks in modern genomes, too. A molar and a chip of pinkie bone found in a Siberian cave provide what little information we have about this species. DNA extracted from the fragments previously revealed cross-species breeding. Yet a new study in the journal Cell shows that the ancient hanky-panky did not stop in Siberia: Humans who traveled across South Asia mated with a separate group of Denisovans as well.

    "This is a breakthrough paper," said David Reich, who studies ancient DNA at Harvard University and was not involved with the study. "It's a definite third interbreeding event," one that adds to the previously known Denisovan and Neanderthal mixtures.

    read more https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/n...-mysterious-species-more-once-new-study-shows
     

Share This Page