As a specie , the ancient humanity bonk as the Denisovans are an enigma . Known only from a few fragments of bone discovered in 2008 , no entire fogy clay of them be . We get it on that they lived at least around 50,000 year ago , that they interacted with both advanced humanity and Neanderthals , and that ’s about it . Butthe new discoveryof more Denisovan remains – a exclusive molar tooth – is shedding some more light on these mysterious peoples . Perhaps most notably , it wrick out they were more genetically divers than the widely - ranging Neanderthals .
Found in the Denisova cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia , previously all that we knew about these orphic ancient humans was based on two bit of skeleton in the closet : one tooth and one fragment from the little digit of a girl . From these , scientists were capable to meet enough deoxyribonucleic acid to recognize these people as a species disjoined from both Neanderthals and us , Homo sapiens . This in itself was extraordinary , that scientists were capable to name an entirely new species of homo despite only take a flyspeck amount of fossil grounds .
But late excavations have unveiled a second tooth , and with it a whole host of novel insights into the species , published in theProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . By comparing the genomes of the recent and elderly finds , the researchers were capable to draw back when the owner of the new tooth was last alert . What they discovered was totally unexpected . The new tooth turned out to be around 60,000 years older than the 2008 detect , advise that either the Denisovans lived in the cave for M of genesis , or that they come to the part at least double .
This has completely vary the perceptions of what these ancient peoples were like . The environment in Siberia , especially during winter , is not particularly absolvitory , and so theresearchers suggestthat in lodge to be capable to populate and thrive here , the Denisovans must have been somewhat resilient . This adds more evidence to the theory that these mysterious peoples were far more successful and widespread than antecedently imagined , as modern daytime Australian aborigines , New Guineans and Polynesians all arrest around one per centum Denisovan DNA .
The comparing between the few fogey remains of the specie has also cast up another secret . It release out that these three individual who live on in or around the same cave in Siberia over a menstruation of 60,000 years show more transmitted diversity than all Neanderthals who go from Spain to the Altai Mountains . It also appears that the Denisovans were cross not just with our own ancient antecedent , as record in modern day aborigine DNA , but also Neanderthals who were know on the edge of their own range .
But the whodunit run short deeper still . In this raw specimen , the researcher have establish portions of desoxyribonucleic acid that matches neither the Denisovans , Homo sapiensnor Neanderthals . This , the researchers take , hint at the possibility that there was yet another so far nameless species of ancient homo sharing the landscape painting with the others . If true , this would be an astounding breakthrough , and presently museum in China are now testing their human fossils to see if they actually have either Denisovan or potentially new ancient human remains .
Main image : loronet / Flickr CC BY - NC - ND 2.0
