Ancient finger bone indicates new type of human
DEC 23, 2010
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.024929
Science : By sequencing the nuclear genome of an ancient finger bone, researchers have confirmed the discovery of a new type of human that lived in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia more than 30 000 years ago. The long-lost group of people, which researchers are calling “Denisovans” after the Denisova cave in which the bone was found, lived at roughly the same time modern humans and Neandertals were in the region, and it appears to be more closely related to Neandertals than us. Although the Denisovans went extinct, they were widespread enough in Asia to interbreed with modern humans before they disappeared, writes Science‘s Ann Gibbons.
© 2010 American Institute of Physics
