The Denisovans or Denisova hominins(/dɪˈniːsəvə/di-NEE-sə-və) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 to 25 thousand years ago.[1] Denisovans are known from few physical remains; consequently, most of what is known about them comes from DNA evidence. No formal species name has been established pending more complete fossil material.
The first identification of a Denisovan individual occurred in 2010, based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) extracted from a juvenile female finger bone excavated from the Siberian Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in 2008.[2] Nuclear DNA indicates close affinities with Neanderthals. The cave was also periodically inhabited by Neanderthals, but it is unclear whether Neanderthals and Denisovans ever cohabited in the cave. Additional specimens from Denisova Cave were subsequently identified, as was a single specimen from the Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau, and Cobra Cave in the Annamite Mountains of Laos. DNA evidence suggests they had dark skin, eyes, and hair, and had a Neanderthal-like build and facial features. However, they had larger molars which are reminiscent of Middle to Late Pleistocene archaic humans and australopithecines.
Denisovans apparently interbred with modern humans, with a high percentage (roughly 5%) occurring in Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, and Filipino Negritos. This distribution suggests that there were Denisovan populations across Asia. There is also evidence of interbreeding with the Altai Neanderthal population, with about 17% of the Denisovan genome from Denisova Cave deriving from them. A first-generation hybrid nicknamed "Denny" was discovered with a Denisovan father and a Neanderthal mother. Additionally, 4% of the Denisovan genome comes from an unknown archaic human species, which diverged from modern humans over one million years ago.
^Zimmer, Carl (2 March 2024). "On the Trail of the Denisovans - DNA has shown that the extinct humans thrived around the world, from chilly Siberia to high-altitude Tibet — perhaps even in the Pacific islands". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2 March 2024. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
^Cite error: The named reference Pääbo et al. was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ( /dɪˈniːsəvə/ di-NEE-sə-və) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the...
Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as several unidentified hominins. In Europe, Asia and North Africa, interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans with modern...
about 10,000 years earlier from South Africa from c. 61,000 years ago). Denisovans, Neanderthals and related hybrids may have inhabited the Denisova Cave...
paleoanthropologists in 2018. H. longi has been suggested to be the same species as the Denisovans, though this is unconfirmable without genetic testing. H. longi is broadly...
Denisovan heritage. Also, 4–6% of modern Melanesian genetics are Denisovan. Comparisons of the human genome to the genomes of Neandertals, Denisovans...
humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us BBC News online (2010-12-22) report (with video) on study that shows that Denisovans interbred with the...
way of palaeoproteomic analysis, is the first confirmed discovery of a Denisovan fossil outside of Denisova Cave. This fossil discovery shows that archaic...
again 65,000 years ago. Neanderthals also appear to have interbred with Denisovans, a different group of archaic humans, in Siberia. Around 1–4% of genomes...
of New Guinea share 4%–7% of their genome with the Denisovans, indicating this exchange. Denisovan introgressions may have influenced the immune system...
the first confirmed discovery of a Denisovan fossil outside of Denisova Cave, and the most complete confirmed Denisovan fossil. This fossil discovery shows...
oldest Denisovan specimen lived 195–122,700 years ago. Fossils of Denny, an archaic human hybrid that was half Neanderthal and half Denisovan, and lived...
displaced by later waves of migration. Some Philippine Negritos have a Denisovan admixture in their genome. Ethnic Filipinos generally belong to several...
evidence that Aboriginal peoples carry some genes associated with the Denisovans (a species of human related to but distinct from Neanderthals) of Asia;...
remains poorly done. This has led to using common names ("Neanderthal" and "Denisovan"), even in scientific papers, to avoid trinomial names or the ambiguity...
Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis; 430–40 ka), H. rhodesiensis (300–125 ka) and Denisovans (H. denisova; 285–52 ka), Most archaic humans had a brain size averaging...
which lived around 500,000 years ago and was the likely ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals as well as modern humans. Early hominids had likely crossed...
since 2010 refined the picture of interbreeding between Neanderthals, Denisovans, and anatomically modern humans. Interbreeding appears asymmetrically...
New Guinea share 4%–7% of their genome with the Denisovans, indicating this exchange. The Denisovans are considered cousin to the Neanderthals. Both groups...
Papuan and Mamanwa peoples carry some of the alleles associated with the Denisovan peoples of Asia, (not found amongst populations in mainland Asia) suggesting...
into Philippine Negritos from Denisovans. The Ayta Magbukon in particular were found to possess the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world (between...
Southeast Asian populations indicates the widespread dispersal of the Denisovans (a species currently recognisable only by their genetic signature) across...
Asian contemporaries represent these enigmatic "Denisovans", but this is impossible to confirm as Denisovans are only identifiable from DNA instead of any...
branched off (and subsequently had a unique episode of interbreeding with Denisovans); and the third, involving the ancestors of East Asians only. While interbreeding...
to be the fossil of a H. erectus, an archaic H. sapiens or possibly a Denisovan. The fossil was recovered sometime before 2008 by fishermen working in...
Panninge individual branching off from the Near Oceanian clade after the Denisovan gene flow, although with the most supported topology indicating around...
earth to retain an ice age fauna. The Altai mountains were home to the Denisovan branch of hominids who were contemporaries of Neanderthals and of Homo...
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