Bones Confirm Existence of Human Cousin

(NewsCore) - The existence of a human relative that roamed widely across Asia, has been confirmed by researchers through DNA analysis of 40,000-year-old bone fragments found in a cave in Siberia, a study published Wednesday in the science journal Nature revealed.

By sequencing 70 percent of the nuclear genome of the previously unknown human cousin using that piece of bone, researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology were able to determine it came from a related, but distinct type of human being.

More closely related to Neanderthals than modern humans, the analysis also revealed that the so-called “Denisovans” existed in Asia at the same time as both Neanderthals and humans and bred with humans. By comparing certain pieces of DNA with present day humans, the researchers were able to determine they bred with ancient ancestors of people now living in New Guinea.

This research confirms a fourth distinct type of human existed, all at the same time. In addition to humans and Neanderthals, the existence of a dwarf species of human was confirmed in 2004 from remains found in Indonesia.

Denisovans were believed to have existed based on fossil evidence. But this is the first confirmation of any remains proving they were a genetically distinct group.