Meet the ancestors: DNA reveals the face of Denisovans
The face of one of our most mysterious ancestors has been revealed after scientists used a groundbreaking technique to tease out facial features using just DNA.
Denisovans lived at the same time as early modern humans and Neanderthals, interbreeding with both before becoming extinct – meaning we still carry some of their genetic code.
But archaeologists have only found a handful of teeth, one finger bone, a piece of jaw and a section of arm bone from six individuals in Russia and China, which made reconstructing their anatomy impossible. Instead, genetics experts looked at DNA code. “We provide the first reconstruction of the skeletal anatomy of Denisovans,” said Dr Liran Carmel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. “Denisovans resembled Neanderthals, but in some traits, they resembled us, and in others they were unique.”
The Denisovans’ remains date from 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, but genetic analysis suggests their DNA was still being passed to humans as recently as 15,000 years ago.