DNA reveals mysterious human cousin with huge teeth

A new genetic analysis suggests that the recently discovered Denisovans lived in Eurasia for millennia.

            The analysis of a fossil tooth from Siberia reveals that a mysterious people known as Denisovans, discovered a mere five years ago, persisted for tens of thousands of years alongside modern humans and Neanderthals.

            The find underscores that our Homo sapiens ancestors shared the Eurasian continent with other human-like populations. So this new study marks an important step in scientists’ understanding of where Denisovans fit in the human family tree.

            In 2010, teams of geneticists and anthropologists announced strange DNA sequences recovered from a finger bone and molar found in the remote Denisova cave, in Siberia’s Altai Mountains.

            The DNA shows that Denisovans left their mark on modern humans, contributing about five percent of the genome of modern Melanesians, who live in Papua New Guinea and other parts of the Pacific.

                The teeth found in the cave were bigger and stronger than the ones known from Neanderthals and humans. Although it is difficult to say what large-toothed Denisovans would have looked like but it is almost clear that those large teeth with massive roots would probably require massive jaws.

                This is a very important research, because it reveals that human modern genome is composed (even if it is only a 5%) of Denisonvan DNA. Besides, it can change the way we think about the human family tree. 

Read more at: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/11/151116-denisovan-human-anthropology-ancient-dna/