Word: denisova
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...says that because the Denisova hominin is assumed to be human, it's possible that there are many other unknown hominin fossils waiting to be discovered. He says paleontologists will continue to scour for remnants in Siberia and other northern regions, where cold weather helps preserve ancient DNA. Most early hominin fossils are from equatorial and tropical regions, where conditions for DNA survival are poor (indeed, although fossil records suggest a distinct hominin species, Homo floresiensis, co-existed with humans in Indonesia, genetic confirmation has proved elusive). (See the top 10 animal stories...
...Tattersall of the Department of Physical Anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History, who was not involved in the research, calls the Denisova hominin a "significant addition" to the emerging picture of our past - one we now know we shared with a number of other hominin species. "We are the only hominin around today, so we tend to think that's how it's always been. But the evidence is accumulating that the human evolutionary tree is quite luxuriantly branching. There were multiple species that competed in the evolutionary arena, rather than a single lineage that was honed from...
Indeed, the discovery and genetic mapping of the Denisova hominin may also shed further light on the mystery as to why our species thrived while so many of our close genetic relatives succumbed to extinction. "We wish to find out which genes have changed since we split from these other human forms. Those changes are what makes us human - it's the biological reason for the great success of our species," says Krause. (See how to live 100 years...
...fossils of early modern humans have been discovered alongside artifacts - such as bracelets and necklaces - that indicate they had culture. And Krause says the location of the Denisova hominin - among artifacts assumed to be human - raises the possibility that the Denisova hominin was similarly advanced. "The fossil was found with modern technology and ornaments, including a very beautiful bracelet," he says. "It's a big step to argue that the Denisova hominin created them - if you find a Coca-Cola bottle near a mummy's tomb, you don't assume that the mummy invented Coke. But the coincidence is tantalizing...
Krause says he does not spend much time engaged in such speculation. At the moment, he and his colleagues are preoccupied with sequencing the Denisova hominin's nuclear genome. Using high-tech lab equipment and supercomputers, they are trying to make sense of this strange and startling discovery, in much the same way that their ancestors might have done tens of thousands of years ago, when they peered out into a windswept Siberian clearing and saw creatures at once familiar and foreign moving through the snow...