New findings reveal another extinct species of humans that have interbred with modern humans as this new study also shows how this newly discovered breed is also apparently more genetically diverse than the Neanderthals.

Scientists uncovered ancient human remains that included a finger bone and some teeth in the cave of Denisova located in the Altai mountains of Siberia, belonging to lost ancestors known as the Denisovans. DNA were extracted from the fossils as they revealed that they once belonged to a young girl, possessing same Neanderthal origins yet also has unique DNA, different from Neanderthals. 

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According to co-author of the study Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, this ancient hominin population is more genetically diverse that the Neanderthals however, not as diverse compared to modern humans.

Scientists acquired important data from genetic data analysis from this finger bone alone, where it revealed that the Denisovan DNA actually contributed to at least five percent of their DNA to the modern day human genome especially those from Oceania and about 0.2 percent to Native Americans along with Asians. 

The Denisovan DNA is also pivotal to the contribution of some of the adaptive traits of modern humans. Pääbo adds that in Tibet, these ancient group of humans used to dwell in high altitudes with little oxygen, as observed in the air at the Denisovans.

Apart from this finger bone, scientists also examined and analyzed two molars that were also recovered from the cave, where they had distinct characteristics, showing how Neanderthals were different from them, also comparing them to modern humans. The teeth were larger and lack certain raised areas on their crowns. 

Researchers further analyzed and examined the teeth where it revealed DNA from one of the molars that it had fewer mutations than the other molar and the finger bone. This suggests that this molar is about 60,000 years older than the other two specimens, where this molar and the other two specimens show a distinct evolutionary change.

This new study offers new insight about the Denisovans who were thriving in the Altai mountains for a long time and while the Denisovans were not as genetically diverse as modern man, they were more genetically diverse than Neanderthals.

This new study is published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

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