Denisovans

The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Denisovans are known from few physical remains and consequently, most of what is known about them comes from DNA evidence. No formal species name has been erected pending more complete fossil material. The first identification of a Denisovan individual occurred in 2010, based on mitochondrial DNA extracted from a juvenile female finger bone excavated from the Siberian Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in 2008. Nuclear DNA indicates close affinities with Neanderthals. The cave was also periodically inhabited by Neanderthals, but it is unclear whether Neanderthals and Denisovans ever cohabited in the cave. Additional specimens from Denisova Cave were subsequently identified, as was a single specimen from the Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Plateau in China.

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How Denisovans thrived on top of the world: mysterious ancient humans’ survival secrets revealed

Denisovans Survived on Tibetan Plateau until 48,000-32,000 Years Ago

How the Denisovans Survived the Ice Age

On the Trail of the Denisovans

The genetic heritage of the Denisovans may have left its mark on our mental health

Climate Shifts Orchestrated Interbreeding between Neanderthals and Denisovans, New Study Says

Immune system of modern Papuans shaped by DNA from ancient Denisovans, study finds

Who were the Denisovans?

What An Ancient Tooth Tells Us About The Denisovans

Ancient Tooth From Young Girl Discovered in Cave Unlocks Mystery of Denisovans, a Sister Species of Modern Humans

New Fossil Discovery Suggests Denisovans Lived in Laos 164,000-131,000 Years Ago

Ancient Tooth Once Belonged to The Mysterious Denisovans, Scientists Think

This unusual tooth is the first fossil evidence of Denisovans in Southeast Asia

Who Were the Denisovans?

Denisovans or Homo sapiens: Who were the first to settle (permanently) on the Tibetan Plateau?

7200-year-old DNA suggests Denisovans bred with humans on Sulawesi

One Living People Today Show More Traces of The Mysterious Denisovans Than Any Others

Researchers Decipher Blood Groups of Neanderthals and Denisovans

Ancient Siberian cave hosted Neanderthals, Denisovans, and modern humans—possibly at the same time

Denisovans may have met us in the Pacific - Different island populations also intermingled in complex ways.