Denisovites

Anatomy

DNA evidence suggests that Denisovans had dark skin, eyes and hair, as well as physique and facial features, like Neanderthals.

Facial reconstruction was created by comparing the methylation of individual genetic loci associated with the structure of the face. This analysis showed that Denisovans, like Neanderthals, had a long, wide and prominent face; a large nose; a sloping forehead; protruding jaw; elongated and flattened skull; wide chest and hips.

Also, the Denisovans had larger molars resembling the middle and late archaic human forms and Australopithecus.

The third molar is beyond variations of any Homo species except H. habilis and H. rudolfensis, and is more similar to Australopithecus teeth. The second molar is larger than that of modern humans and Neanderthals, and looks more like those of "H. erectus" and "H. habilis." Like Neanderthals, Denisovans had a gap behind their molars and their front teeth were flat. Denisovans had a longer dentition than Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans.

History

804 thousand hp: Heidelberg man - a common ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals - separated from the ancestors of Homo sapiens

The common ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals separated in Africa from the ancestors of Homo sapiens about 804 thousand years ago.

Heidelberg man is generally believed to have been a direct ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals. For details, see Palaeolithic in Spain.

640,000 hp: Evolutionary divergence between Denisovans and Neanderthals

Denisovans are a sister group of Neanderthals and their evolutionary divergence occurred about 640 thousand liters. n

400 thousand hp

Denisovans migrate from Africa to the east, while Neanderthals migrate to Europe

Denisovans are considered relatives of Neanderthals. Both groups are thought to have migrated from Africa, with Neanderthals travelling to Europe and Denisovans heading east about 400,000 years ago. This is based on genetic evidence derived from remains found in Siberia. Evidence from Melanesia suggests that their territory extended into Southeast Asia.

Heidelberg man's mtDNA sequence from Spain's Sima de los Uesos cave closer to Denisovan sequence

Main article: Paleolithic in Spain

The 400,000-year-old mtDNA sequence from the femur of "H. heidelbergensis" from Cima Sima de los Huesos in Spain appeared to be similar to those of Neanderthals and Denisovans, but closer to Denisovans, and the authors suggested that this mtDNA sequence was an archaic sequence that was subsequently lost in Neanderthals due to replacement with a sequence related to modern humans.

245 thousand hp: Denisovtsy in Denisova Cave in Altai Territory

Main article: Paleolithic in Russia

The most famous find is probably from Denisova Cave, where, in addition to Neanderthals, Denisovans were also found. Three teeth and one phalanx of the girl were found there, from which DNA was isolated, which turned out to be neither human nor Neanderthal, but Denisov.

Denisova 4, molar

But there are Neanderthals in the same place, in Denisova Cave, and they are in other points of Altai.

In 2019, Greek archaeologist Katerina Duca and her colleagues conducted a radiocarbon analysis of samples from Denisova Cave and calculated that Denisova 2 (the oldest specimen) lived 195 000-122 700 years ago.

Older Denisovan DNA collected from sediments in the East Hall dates back 217,000 years. Judging by artifacts also found in the cave, hominid settlement (most likely by Denisovans) began 287±41 or 203±14 thousand years ago. Neanderthals were also present here 193±12 thousand years ago and 97±11 thousand years ago, possibly at the same time as Denisovans.

198 thousand years: Children of Denisovans created the oldest cave painting in the world in the Tibetan Highlands

In 1998, five prints of children's hands and footprints were found in a travertine block near the Kesang hot springs in Tibet. In 2021, their age was determined between 226-169 thousand years using uranium decay dating.

This is the oldest evidence of human settlement of the Tibetan Highlands, and since the lower jaw of Xiahe is the oldest human fossil in the region (although younger than the Kesang prints), they may have been made by Denisovan children. The prints were applied to a small area, and all of them hardly overlap each other, so apparently they tried to make new prints in unused areas. If we consider them as works of art, then these are the oldest known examples of rock painting. Similar hand stencils and prints are not found in archaeological records until about 40,000 years ago.

The haplotype EPAS1 in modern Tibetans, which allows them to live at high altitudes in low oxygen conditions, probably went to them from the Denisovans.

148 thousand hp: Denisovtsy in Laos

Paleoanthropologists first discovered the remains of a Denisovan outside Altai and Tibet

In 2022, it became known that paleoanthropologists first discovered the remains of a Denisovan outside the Denisova and Baishia-Karst caves in the Tibetan Highlands. The find is a tooth of a girl who lived about 131-164 thousand years ago. Molar was found during excavations in a Lao cave, and his affiliation with the Denisovans was first determined on the basis of morphology. This is reported in an article published in the journal Nature Communications.

90 thousand hp: Denny is the daughter of a Neanderthal and Denisovan in the Denisova Cave in Altai

In 2018, scientists recorded the fact of mixing Denisovans and Neanderthals. This was reported by the discovery of a small fragment of the bone of the Denny hybrid - the 13-year-old daughter of a Neanderthal and Denisovan with a date of about 90 thousand years. Previously, it was believed that these were different species of people, but then they would not be able to reproduce. Then they began to be called subspecies. For details, see Paleolithic in Russia.

29,900 hp: Crossing the ancestors of New Guineans with Denisovans

In 2019, geneticist Guy Jacobs and colleagues revealed that introgression into the gene pool of modern people from whom New Guineans descended, with a population of Denisovans, took place about 29,900 years ago.

2010: Decoding the genome of Denisovans and recognizing them as a separate subspecies of humans

In 2010, it became known that paleogenetics read the ancient genome of an individual from Denisova Cave, which turned out to be different from both people of the modern anatomical type (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals (H. neanderthalensis). Scientists made this discovery by examining the nail phalanx of the pinkie Denisov-3, which belonged to a teenager aged 13-16 years old, who lived about 76.2-51.6 thousand years ago.

Ancestors of Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, Filipino Negritos and Icelanders interbred with Denisovan people

A high percentage (approximately 5%) of Denisovan genes occur in modern Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, and Filipino Negritos.

This distribution suggests that Denisovan populations existed throughout Asia.

There is also evidence of Denisovan interbreeding with the Altai Neanderthal population: about 17% of the Denisovan genome from Denisova Cave comes from them.

Icelanders also have abnormally high levels of Denisovan DNA, which could have been inherited from the Denisovan population living far west of the Altai Mountains.

See also

• Neanderthal men
• Paleolithic in Russia
• Paleolithic in Spain