Denisovan

The Denisova Cave, where the "X woman" was found
Denisova Cave is located in Russia
Denisova Cave
Denisova Cave
Location of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains of Siberia

The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are archaic humans in the genus Homo. They are extinct. They are either a species of Homo or a subspecies.

Denisovans lived in Siberia and southeast Asia during the Middle to Late Pleistocene epoch, around 200,000–30,000 years ago.

Discovery

Denisovan fossils were first discovered in March 2010 in Denisova Cave in Siberia's Altai Mountains. Neanderthals and modern humans also lived in this cave at different times.

Fossils

This molar is one of only a few Denisovan body parts ever identified

Scientists have identified the fossils of four distinct Denisovans from Denisova Cave. There are fossils of two young females (named Denisova 2 and Denisova 3) and two adult males (Denisova 4 and Denisova 8).

Anatomy

So far, a finger bone, a toe bone and two teeth are the only Denisovan body parts that have been found and securely identified. 

The finger bone is from a juvenile woman. She lived about 41,000 years ago. The finger bone is broader than a human finger.  This fact suggests that Denisovans were more robust than any modern humans.

In 2025, two head bones found in east Asia were identified as probably being Denisovan, based on protein and DNA analysis. One is a mandible (jaw bone) found off the coast of Taiwan. The other is a skull, the "Dragon Man," (Homo longi) from Harbin, China.

Based on the Dragon Man skull, Denisovans had a "prominent brow ridge with a brain as large as modern humans and Neanderthals . . . ."

DNA analysis

The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of the finger bone showed it was genetically distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.

The mtDNA from the finger bone differs from that of modern humans by 385 nucleotides in the mtDNA strand out of approximately 16,500. This is more than the difference between modern humans and Neanderthals, which is around 202 bases.

Denisovans shared a common origin with Neanderthals, as proven by the nuclear genome from the finger bone specimen. Modern humans, Neanderthals, and the Denisova hominin last shared a common ancestor around 1 million years ago, according to DNA analysis.

The mtDNA analysis also suggested that Denisovans migrated out of Africa between a migration by Homo erectus individuals and later migrations by the ancestors of most modern humans.

Denisovans and modern humans interbred multiple times. So did Neanderthals and Denisovans. Today, Melanesians, Aboriginal Australians, and some Filipinos have up to 5% Denisovan DNA. The finger bone specimen had about 3% to 5% of the DNA of Melanesians and Aboriginal Australians, and around 6% of Papuans deriving from Denisovans.

References

  1. ↑ "Ancient DNA puts a face on the mysterious Denisovans, extinct cousins of Neanderthals". www.science.org. Retrieved 2025-12-12.
  2. 1 2 Gibbons, Ann (2019-03-29). "Our mysterious cousins—the Denisovans—may have mated with modern humans as recently as 15,000 years ago". Science. doi:10.1126/science.aax5054. ISSN 0036-8075.
  3. ↑ David Leveille (2012). "Scientists map an extinct Denisovan girl's genome". The World. PRI. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  4. ↑ Brown, David (2010), "DNA from bone shows new human forerunner, and raises array of questions", Washington Post
  5. 1 2 Krause, Johannes; et al. (2010), "The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia", Nature, 464 (7290): 894–97, Bibcode:2010Natur.464..894K, doi:10.1038/nature08976, PMC 10152974, PMID 20336068, S2CID 4415601
  6. ↑ Slon, Viviane et al 2017. A fourth Denisovan individual. Science Advances 3 (7): e1700186. doi:10.1126/sciadv.1700186. PMC 5501502. PMID 28695206.
  7. ↑ Hunt, Katie (2025-04-10). "Jawbone dredged up from the seafloor expands the range of a mysterious species of ancient human". CNN. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
  8. ↑ Hunt, Katie (2025-06-18). "'Dragon Man' DNA revelation puts a face to a mysterious group of ancient humans". CNN. Retrieved 2025-06-21.
  9. ↑ magazine, Dyani Lewis, Nature. "First Near-Complete Denisovan Skull Reveals What This Ancient Human Cousin Looked Like". Scientific American. Retrieved 2025-06-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. ↑ Carl Zimmer (22 December 2010). "Denisovans Were Neanderthals' Cousins, DNA Analysis Reveals". NYTimes.com. Retrieved 22 December 2010..
  11. 1 2 Katsnelson, Alla 2010. New hominin found via mtDNA. The Scientist (24.03.10)
  12. ↑ Johnson, Meredith (2024-12-10). "Their DNA survives in diverse populations – but who were the Denisovans?". The Leakey Foundation. Retrieved 2025-12-12.
  13. ↑ Larena, M.; McKenna, J.; Sanchez-Quinto, F.; Bernhardsson, C.; Ebeo, C.; Reyes, R.; Casel, O.; Huang, J.-Y.; Hagada, K. P.; Guilay, D.; Reyes, J.; Allian, F. P.; Mori, V.; Azarcon, L. S.; Manera, A.; Terando, C.; Jamero Jr., L.; Sireg, G.; Manginsay-Tremedal, R.; Labos, M. S.; Vilar, R. D.; Latiph, A.; Saway, R. L.; Marte, E.; Magbanua, P.; Morales, A.; Java, I.; Reveche, R.; Barrios, B.; Burton, E.; Salon, J. C.; Kels, Ma. J. T.; Albano, A.; Cruz-Angeles, R. B.; Molanida, E.; Granehäll, L.; Vicente, M.; Edlund, H.; Loo, J.-H.; Trejaut, J.; Ho, S. Y. W.; Reid, L.; Lambeck, K.; Malmström, H.; Schlebusch, C.; Endicott, P.; Jakobsson, M. (11 October 2021). "Philippine Ayta possess the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world". Current Biology. 31 (19): 4219–4230.e10. Bibcode:2021CBio...31E4219L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.022. PMC 8596304. PMID 34388371.
  14. ↑ Warren, Matthew (2018-08-23). "Mum's a Neanderthal, Dad's a Denisovan: First discovery of an ancient-human hybrid". Nature. 560 (7719): 417–418. Bibcode:2018Natur.560..417W. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-06004-0. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 30135540.
  15. ↑ Larena, Maximilian; McKenna, James; Sanchez-Quinto, Federico; Bernhardsson, Carolina; Ebeo, Carlo; Reyes, Rebecca; Casel, Ophelia; Huang, Jin-Yuan; Hagada, Kim Pullupul; Guilay, Dennis; Reyes, Jennelyn (October 2021). "Philippine Ayta possess the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world". Current Biology. 31 (19): 4219–4230.e10. Bibcode:2021CBio...31E4219L. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.07.022. PMC 8596304. PMID 34388371.
  16. ↑ "Callaway, Ewen (2011). "First Aboriginal genome sequenced". Nature. doi:10.1038/news.2011.551.
  17. ↑ "About 3% to 5% of the DNA of people from Melanesia (islands in the south-west Pacific Ocean), Australia, New Guinea and aboriginal people from the Philippines comes from the Denisovans". Oldest human DNA found in Spain – Elizabeth Landau's interview of Svante Paabo
  18. ↑ Harmon, Katherine (2012). "Humans interbred with Denisovans". Scientific American. Retrieved 2016-08-24.