New Insights into Human Origins - Part 2
Kia ora, I have previously mentioned on this blog that the study of human origins is a keen interest area of mine. So, with the recent publication of a couple of relevant research papers, I couldn't resist the opportunity to come back to the topic! The papers in question are on the subject of the Denisovans - an enigmatic group of hominins presently known only from a few very fragmentary fossils recovered from sites in Siberia (Denisova Cave, after which they are named) and on the Tibetan Plateau. These fossils are so fragmentary in fact that no physical description of the Denisovans exists and they have yet to be given a proper species classification like Homo sapiens (the classification of our own species). The presence of hominins distinct from both Homo sapiens and Neanderthals ( Homo neanderthalensis ) at Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia, ca. 50,000 - 30,000 years ago was brought to light thanks to the sequencing of genetic material (DNA) extract