A new report published Tuesday finds that modern humans may share similar genes with that of a now-extinct species similar to neanderthals.
Professor Mattias Jakobsson, of Uppsala University in Sweden who conducted the study in conjunction with graduate student Pontus Skoglund, say individuals living East Asia share a large portion of genetic material with the Denisovans.
This group, the Denisovans, is known only by a few bone fragments: A finger bone, a tooth and possibly a toe bone, which is still undergoing analysis. Denisovans reportedly lived in central and eastern Asia around 40,000 years ago, sharing a common ancestor with Neanderthals and humans about 1 million years ago. Scientists say the species may have split with the Neanderthal branch nearly 300,000 years ago.
It is well known that Denisovans interbred with humans, as did Neanderthals. Previous research had traced the connection to people living in Oceania. However, the latest research is the first to find support for interbreeding in Asia.
“We are actually finding gene flow in Southeast Asia, so it’s not restricted to the Oceanian parts of the world,” said Dr. Jakobsson. “Our study covers a larger part of the world than earlier studies, and it is clear that it is not as simple as we previously thought.”
Scientists said they discovered the results by running a series of complex computer simulations of genetic data, seeking to understand how the limited gene information collected in population genetics research provided a connection between modern humans and our ancient ancestors.
The study was published October 31 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
