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Denisovans

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Denisovan traits bring up the old problem of understanding morphological continuity

A paper by Shara Bailey and coworkers suggests that three-rooted lower molars are diagnostic of population mixture from Denisovans.

Fossil mandible from Xiahe, China, viewed from right side.
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How will ancient proteins change paleoanthropology?

Paleoproteomic methods may provide exciting avenues toward understanding pieces of fossils and their relationships.

Denisova 11 bone fragment in four views
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Homo luzonensis: a new species of hominin from Luzon

I reflect on the discovery from Callao Cave, Philippines, which reinforces the ability of ancient hominins to disperse across island Southeast Asia.

Teeth from the Homo luzonensis individual from Callao Cave
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Lecture: Who were the ancestors of the Neandertals?

Looking at what we know about Neandertal origins and how our understanding has changed in the last decade.

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How collagen fingerprinting is changing the way archaeologists understand ancient sites

Katarina Douka and coworkers are identifying the species of ancient bone fragments at a massive scale from Denisova Cave.

Three archaeologists working in a cave site with sediment profile
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Should we be surprised if Neandertals, Denisovans, and modern humans didn’t form stable hybrid zones?

A geneticist asks why we don't see more persisting hybrid populations, and I find an answer in the theory of population source-sink dynamics.

A Neandertal artist's reconstruction at the Neanderthal Museum, wearing a suit and holding a stone tool.
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Another Denisovan from Denisova Cave

A review of the 2015 work identifying the Denisova 8 specimen by Susanna Sawyer and coworkers.

Denisova 8 molar
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An ancient human pulled from the bottom of the Taiwan Strait

Work by Chun-Hsiang Chang and coworkers describes the partial mandible, which may represent an archaic human related to the Denisovans.

Penghu mandible symmetrically reconstructed, shown in occlusal view in black and white
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The FoxP2 protein sequence from Neandertals and Denisovans is shared by many people today

A study of sequence variation shows a possible selected change among living people, but many still have a form shared with Neandertals and Denisovans.

A protein structure model
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New findings from the Denisova 3 genome at high coverage

Sequencing work by Matthias Meyer and coworkers highlights the demography of ancient Denisovans and genes that may make today's people different from them.

Sediment column in Denisova Cave showing labels with layer numbers