400,000-year-old DNA Discovery

Mystery of human evolution deepens with 400,000-year-old DNA find

The genetic material is the oldest ever sequenced and may shed light on an extinct group of humans called Denisovans.

By

Charles Q. Choi, LiveScience

Wed, Dec 04 2013 at 1:40 PM

  

Illustration: Javier Trueba/MADRID SCIENTIFIC FILMS

The oldest known human DNA found yet reveals human evolution was even more confusing than thought, researchers say.

 

The DNA, which dates back some 400,000 years, may belong to an unknown human ancestor, say scientists. These new findings could shed light on a mysterious extinct branch of humanity known as Denisovans, who were close relatives of Neanderthals, scientists added.

 

Although modern humans are the only surviving human lineage, others once strode the Earth. These included Neanderthals, the closest extinct relatives of modern humans, and the relatively newfound Denisovans, who are thought to have lived in a vast expanse from Siberia to Southeast Asia. Research shows that the Denisovans shared a common origin with Neanderthals but were genetically distinct, with both apparently descending from a common ancestral group that had diverged earlier from the forerunners of modern humans. [See Images of Excavation & Mysterious 'New Hominid']