Experts in a Siberian cave have uncovered three Denizov fossils by a 200,000-year-old Neanderthal.
Newly discovered fossils from the famous Denisov Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia are surrounded by archaeological remains, such as stone tools and fossilized food remains.
Neanderthals are the closest ancestors of humans who lived in Europe and the Middle East about 400,000 to 40,000 years ago.
Another group of early Neanderthals living in Asia at least 80,000 years ago knew very little about Denisov.
Denisov’s new bones are 200,000 years old and are one of the oldest genetically engineered fossils.
The fact that the remains of Neanderthals and Denisov were found together casts doubt as to whether two ancient human beings lived there.
Bone fragments taken from the cave were used for molecular analysis. Analysis revealed three bone fragments: Denisov and one from Neanderthal
We already know that the Denisovans are different from the Neanderthals. They were bred with humans about 50,000 years ago, which means that the DNA of early hominins is still active today.
The new results are described in detail Natural environment and evolution An international team led by researchers from the Universities of Vienna and Tബിbingen and the Max Planck Society in Munich, Germany.
In all, five hominin bones were found in the cave, four of which contained DNA needed to analyze and identify mitochondria, three denizovans and one Neanderthals.
It would be fun to find a new human bone, but five? “It has surpassed my safest dreams,” said Samantha Brown, a study author at the University of Tbingen.
“Denisov was one of our youngest ancestors, and many still have a small part of Denisov’s DNA,” Brown said. USA TodayHowever, she said there was still very little information about the group.
Denisovan is believed to have appeared in the area during the Interglacial period – a climate as warm as the climate and temperatures of today.
They also seem to have “all the rock traditions” of hunting herbivores such as wild buffalo, red deer, ghazals, saiga ants and woolly rhinos, using raw materials found in the mud of the nearby Anui River.
About 130,000 to 150,000 years ago, Neanderthals representing the newly discovered Neanderthal fossil also appeared in the area.
The remains were found in the Denisov Cave (the gate is pictured here) in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia.
Denisov Cave became famous 11 years ago with the discovery of a new, previously unknown group of people known as the “Fossilized Genetic System” of the Finger Bone.Denisovans, in honor of the site.
However, other Denisov remains in the cave are difficult to identify because all human remains are scattered and hard to see, even among the millions of animal bones found.
For four years, a team led by anthropologist Katarina Duka from the University of Vienna worked to extract and analyze ancient proteins and DNA from about 4,000 bone fragments in the Denisov Cave.
Scientists have used a biomolecular method called peptide fingerprinting, or ‘zooms’, to identify the species from which they originated using collagen or other proteins stored in archeology.
These methods are the only way for scientists to find human remains among thousands of bones, because more than 95 percent of them are decomposed by common identification methods.
The team focused on the oldest layers of the Denisov Cave, dating back 200,000 years.
Brown analyzed 3,800 bone fragments no longer than 1.5 inches long that had previously been considered “taxonomic uncertainty.”
However, I finally found five bones that matched the collagen human peptide profile.
“We were amazed to find new human bone fragments that protect healthy biological molecules from these ancient layers,” Duka said.
Research continues in the Denisov Cave, where a team of Russian archaeologists analyzes the fieldwork and targeted bones and remains that remain there for about six months each year.
Excavations in the eastern chamber of the Denisov Cave. 11 years ago, the cave became famous when the fossilized genetic sequence of the finger bone revealed a new group of people unknown – Denisovans.
For the past 200,000 years, Denisov Cave has been the only site with evidence of the periodic existence of three major hominin groups: Denizov, Neanderthals, and modern humans.
Earlier this year, scientists reported that the DNA found in the Denisov Cave was used by early humans to live with Denisov and Neanderthals 44,000 years ago.
In October last year, another team reported that Denisov’s DNA had been found in the Bashiyan Karst cave in Tibet.
This is the first discovery of Denisov’s DNA from a site outside Denisov’s cave in Siberia, Russia.
In August 2020, researchers discovered that DNA from an ancient, unknown human ancestor that had split with the Denisovans still exists.
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