A reconstruction of a male of our evolutionary cousin the Neanderthals (Modified from an image by Cicero Moraes).

A Golden Age of Ancient DNA Science Begins







But, boy, what start!






"Neanderthals" in St. Michael's Cave – Gibraltar.

"Neanderthals" in St. Michael's Cave – Gibraltar. ( CC BY 3.0 )





They confirmed evidence for ancient gene flow with the Neanderthals and have better characterized mating with the mysterious Denisovans, by comparing their new genomes with around 1,500 other human samples.

The map shows spread and evolution of Denisovans.

The map shows spread and evolution of Denisovans. ( CC BY-SA 3.0 )







Comparison of Modern Human and Neanderthal skulls.

Comparison of Modern Human and Neanderthal skulls. ( CC BY-SA 2.0 )





DNA has now given us an answer, and it should satisfy even the harder nosed of anthropologists; although, experience tells me some of my colleagues will go the grave believing otherwise.




Skeleton and reconstruction of the La Ferrassie 1 Neanderthal man from the National Museum of Nature and Science ( CC BY-SA 3.0 )

Anyone with a passing interest in the species questions will recognize immediately the importance of such a finding: humans and Neanderthals were different species, even if one applies the very strict criterion of ‘interbreeding’, so widely assumed to be indicative of species differences.


To me, this indicates we should be prepared to recognize and accommodate many more species in the human tree, even after humans and Neanderthal had split.





The mitochondrial DNA was found to be identical to the Denisovans, but the new nuclear sequences are related to Neanderthals.

Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology extracting the DNA

Scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology extracting the DNA ( Public Domain )







Cranium 5" is one of the most important discoveries in the Sima de los Huesos, Atapuerca (Spain). (CC BY-SA 2.5 )

Human evolution should be seen as a bush, with lots of twigs, rather than a thickly trunked tree, with only a small number of branches (species). I imagine diversity was the rule as we see in other living primates today.


Featured image: A reconstruction of a male of our evolutionary cousin the Neanderthals (Modified from an image by Cicero Moraes). ( CC BY-SA 3.0 )

The article ‘ A golden age of ancient DNA science begins ’ by Darren Curnoe originally appeared on The Conversation and has been republished under a Creative Commons license.


Thank you. That clears that up for me. I think it was most unsportsmanlike of them to choose to live where their DNA would degrade so quickly. humph

The estimated age range of 20-40k years is misleading for the "Hobbit" lineage since researchers have associated Hobbits with Homo erectus: the found specimens share primitive traits commonly found on Homo erectus, leading some to call them a late surviving Homo erectus population.

Yes, they died out recently, relatively speaking when compared to other hominids like Denisovans. But, unlike Denisovans, which lived in near artic conditions, the Hobbits lived in a tropical environment that's destructive to DNA. Higher temperatures and humidity degrade DNA badly.

Recovering and comparing DNA from the Hobbit to other hominids, including ourselves, would have helped us answer basic questions about ourselves in relation to other animals.

In other words, unraveling DNA closer to our base will help us unravel what separated us from other animals.

I doubt geneticists will use this unraveled information to create the Man-beast in my lifetime, but the unraveled information can certainly help us understand common disorders like sociopathy and apathy.

It was my understanding that they died out realitively recently. My understanding may be entirely wrong. Are you saying that all DNA from that group has already become destroyed to the point that we can get information about them? Please excuse typos. Hands ache today.

It's too bad climatic conditions will make it near unlikely to ever recover genetic material from "Hobbit" specimens: this would have answered many questions regarding our lineage considering that those hominids are even more "archaic".

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