Ancient Tooth Yields Up DNA Of Ancient Human Cousins, The Denisovans
A Denisovan molar, found in a cave in Siberia. Bence Viola DNA analysis of an ancient tooth found in a Siberian cave has shown that the tooth is from a species of hominin—known as the Denisovans—that are thought to have lived alongside humans and Neanderthals. The results were published yesterday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Prior to this discovery, evidence for the existence of Denisovans came only from another tooth and a tiny finger bone found in the same cave back in 2008. In 2010, a team of Russian scientists identified them as belonging to the same species, but one new to science. The researchers named the species after the cave in which it was found--Denisova cave. Now, with the help of this new tooth, scientists believe that the Denisovans...