The nature of man, the origin of man - this is what has been exciting people since ancient times. There are many versions of theories. Scientists are conducting research, trying to find answers to all questions. After reading the article, you will learn about another subspecies of ancient extinct people.
Denisovsky man, or Denisovets, supposedly existed in the Soloneshensky district of the Altai Territory near the Denisova Cave. Evidence of this was found in different periods and in different layers of the cave.
At the moment, only five fragments have been established that allow us to talk about Denisov's man. However, these traces are not yet sufficient to restore its appearance completely. Nevertheless, the fragments found are enough to claim that the remains of this person are different from the remains of Homo Sapiens, as well as from the remains of a Neanderthal man.
Denisova Cave
This cave is the most popular archaeological site that Altai can boast of. Denisovsky lived here, 250 kilometers from the city of Biysk. The cave is quite large, with an area of āā270 mĀ².
It is located near settlements, belongs to the horizontal type, which attracts a large number of tourists. However, archaeologists also come here, whose hard work nevertheless led to a result.
According to the results of research, in the lower layers of the cave, whose age is about 120 thousand years, stone tools and jewelry were found, as well as traces of an ancient man, who was called Denisovsky.
Fragments of the remains of Denisov's man
During the existence of the Soviet state, three molars were found in size much larger than the teeth of a rational person. According to the examination, they belonged to a young male. A fragment of the phalanx of the finger was also found, an analysis of this element is still being carried out.
In a later period, already in 2008, another element was found - the bone of the phalanx of a childās finger.
Denisov's human genome
The found fragment in the form of a phalanx of Denisovās finger was studied by a team of scientists from the Leipzig Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology. The study showed that the mitochondrial DNA of Denisovās person differs from the mitochondrial DNA of human sapiens by 385 nucleotides. It is worth noting that the Neanderthal genome differs from the Homo Sapiens genome in 202 nucleotides.
Denisovās man is closer to Neanderthal than to rational man. It is also worth noting that his genes were found in the Melanesians, and this suggests a mass crossing of people at a time when the Melanesians left Africa and migrated to the southeast.
Descendants of Denisov's man
According to studies, Denisov's man separated as a subspecies about 400-800 thousand years ago. Today, the study of fragments found in the Denisova Cave allows one to find its genes in many modern nations. For example, the most similar elements are found in residents of Southeast Asia and southern China, despite the fact that traces of these ancient people were found in Siberia.
It was also found that the named subspecies of extinct people, as well as the Neanderthal man, passed on the genes responsible for the immune system to the European population. Thanks to this find, it was also possible to make a computer model that demonstrates the migration path of different types of ancestors of modern people and the places of their meetings with Denisovans.
Scientists from Sweden believe that it is possible to find traces of Denisovās man by comparing the DNA found with the DNA of modern people.
After the comparison, information was obtained both on the similarity of Denisovan to modern man, and on the coincidences found in Neanderthal and Denisovan. It was also possible to find out that the genes of Denisov's man are contained in the genotypes of people belonging to the oceanic and non-African populations.
Harvard Medical School
According to studies at Harvard Medical School, Denisovans are much further from modern people than Neanderthals, although initially they were considered cousins. It was believed that Neanderthals and Denisovans are equally different from Homo sapiens. However, Harvard scientist David Reich was able to refute this.
Nevertheless, the scientist himself says that such a difference can also be explained by the fact that Denisovans crossed with different types of ancient people.
The point of view of the German scientist Johannes Krause
The German geneticist Johannes Krause of the University of TĆ¼bingen believes that in no case can you ignore the fragments found. Together with his colleagues, the scientist studies the genome of Denisov's man for the presence of traces of interbreeding. The fact is that Denisov's teeth found are very large for this type of ancient man. It seems that his immediate ancestor was a primitive look.
According to the professor, the version that the Denisovans crossed with archaic versions of people may well explain the oddity with teeth. Moreover, according to the professor, most likely, it was a species already known to us, since most of them were not studied at the gene level.
What do London scientists say?
London researcher Chris Stringer from the Museum of Natural History in the UK believes that a Heidelberg man, settling in Europe and West Asia, could well meet with Denisov's man, which led to a massive crossover. Also, a bipedal man can be an excellent option, since it was common in many territories and could meet with Denisovans.
Of course, these disputes can be resolved using conventional DNA analysis of all these species, but this cannot be done, as they simply have not been preserved. Most hominins lived in hot environments, and therefore the genome in their remains was not preserved, in contrast to the remains of Neanderthals and Denisovans, which were found mainly in harsher and colder conditions.
The role of crossbreeding in human nature
To date, many species and subspecies of ancient people who are our ancestors are already known. However, one should not deny the fact that after the ancestors of man left Africa, they mated with many other species. It is likely that in the future some other interesting genomes will be installed.
At the moment, it is already known that mass crossings took place constantly, including with yet unidentified hominins. According to many scientists, interest in other species arose about 700 thousand years ago.
Based on the research, we can conclude that at some time the evolution of man was divided into several lines, one of which subsequently led to Denisovās man, and from the other came the more ancient ancestors of intelligent and Neanderthal man. Scientists also found that Neanderthals, Denisovans and other species of Homo sapiens lived in Altai for some time and interbred with each other. In addition, crosses occurred with other species that were encountered by Denisovans at different time periods and in different territories.
It is a pity that the DNA of other species of ancient people was not preserved, otherwise this connection could be traced more clearly. However, modern human sciences do not stand still, and perhaps soon we will learn something new about our origin.