Scientists Just Solved One of the Greatest Mysteries in Human Evolution

Scientists may have just solved one of the greatest mysteries in human evolution.

At the southern edge of Siberia, where the Altai Mountains rise into cool forests and limestone ridges, lies Denisova Cave. Inside this cavern, scientists once expected only the usual bones of Ice Age animals. Instead, they found a window into the deepest human past. From a small toe bone in this cave, researchers recovered a complete genome of a Neanderthal woman who lived around 120,000 years ago.

They labeled this specimen Denisova Five, but she is more commonly referred to as the Altai Neanderthal woman to avoid confusion. She became the key to one of the most remarkable stories in prehistory: the transmission of a rare blood-group type from a Neanderthal lineage into Denisovans, and eventually into the ancestors of modern Papuans and Aboriginal Australians thousands of miles to the south.

SOURCES:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...