#denisovans — Public Fediverse posts

Five Denisovan fossils from a Yunnan cave, including the only known Denisovan forearm bone, were confirmed after DNA extraction failed. Ancient proteins did the identifying instead. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #AncientDNA https://www.anthropology.net/p/five-denisovan-fossils-in-china-confirmed

9-Sep-2026
#Denisovan radius (bone) discovered for first time in Southwest #China

researchers employed a novel proteomic strategy to identify additional #hominin bones from a Paleolithic site called Bianfu Cave in Yunnan Province. #Paleoproteomic analysis confirmed five hominin remains as #Denisovans, helping fill the distribution gap of Denisovans in Southwest China.

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1142903

#science #humanEvolution #paleoAnthropology

Anthropologists have discovered the first-ever Denisovan arm bone in a cave in southwest China, which also held thousands of prehistoric animal bones and stone tools.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/enigmatic-denisovans-lived-by-cave-in-what-is-now-china-for-100-000-years-rare-fossils-and-handcrafted-tools-reveal

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/new-fossils-denisovan-secrets-china

#history #Denisovans #china #Anthropology #Archaeology #HumanEvolution

Gene That Differs Between Humans and Neanderthals Could Shed Light On The Species Disappearance Mouse Study Suggests

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2026/08/28/gene-that-differs-between-humans-and-neanderthals-could-shed-light-on-the-species-disappearance-mouse-study-suggests/

Two ancient leg bones from Taiwan just got ID’d as Denisovan via protein analysis, and one individual may have stood nearly 6’3”. Why so big, so far south? Still an open question. #Denisovans #Paleoanthropology #HumanEvolution https://www.anthropology.net/p/two-leg-bones-from-a-drowned-taiwanese

#Denisovans

"Denisovan DNA influences the immune systems of modern Oceanians — but researchers aren't sure why

Genes inherited from the now-extinct Denisovans are actively playing a role in the immune system of some people from Oceania.

Some people from Oceania harbor thousands of genetic variants inherited from the Denisovans — a mysterious group of extinct humans — that are still active in their immune systems today, a new study finds.

The findings, published June 11 in the journal Science, come from the largest-ever map of Denisovan-inherited DNA ever created. The discovery shows that Denisovan DNA 'is not just a remnant of ancient liaisons; it continues to influence our biology today,' study co-author Serena Tucci, an assistant professor of anthropology and head of the Human Evolutionary Genomics Laboratory at Yale University, said in a statement.

Experiments revealed 3,127 variants inherited from Denisovans that still function in the immune systems of modern-day people; some of these variants switch genes that turn the immune response on or off, according to the new research."

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/human-evolution/denisovan-dna-influences-the-immune-systems-of-modern-oceanians-but-researchers-arent-sure-why

New genomic data from 177 Near Oceanians reveal interbreeding with three distinct Denisovan-like groups, not one. Their DNA still shapes immune genes like OAS1 and JAK1, and a skeletal gene, TRPS1, that keeps showing up across continents. #ArchaicGenomics #HumanEvolution #Denisovans https://www.anthropology.net/p/three-different-ghosts-new-genomic

#AI #LLMs #pedagogy #archeology #paleogenetics #fossils #Denisovans #evolution

I like to listen to science lectures on the internet. Often I also enjoy the slides and/or video clips which accompany them. Lately I've noticed a disturbing trend. They are, with increasing frequency, appearing with visual images created by artificial intelligence. I recently watched a totally cogent lecture on the paleogenetic insights provided by the fossil popularly known as "Dragon Man". (FWIW, "he" turned out to be a woman.)

The lecture itself would have felt at home in any sufficiently advanced college class on the subject, presented in a generic college lecture hall, accompanied by slides projected on a screen behind the lecturer.

But to make it appeal to YouTube someone, perhaps the lecturer himself or perhaps not, embellished the otherwise totally sufficient lecture with AI in many of the slides. Whether the use of AI/LLM illustrations in pedagogy at all is a good idea is a debate worth having soon. In the meantime, let's consider what we can learn about the men (it's almost always men) who train LLMs for a living and their ability to brainwash us all with subtle propaganda.

For example, I just watched an AI/LLM repeatedly portray a Denisovan as having blond hair and blue eyes. This is most unlikely. There is no scientific basis, not even a little one. Which begs the question: Who trained the AI and what material did they choose to train it on? Were they consciously propagandizing the agenda of the #WhiteSupremacy or were they nothing more than culturally insensitive cubicle drones "just doing their job"? If the latter is true, it's society's (i.e our own) fault for not having socialized them better as they were growing up. If it's the former, they just showed us their hole card. Which begs an even more important question: What else are they attempting to inject our minds with?

Just wondering.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYXwvndT4o

7-Jan-2026
Early #hominins from #Morocco reveal an African lineage near the root of #HomoSapiens
773,000-year-old fossils from Thomas Quarry I in Morocco illuminate the shared ancestry of Homo sapiens, #Neanderthals, and #Denisovans

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1111525

#science #anthropology #humanEvolution

Where Are the Denisovans? The Answer is in our DNA - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3zql33Lg6Q

#History #Paleoanthropology #Denisovans #DNA #HumanEvolution

@morgan

Interesting.

"The newly-analyzed tooth belonged to a male Denisovan who lived about 200,000 years ago, at a time when modern humans had not yet left Africa."

So, more importantly, this research apparently provides evidence that #Asians evolved from #Denisovans living in Siberia around 200,000 yrs ago, prior to & separately from other racial groups who evolved from other human ancestors that originated in Africa; the only common link apparently being interbreeding of these separate racial groups with the #Neanderthals, which itself was a separate human sub-species.

A single tooth from Siberia has yielded a 200,000 year old Denisovan genome. It reveals repeated mixing with Neanderthals, deep population turnover, and why Denisovan DNA lives on in us today. #Archaeology #Anthropology #HumanEvolution #AncientDNA #Denisovans https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-tooth-from-a-different-world

A 200,000-year-old Denisovan genome reveals multiple ancient Denisovan populations, unexpected Neanderthal contacts, and hints of a mysterious hominin lineage. Human evolution looks more tangled than ever. #paleoanthropology #ancientDNA #humanorigins #Denisovans https://www.anthropology.net/p/ghost-lineages-in-the-dna

Denisovans May Have Interbred With Mysterious Group of Ancient Humans 

https://onlinemarketingscoops.com/2025/11/01/denisovans-ancient-humans/

A 40,000-year-old East Asian genome reveals an early Homo sapiens lineage with almost no Denisovan ancestry—challenging ideas about contact, migration, and evolution across Ice Age Asia. #Archaeogenetics #HumanEvolution #Denisovans #Pleistocene @janetk.bsky.social https://www.anthropology.net/p/the-missing-denisovan-shadow

Yesterday's feature in #CurrentBiology is about #Denisovans. Exciting stuff is happening in that field as several #ossils including the #Harbin skull have been identified as Denisovan with molecular methods. https://proseandpassion.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-denisovan-skull.html
#science #palaeoanthropology

1 million-year-old Yunxian skull redefines human evolution and Denisovan origin

A crushed and distorted skull discovered in central China nearly 35 years ago is now redefining our understanding of early human evolution in Asia...

More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/09/yunxian-skull-redefines-human-evolution/

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology #archeology #archaeologynews #evolution #yunxianskull #Denisovans #homolongi #humanevolution

More on #HomoLongi - and how it points a finger to early hominins splitting into distinct groups, including our closest relatives like #Neanderthals and #Denisovans, much earlier than thought:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/sep/25/study-of-1m-year-old-skull-points-to-earlier-origins-of-modern-humans

A reconstructed skull gives surprising clues to our enigmatic Ancestor X.

According to a new analysis of fossil remains, the shared ancestor of our species, the Neanderthals and the Denisovans lived over a million years ago – more than twice as old as previously believed – which could completely change our understanding of humanity's evolution.

https://mediafaro.org/article/20250925-a-reconstructed-skull-gives-surprising-clues-to-our-enigmatic-ancestor-x?mf_channel=mastodon&action=forward

#Neanderthals #Denisovans #HomoSapiens #Ancestors #AncestorX #Humans #Humanity #Evolution #Science

A 1-million-year-old skull from China links Homo longi, Denisovans & early Homo sapiens, reshaping our view of human origins in Asia. #Anthropology #Archaeology #HumanEvolution #Denisovans #Fossils https://www.anthropology.net/p/a-skull-from-china-rewrites-the-story

New research links Denisovan habitats to immune genes in today’s humans. From Siberia’s ticks to Southeast Asia’s malaria, ancient landscapes shaped our DNA. #Anthropology #HumanEvolution #Denisovans #Immunogenetics https://www.anthropology.net/p/denisovan-genes-and-the-ancient-geography

Denisovan and Neanderthal DNA helped the first Americans survive, study finds

The first people to set foot in the Americas crossed with them not only stone technology and survival skills across the icy expanse of the Bering Strait. Along with these, a new study published in Science indicates that they also carried a genetic legacy inherited from two extinct relatives...

More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/08/denisovan-dna-helped-the-first-americans/

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology #archeology #Denisovans #Neanderthals

Genetic mutation in key enzyme may explain why humans survived while Neanderthals went extinct

A minor genetic difference in one of the enzymes may have helped separate modern humans from Neanderthals and Denisovans, our closest extinct relatives, and may have even contributed to the fact that Homo sapiens thrived while the others became extinct..

More info: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/08/why-humans-survived-while-neanderthals-went-extinct/

Follow @archaeology

#archaeology #anthropology #evolution #Neanderthals #homosapiens #Denisovans #neanderthal

An ancient genetic fragment from a ghost species, the Denisovans, may have helped the first humans in the Americas survive. Our deep past continues to shape our biology. #Anthropology #Archaeology #HumanEvolution #Denisovans @sciencemagazine https://www.anthropology.net/p/when-a-ghost-from-the-past-paved

Sounds like the #Denisovans made #colonization of the #Americas possible

DNA from extinct hominin may have helped ancient peoples survive in the Americas https://share.google/tBKqaTW5tUi1USn9V #evolution #darwin #archaeology #hominids