DNA says new human relative roamed widely in Asia

Associated Press ^ | December 22, 2010 | MALCOLM RITTER

[decimon]

NEW YORK – Scientists have recovered the DNA code of a human relative recently discovered in Siberia, and it delivered a surprise: This relative roamed far from the cave that holds its only known remains.

By comparing the DNA to that of modern populations, scientists found evidence that these "Denisovans" from more than 30,000 years ago ranged all across Asia. They apparently interbred with the ancestors of people now living in Melanesia, a group of islands northeast of Australia.

There's no sign that Denisovans mingled with the ancestors of people now living in Eurasia, which made the connection between Siberia and distant Melanesia quite a shock.

[decimon]

Neo-neander ping.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

“This relative roamed far from the cave that holds its only known remains. “

I have relatives like that too. We call them retired - always bringing back trinkets, etc.

[illiac]

Maybe these were the first wookie’s tribe.....

[The Sons of Liberty]

I’ve read that the Chinese have always claimed to be separate from the humans that supposed emigrated out of Africa. Maybe this discovery backs that up.

[jackspyder]

amazing how intelligent people can be so stupid - or expect all of us to be

[BenKenobi]

Cool.

Peking Man.

Java Man.

Now Siberia Man. Will it ever be as good as the original?

[Bringbackthedraft]

No signs of the Great Ice Ship remains, that brought my ancestors here?

[JimSEA]

It is counterintuitive that all kinds of human relatives roamed Asia and Europe but we are 100% out of Africa starting some 40,000 years back. Hopefully the many origins folks are right and things we get even more complex. :)

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
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[Perdogg]

Has anyone every determined why Asian eyes developed differently from Europeans?

[blam]

"Has anyone every determined why Asian eyes developed differently from Europeans?"

I'll guess that it's related to the cold/snow.

Professor Stephan Oppenheimer say that the clasic Asian 'look' developed around Lake Bakal during the Last Glacial Maximum. The epi.... eyes, lighter skin, flatter face, taller and bigger than other Asians too.

[wendy1946]

There is zero evidence of any neanderthal contribution to the genome of modern man.

Neanderthal DNA is generally described as about halfway between ours and that of a chimpanzee. They might be related to us via similar design, but they are not related to us via any evolutionary process.

[wildbill]

Hmmm. DNA about halfway between us and a chimp?

Ye aren’t twitting at us Scots, are ye, lassie? I’ll no have that.