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Posted on 08/22/2025 2:30:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
During the last Ice Age, modern humans had ongoing encounters with more than one variety of now-extinct Pleistocene-era hominin.
Those encounters, according to new research, not only resulted in interbreeding between homo sapiens and other types of archaic humans -- they may have helped some of the earliest arrivals in North America survive...
The earliest arrival of anatomically modern humans in North America has been a subject of intense debate for several decades. Increasingly with time, discoveries by archaeologists have continued to push back the time scales on when those arrivals began, with initial estimates of early human dispersals into North America beginning as recently as around 13,000 years ago now having been expanded to well past 20,000 years ago.
Recent confirmation of human ichnofossil footprints at White Sands National Park, dating to between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago, offers compelling clues to an ever-expanding narrative of human migrations into North America...
Naturally, if humans arrived much earlier than previously believed possible, this suggests that the harsh conditions of the last Ice Age may also have been prevalent at the time of these early migrations into America...
For their study, Villanea and the team examined genomes collected from a diverse range of humans worldwide, with a particular focus on the MUC19 gene, which plays a crucial role in the immune system.
Notably, this suggests that the ancient genetic material obtained during early encounters between humans and Denisovans may have contributed to the survival of their descendants as they migrated into the previously uncharted Americas at the end of the Ice Age.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedebrief.org ...
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An ice age ends when the ice cover disappears. Technically, we are still in an ice age. However, because the ice caps are smaller than they could be, it’s often referred to as an “interglacial period.”
That period began somewhere around 12,000 years ago. Give or take.
Thanks, SunkenCiv.
Article says:
“Notably, this suggests that the ancient genetic material obtained during early encounters between humans and Denisovans may have contributed to the survival of their descendants as they migrated into the previously uncharted Americas at the end of the Ice Age.”
That may be what it suggests to the authors, because that’s their idea.
What it suggests to me is this scene, maybe in New Mexico 14,000 years ago, when the “indigenous” Denisovan says to the newly arrived “modern human”: “It’s about dang time! What took you guys so long?”
Remember, an asteroid or something wiped out most North American human life and a lot of flora and fauna about 12,500 years ago. We really don’t have a great record of what earlier people were up to.
Flood, Fire, and Famine
in the History of Civilization
by Richard Firestone,
Allen West, and
Simon Warwick-Smith
My pleasure, and I concur, even the need to build what’s called a parsimonious tree rooted in the “Old World”, or Africa in particular, is basically just bias. My bias is, since the continental shelves were dry for most of the past two million years, and the climate must have been better along the water’s edge and its lower elevation, that’s probably where much of it went on.
There, their, and they’re — I wonder if three is the largest number of those in English?
AI Synopsis:
New Human Species Discovered
Scientists have confirmed that the “Dragon Man” skull, discovered in Harbin, China, is the first-ever identified Denisovan fossil, giving the previously unknown hominin species its first definitive facial features.
This discovery, based on protein and ancient DNA analysis, reveals Denisovans had a wide, low face with a prominent brow ridge combined with modern traits like delicate cheekbones and a flat lower face, and suggests they were adapted to cold climates. The findings, published in Science and Cell, resolve a long-standing mystery about Denisovan appearance and confirm they inhabited a much wider range across East Asia than previously thought.
Denisovan Identification:
The Harbin skull, officially named Homo longi, was confirmed as a Denisovan through the analysis of 95 proteins and a small amount of ancient human DNA found in its dental plaque, which contained 27 unique gene variants found only in other known Denisovans.
Significance:
This skull is the most complete Denisovan fossil ever found, providing crucial anatomical details that allow for better comparison with other hominin fossils and a deeper understanding of their adaptations to the environment.
Ongoing Debate:
While the evidence is considered convincing by many researchers, a debate continues over naming. Some scientists argue the skull’s features support classifying Denisovans as Homo longi, while others, including the pioneer of Denisovan DNA research, believe it’s more accurate to group all these closely related hominins under Homo sapiens due to evidence of interbreeding.
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Abstract only, July 24, 2025
The Harbin cranium, linked to Denisovans via mitochondrial DNA, broadens their known range and provides the first insights into Denisovan morphology. This discovery highlights the potential of biomolecular analysis from nontraditional sources, enhancing understanding of archaic human evolution in Asia and filling gaps in the scarce Denisovan fossil record.
https://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(25)00745-7
Denisovan mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus of the >146,000-year-old Harbin cranium, June 18, 2025 - downloadable
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(25)00627-0
The genetic changes that shaped Neandertals, Denisovans, and modern humans, February 16, 2024 - downloadable
https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(23)01403-4
Denisovans and Homo sapiens on the Tibetan Plateau: dispersals and adaptations, March 2022 - downloadable
https://www.cell.com/trends/ecology-evolution/abstract/S0169-5347(21)00307-4
Some clues I have picked up about these Denisovans
The lived in high, cold places, eschewing warm, temperate, forest or plains to live because they were the ultimate environmentalists, as we would call them today, not wanting to harm animals, plants, fish by living among them. Their language, like Neanderthals, was tonal, rather than word-using like other species because of where their larynx were situated in their throats - giving their speech high-pitched soprano like sounds.
My 2 cents
That may be what it suggests to the authors, because that’s their idea ... What it suggests to me is this scene, maybe in New Mexico 14,000 years ago ...
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Its not their idea so much - they didn’t pull it out of their hat, so to speak, but rather it is the science - they would have been quite happy not to not found any Denisovan DNA.
Denisovan DNA is not found in the south or the US, but in the northern Canada among the Blackfeet which have a very high proportion of Denisovan DNA.
The comet debris burned off something like 10% of all flora on Earth, leaving a 3 foot layer of black earth [ called Black mat ] behind. The fires may have raged for 100 years as the Earth continued to pass through a very dense part of the Taurids - typified by one mile diameter chunks. [ Unless that cleaned it out, the Earth can expect to pass though it again at at some point in time ].
The myth of how the Neandertal spoke (or couldn’t speak) is long gone.
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25465102
Thanks, good idea. Dragon Man keyword, sorted:
As I read the article, the earlier arrivals to North America picked up the Denisovan genes from ancestors who had arrived in the Americas after interbreeding with the Denisovans. Not that the interbreeding occurred on this hemisphere. Denisovans disappeared around 30,000 years ago. The current populations with the most Denisovan DNA are aboriginal Australians, Polynesians and Filipinos.
I was saying how they sounded, not whether they could talk or not.
Grok! : Right”: Homophones include “right” (correct, direction, entitlement), “rite” (ceremony), “write” (to compose), and “wright” (maker, e.g., playwright). Additionally, “right” as a homograph has multiple meanings (e.g., correct, direction, legal right).
Oooh, nice!
I’ve known folks to use “to many” instead of “too many” (this includes my own late father) claiming that “too” only means “also”.
Due for another.
Bring on the “ global warming “ please!!
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