More than a decade of genetic research on the Denisovans

Peyrégne, Stéphane; Slon, Viviane; Kelso, Janet

doi:10.1038/s41576-023-00643-4

Cited by 11 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 201 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…to share connections with Denisovans, either through circumstantial evidence (e.g., their temporal and geographical context) or through some morphological similarities to the few confirmed Denisovan features [25,1]. Our results provide a systematic scan of debated or unclassified specimens and suggest that these three individuals are possibly Denisovans or their close relatives.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

“…The majority of cranial measurements were directly taken from, or based on, the dataset provided by [16] in Morphobank [32] (project # 3385). Specimens in this dataset were excluded from the analysis if they: Lacked a cranium Pre-date the Neanderthal-Denisovan split (390-440 kya) [1] Belong to a sub-adult Have fewer than five testable predictions In total we have 10 test subjects (debated Middle Pleistocene crania) 1. The comparison groups include 20 H. erectus , 18 H. sapiens , and 15 Neanderthal crania (supp.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Denisovans are an extinct human lineage that likely shared a common ancestor with Neanderthals 390-440 thousand years ago [1, 2, 3, 4]. The first Denisovan finding was reported in 2010 based on DNA extracted from the distal phalanx of a fifth finger [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first Denisovan finding was reported in 2010 based on DNA extracted from the distal phalanx of a fifth finger [2]. Since then, nine additional specimens (as well as sediment DNA) have been attributed to Denisovans based on their DNA or protein sequences [1]. This collection includes three molars [5, 3], a long bone fragment [3], a partial parietal bone (unpublished), half a mandible with two molars [6] and three undiagnostic bone fragments [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Candidate Denisovan fossils identified through gene regulatory phenotyping

Mishol,

Herzlinger,

Rak

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Denisovans are an extinct group of humans whose morphology is mostly unknown. The scarcity of verified Denisovan fossils makes it challenging to study how they differed in their anatomy, and how well they were adapted to their environment. To gain insight into their evolutionary history, we used a genetic phenotyping approach, where predicted Denisovan anatomy was inferred by detecting gene regulatory changes that likely altered Denisovan skeletal morphology. We then scanned Middle Pleistocene skulls for unclassified specimens that match our Denisovan profile and thus might have been related to Denisovans. We found that the Harbin, Dali, and Kabwe specimens show a particularly good match to the predicted Denisovan profile. We conclude that our genetic phenotyping approach could help classify unidentified specimens, and that Harbin, Dali, and Kabwe likely belonged to individuals closely linked to the Denisovan lineage.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Candidate Denisovan fossils identified through gene regulatory phenotyping

Mishol,

Herzlinger,

Rak

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This restricted knowledge is attributable to a variety of challenges. Firstly, the scarcity of fossil fragments has hindered the ability to comprehensively reconstruct Denisovan physiology and their historical geographic distribution 12 . These aspects make it challenging to postulate hypotheses regarding their functions in present-day individuals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Denisovan admixture facilitated environmental adaptation in Papua New Guinean populations

Yermakovich,

André,

Brucato

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Neandertals and Denisovans, having inhabited distinct regions in Eurasia and possibly Oceania for over 200,000 years, experienced ample time to adapt to diverse environmental challenges these regions presented. Among present-day human populations, Papua New Guineans (PNG) stand out as one of the few carrying substantial amounts of both Neandertal and Denisovan DNA, a result of past admixture events with these archaic human groups. This study investigates the distribution of introgressed Denisovan and Neandertal DNA within two distinct PNG populations, residing in the highlands of Mt Wilhelm and the lowlands of Daru Island. These locations exhibit unique environmental features, some of which may parallel the challenges that archaic humans once confronted and adapted to. Our results show that Denisovan-like haplotypes exhibit increased levels of population differentiation between PNG highlanders and lowlanders. The highly differentiated haplotypes, more common among highlanders, reside in genomic areas linked to brain development genes. Conversely, those more frequent in lowlanders overlap with genes enriched in immune response processes. Furthermore, Denisovan-like haplotypes displayed pronounced signatures of diversification within the major histocompatibility complex. Our findings suggest that Denisovan DNA has provided a valuable source of genetic variation to PNG genomes that facilitated adaptive responses to environmental challenges.

show abstract

Insights into Human Evolution through Paleogenomics

Ranganath

2024

Reson

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

More than a decade of genetic research on the Denisovans

Cited by 11 publications

References 201 publications

Candidate Denisovan fossils identified through gene regulatory phenotyping

Candidate Denisovan fossils identified through gene regulatory phenotyping

Denisovan admixture facilitated environmental adaptation in Papua New Guinean populations

Insights into Human Evolution through Paleogenomics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About