16.10.2019 - 07:48
A  A

Neandertal mother, Denisovan father!

Newly-sequenced genome sheds lights on interactions between ancient hominins

Up until 40,000 years ago, at least two groups of hominins inhabited Eurasia – Neandertals in the west and Denisovans in the east. Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA) in Leipzig (Germany) sequenced the genome of an ancient hominin individual from Siberia, and discovered that she had a Neandertal mother and a Denisovan father.

Download

Download press release (in English)
Download press release (in German)
Download all images (.zip file)
Download video (.mp4 file)

Images

This bone fragment (“Denisova 11”) was found in 2012 at Denisova Cave in Russia by Russian archaeologists and represents the daughter of a Neandertal mother and a Denisovan father. (Credit: Thomas Higham, University of Oxford)
View of the Denisova Cave archaeological site, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
View of the valley from above the Denisova Cave archaeological site, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
View of the valley from above the Denisova Cave archaeological site, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
View of the entrance to the Denisova Cave archaeological site, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Excavation works in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Excavation works in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave, Russia. (Credit: Bence Viola, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Stratigraphic profile of the East Chamber in Denisova Cave, Russia. (Credit: IAET SB RAS, Sergei Zelensky)
Richard (Bert) Roberts, Vladimir Ulianov and Maxim Kozlikin (clockwise from top) in the East Chamber of Denisova Cave, Russia. (Credit: IAET SB RAS, Sergei Zelensky)
Clean laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Researcher at work in the clean laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Matthias Meyer at work in the clean laboratory at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
The automation of laboratory procedures to generate DNA libraries and isolate DNA by hybridization capture enabled the processing of multiple samples in parallel. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)
Svante Pääbo, lead author of the study and director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig (Germany), with a replicate Neandertal skeleton. (Credit: Karsten Möbius)
Drawing of a Neandertal mother and a Denisovan father with their child, a girl, at Denisova Cave in Russia. (Credit: Petra Korlević)


Processing of samples in the ancient DNA laboratory and analysis of the sequencing data generated. (Credit: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology)

Download Video here (Right click Save as)