TEL AVIV: Exactly what our Denisovan relatives who lived 100,000 years ago might have looked like had been anyone’s guess for a simple reason – the entire collection of Denisovan remains includes a pinky bone, three teeth, and a lower jaw.
Now they have got a face.
Using genetic data, scientists have now produced reconstructions of these long-lost relatives.
“We provide the first reconstruction of the skeletal anatomy of Denisovans,” said study author Liran Carmel of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
“In many ways, Denisovans resembled Neanderthals, but in some traits, they resembled us, and in others they were unique,” Carmel said.
Overall, the researchers identified 56 anatomical features in which Denisovans differed from modern humans and/or Neanderthals, 34 of them in the skull, according to a report published in the journal Cell.
For example, the Denisovan”s skull was probably wider than that of modern humans or Neanderthals. They likely also had a longer dental arch.
(Agencies)
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