Protein evidence suggests Denisovan ancestry in modern Southeast Asian populations
A study of 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth from China has produced new evidence about the evolutionary relationships among ancient human groups. By extracting proteins from the teeth, researchers found indicators suggesting that Homo erectus interbred with Denisovans, an ancient human population whose ancestry has been identified in parts of Asia.
The discovery challenges the view that Homo erectus was an evolutionary dead end. If the proposed interbreeding occurred, genetic material from the encounter may have been passed into later human populations and could be present today in people living in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other parts of Southeast Asia. The findings add another layer to the ongoing reconstruction of how ancient human species migrated and mixed across Eurasia.