Ancient peoples in South America had both Denisovan and Neanderthal DNA -- and we have no clue how it

[Judi Lynn]

Ancient peoples in South America had both Denisovan and Neanderthal DNA — and we have no clue how it got there

Ancient peoples seem to have mingled much more than thought possible.

by Alexandru Micu November 4, 2022 Reading Time: 4 mins read



Archeologists in Brazil are hard at work to uncover the genetic ancestry of some of South America’s earliest humans.

While the genetic contribution of Neanderthals to the modern human gene pool is well known, these ancient hominids are generally associated with Europe, especially Northern Europe. Denisovans, meanwhile, are generally associated with populations in Asia.

You can imagine, then, the surprise of archeologists working on two archaeological sites in Brazil when they discovered the presence of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA in ancient South Americans.

Locally-produced
The findings are based on human remains recovered from archeological sites in Brazil, Panama, and Uruguay. Initially, the researchers working at these sites were aiming to map out the patterns of ancient migrations throughout the South American continent. This confirmed that migrations occurred from north-to-south along the continent, but also found evidence of migrations in the opposite direction along the Atlantic coast. But the genetic sequencing of these remains provided them with an unexpected surprise.

More:
https://www.zmescience.com/science/south-america-ancient-neanderthal-denisovan-dna-92352342/