A new strain of ancient people was discovered

Scientists found an ancient strain that had never been known after analyzing DNA samples from a finger bone they found in Siberia.

The campsite of archaeologists when they excavated Denisova cave in the Altai Mountains in 2008. It was taken from a rock above Denisova cave.Photo: Nature.

The BBC said that in 2008, during excavation of Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains, Siberia, archaeologists discovered a small piece of bone finger. They also found many jewels in the soil containing bone fragments.

Johannes Krause, an expert of Max Planck Evolutionary Anthropology Institute in Germany, and many scientists around the world took DNA samples from mitochondria (mtADN) of bone fragments for analysis.

Each cell in the body (except red cells) contains mitochondria. These are small complex structures with the aim of extracting energy from food into a form that cells can use. Each cell contains hundreds of thousands of mitochondria in the fluid surrounding the nucleus. Mitochondria also contain a small amount of DNA and these DNA are only transmitted from mother to child.

The analysis showed that the bone belonged to an extinct strain that lived in Central Asia from 30,000 to 48,000 years ago. The team called this strain the Hominin. About a million years ago, the Hominins had the same ancestors as modern humans (Homo sapiens) and Neanderthals.

According to the BBC, the results have led many scientists to think of the possibility of the three modern strains, Neanderthal and Hominin, met in southern Siberia. Then the Neanderthals and modern humans evolved in two different directions about 500,000 years ago. Thus the owner of Denisova's finger is a representative of a person who has never been known.

Johannes Krause and colleagues' research is published in Nature.