The group carries the DNA of the extinct human species we never knew

It seems that any trace of extinct species will completely disappear, but the researchers have discovered the existence of an unknown extinct species in the DNA code of modern Melanesia. , a group of people living in the South Pacific, northern Australia.

With the new genomic replication technology, they discovered that this strange trace was not of the Neanderthal or Denisovan breed, the two ancient people commonly found in ancient fossil samples, but a completely new breed.

"We have missed part of the ancient human population, or we have misunderstood somewhere about the relationships of ancient humans," said genetic researcher Ryan Bohlender from the University of Texas.

Bohlender and his research team learned about the DNA of the Great Ape still remaining in the modern human genome.

Scientists think somewhere around 60,000 to 100,000 years ago, the first human ancestors migrated from Africa, meeting the first large group of gibbons in Eurasia. The encounter of the two species has left a trail in modern humans, with Europeans and Asians still carrying the genetic traits of the Neanderthal DNA.

The fossil of Neanderthal is well preserved.

But that is not all.

Earlier this year, researchers investigated the genetic traces of Neanderthals left over in Europe and found that the genes were linked to many health problems, including diseases. Physical impairment, heart disease and many other skin diseases.

Earlier this month, another study was published: researchers found new evidence of genital herpes that had been infected since prehistoric times, when the Homo sapien (we) were concerned. system of Neanderthal and Denisovan species .

While we have been studying in detail the relationship between humans and Neanderthals, the study of our relationships with Denisovan (a distant relative of the Neanderthals) is less clear. .

One of the few Denisovan fossils.

The problem is that fossils of Neanderthals are well preserved, with many areas stretching across Europe and Asia. While the Denisovan traces are extremely small, we only have a sample of finger bones and some teeth taken from archaeological sites in a row in Siberia in 2008.

Using computer-aided rendering technology, the researchers determined how much of the Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA was in modern humans. Researcher Bohlender and his colleagues discovered that 2.8% of Europeans and Chinese carry the Neanderthal DNA.

But when it came to identifying the Denisovan DNA , things were much more complicated, especially when they conducted the DNA study of modern people living in Melanesia (a region in the South Pacific, including Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Fiji Islands, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, West Papua, and Maluku Islands).

Two innocent blond boys from Melanesia.

As researcher Hesman Saey explains : "In addition to 2.8% of DNA traces of Neanderthals, Europeans have absolutely no trace of Denisovans, only 0.1% of Chinese have this trace. But we found 2.74% of human DNA in Papua New Guinea with Neanderthal traces, and Bohlender estimated that Denisovan's DNA in Melaniesia residents was 1.11% . Not to mention the third human mystery gene.

"When conducting research on the difference between% of DNA in this South Pacific group, Bohlender came to the conclusion that a third group of Large Gibbon conducted a mating with the ancestors of people living in Melanesia. this ".

And he concluded: "Human history is more complex than we understand."

These new discoveries are evidence supporting a study conducted by the Danish Museum of Natural History. They then conducted DNA analysis of 83 Australian Aboriginal people and 25 people from Papua New Guinea.

Papua New Guinea people.

The results of this study found a new thing, that A DN of these South Pacific people closely resembles Denisovans , but it has enough differences to confirm that this belongs to the Big Gibbon. third , a species that we don't know yet.

Until we find solid evidence of this third breed (fossil or trace of the remnant of their culture), we have yet to be sure of the existence of this species.

It is also possible that it is still Denisovan DNA, because we still have too few fossils of this species to study in detail.

But these evidence still shows that the relationships between ancient people are extremely complex. With the transcontinental settlement of many human species, perhaps this is not too surprising.

Moreover, not (or not yet) discovering this person's traces does not mean that they do not (or have not) existed. Ten thousand long years are not the ideal time to store fossils of any species and moreover, we need luck to find out.

The mystery of our species' past still has many things to discover. With the nature of curiosity, we cannot help but wonder about the varieties of people who have not survived to this point.