Surprisingly, paleogenomics has also recently identified a previously unknown hominin species in Asia, named Denisovans. DNA recovered from a single finger bone and some teeth enabled researchers to sequence the complete Denisovan genome.
Recent advances in paleogenomics (the recovery and sequencing of DNA from remains up to about 80,000–100,000 years old) have allowed geneticists to test a hypothesis long proposed by paleoanthropologists: that humans (Homo sapiens) interbred with other hominin species, such as Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), that some human groups encountered as they migrated out of Africa. Early work in paleogenomics focused on mtDNA, and more recent work has assembled a complete autosomal genome sequence for Neanderthals.
Surprisingly, paleogenomics has also recently identified a previously unknown hominin species in Asia, named Denisovans. DNA recovered from a single finger bone and some teeth enabled researchers to sequence the complete Denisovan genome.
A comparison of the variation in mtDNA and autosomal DNA from Neanderthals and Denisovans with the variation in present-day humans from Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and Melanesia (a region including islands in the western Pacific Ocean) revealed the following.
| Present-day human group |
Matches with Neanderthal mtDNA? |
Matches with Denisovan mtDNA? |
Matches with Neanderthal autosomal DNA? |
Matches with Denisovan autosomal DNA? |
| Sub-Saharan Africans | no | no | no | no |
| Europeans | no | no | yes | no |
| Melanesians | no | no | yes | yes |
What does the information in the table above indicate about interbreeding between humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans?
Select all of the true statements in the following list.
| The mtDNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Europeans interbred with Denisovans. | |
| The autosomal DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Sub-Saharan Africans interbred with Neanderthals. | |
| The autosomal DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Europeans interbred with Neanderthals. | |
| The mtDNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Sub-Saharan Africans interbred with Denisovans. | |
| The autosomal DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Europeans interbred with Denisovans. | |
| The autosomal DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Melanesians interbred with Denisovans. | |
| The autosomal DNA evidence supports the hypothesis that the ancestors of present-day Melanesians interbred with Neanderthals. |
