Cited by 1,991Pleistocene-Era Hominins and ArchaeologyForensic and Genetic ResearchGenomics and Phylogenetic Studies

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 37 of the 37 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia

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Abstract

Using DNA extracted from a finger bone found in Denisova Cave in southern Siberia, we have sequenced the genome of an archaic hominin to about 1.9-fold coverage. This individual is from a group that shares a common origin with Neanderthals. This population was not involved in the putative gene flow from Neanderthals into Eurasians; however, the data suggest that it contributed 4–6% of its genetic material to the genomes of present-day Melanesians. We designate this hominin population ‘Denisovans’ and suggest that it may have been widespread in Asia during the Late Pleistocene epoch. A tooth found in Denisova Cave carries a mitochondrial genome highly similar to that of the finger bone. This tooth shares no derived morphological features with Neanderthals or modern humans, further indicating that Denisovans have an evolutionary history distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans. Anatomically modern humans were in Africa from some point after 200,000 years ago and reached Eurasia rather later. Meanwhile, archaic hominins — including the Neanderthals — had been in Eurasia from at least 230,000 years ago and disappear from the fossil record only about 30,000 years ago. The genome of a female archaic hominin from Denisova Cave in southern Siberia has now been sequenced from DNA extracted from a finger bone. The group to which this 'Denisovan' individual belonged shares a common origin with Neanderthals and, although it was not involved in the putative gene flow from Neanderthals into Eurasians, it contributed 4–6% of the genomes of present-day Melanesians. In addition, the morphology of a tooth with a mitochondrial genome very similar to that of the finger bone suggests that these hominins are evolutionarily distinct from both Neanderthals and modern humans. Using DNA from a finger bone, the genome of an archaic hominin from southern Siberia has been sequenced to about 1.9-fold coverage. The group to which this individual belonged shares a common origin with Neanderthals, and although it was not involved in the putative gene flow from Neanderthals into Eurasians, it contributed 4–6% of its genetic material to the genomes of present-day Melanesians. A tooth whose mitochondrial genome is very similar to that of the finger bone further suggests that these hominins are evolutionarily distinct from Neanderthals and modern humans.

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Wu, X. & Poirier, F. E. Human Evolution in Asia (Oxford Univ. Press, 1995)
  2. Derevianko, A. P. et al. Paleoenvironment and Paleolithic Human Occupation of Gorny Altai [in Russian] (Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS Press, 2003)

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Metadata

Authors
Reich, D., Green, R. E., Kircher, M., Krause, J., Patterson, N., Durand, E. Y., Viola, B., Briggs, A. W., Stenzel, U., Johnson, P. L. F., Maricic, T., Good, J. M., Marques-Bonet, T., Alkan, C., Fu, Q., Mallick, S., Li, H., Meyer, M., Eichler, E. E., Stoneking, M., Richards, M., Talamo, S., Shunkov, M. V., Derevianko, A. P., Hublin, J.-J., Kelso, J., Slatkin, M., & Pääbo, S.
Affiliations
  • Harvard University (US)
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • Emory University (US)
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
  • University of British Columbia (CA)
  • Russian Academy of Sciences (RU)
Corresponding author
  • Reich, David
  • Viola, Bence
  • Pääbo, Svante
Venue
Nature
Published
2010-12
Volume
468
Issue
7327
Pages
1053-1060
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
OpenAlex
W1994263888
Cited by
1,991
References
37
Citations by year
2026: 72 · 2025: 126 · 2024: 119 · 2023: 132 · 2022: 134 · 2021: 148 · 2020: 89 · 2019: 115 · 2018: 123 · 2017: 129 · 2016: 127 · 2015: 126 · 2014: 161 · 2013: 153 · 2012: 134
FWCI
530.94
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RECERCAT (Consorci de Serveis Universitaris de Catalunya) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Digital Commons - University of South Florida (University of South Florida) (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Archivio istituzionale della ricerca (Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna) (submittedVersion)
  • DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
  • Repositori digital de la UPF (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (0754461, 1032255)
  • Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
  • Max-Planck-Institut für Evolutionäre Anthropologie
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM040282)
  • Office of International Science and Engineering
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies
Keywords
Denisovans, Denisova Cave, archaic humans, Neanderthals, mitochondrial genome, human evolution, Neanderthal introgression, hominin phylogeny
MeSH terms
Animals, Asia, DNA, Mitochondrial, Europe, Fossils, Humans, Melanesia, Molecular Sequence Data, Phylogeny, Siberia, Tooth, Hominidae, Genome, Finger Phalanges, Gene Flow

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