Prompt Cast
Denisova Cave in Siberia: A Treasure Trove of Hominid Fossils
TLDR The Denisova Cave in Siberia has yielded significant paleontology finds, including the discovery of a new hominid species called Denisovans. DNA analysis of Denisovan bone fragments has revealed that they interbred with Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, with modern human populations in Papua New Guinea and Australia having the highest percentage of Denisovan DNA.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Researchers discovered a bone from an ancient hominid species in the Denisova Cave in Siberia, which has revolutionized our understanding of human origins.
01:17
The Denisova Cave in Siberia has provided significant paleontology finds, including evidence of hominid species closely related to humans.
02:15
In 2008, a team discovered a small bone from the finger of a juvenile female hominid in the Denisova Cave, but they didn't know much about it at the time.
03:13
The discovery of the Denisova Cave finger bone led to the identification of a new species called Denisovans, who lived between 30,000 to 76,000 years ago and coexisted with humans and Neanderthals, although the total number of fossils found is still very small.
04:19
DNA analysis of the Denisovan bone fragments has revealed that the Denisovans interbred with both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, and that the modern human populations with the highest percentage of Denisovan DNA are Papua New Guinea and the Aboriginal people in Australia.
05:20
The Denisovans may have migrated into the region that is now Indonesia and Australia, and there is evidence of a population of Denisovans in Europe as well, suggesting that they were not only in Asia.
06:23
The size and skeletal structure of the Denisovans is still unknown, but there may be undiscovered Denisovan remains in museums or other places around the world.
