On the seabed off the coast of Taiwan, a fisherman’s dredge pulled up more than just marine life. Among the animal remains was something unexpected—a thick, heavy jawbone. For years, the fossil ...

Denisovans, a mysterious human relative, left behind far more than a handful of fossils—they left genetic fingerprints in modern humans across the globe. Multiple interbreeding events with distinct ...

Modern genomes preserve traces of ancient relatives that mixed with human ancestors in Africa and Eurasia.

The molar of a Denisovan girl who lived more than 130,000 years ago may help answer how indigenous people living in Australia and other Pacific island nations share DNA with the early-human species.

Modern humans inherited part of their ancestry from multiple, genetically distinct Denisovan groups through interbreeding events. However, the history of contact with Denisovans remains unclear. By ...

Since their discovery in 2010, Denisovans have captured the attention of scientists and the general public. One of the biggest questions about this ancient group has been what they looked like, and ...

Dyani Lewis is a freelance journalist in Melbourne, Australia. Palaeontologists used ancient molecules to identify a cranium found near Harbin in northeastern China as belonging to the group. It’s the ...