jd's Journal: Denisovan find in Laos

Since I'm rewriting this as a journal, I'll add a few more links.

According to the scientific journal Nature: "A fossilized tooth unearthed in a cave in northern Laos might have belonged to a young Denisovan girl that died between 164,000 and 131,000 years ago. If confirmed, it would be the first fossil evidence that Denisovans â" an extinct hominin species that co-existed with Neanderthals and modern humans â" lived in southeast Asia."

Whilst not strictly surprising, as Denisovan genes had previously been found in Tibetan people, there had been no archaeological evidence of Denisovans outside of Siberia, the genes might have arrived later. This new find makes it likely that the Denisovans were there at the time.

There has been work on East-Asia-specific Denisovan markers

In Bajau, the genetic markers that allow Sherpas and other peoples to live at high altitudes also allow islanders to freedive for longer than other humans, which raises some interesting questions over who inhabited what areas in ancient times.

This new find would imply that the Denisovans lived in these areas with humans moving in later on, with the two coexisting for a while, rather than having crossbreeds move in from somewhere else.