Anthropologists have just hit the genomic jackpot
Among the thousands of bone fragments excavated from an ancient cave in the Altai mountains in Siberia, scientists have identified an inch-long shard that belonged to a rare hominin hybrid: a female with a Denisovan dad and a Neanderthal mom.
An analysis of this bone, published Wednesday in Nature, provides further evidence that the genetically distinct Neanderthals and Denisovans met and interacted with each other multiple times throughout their history.
"We are learning that human evolution is much more interesting and
