Unveiled: The Astonishing Appearance of Our Elusive Denisovan Ancestors from 75,000 Years Ago
Imagine piecing together the face of a mysterious teenager who lived 75,000 years ago with just a fragment of a pinky bone. Sounds like something from a sci-fi flick, right? Well, scientists have done just that—rewriting the dusty chapters of human history by uncovering the first-ever facial reconstruction of a Denisovan girl from Siberia. Using an ingenious trick called DNA methylation mapping, they’ve basically turned tiny chemical marks on ancient genes into a 3D blueprint of a face long lost to time. And surprise, surprise—the Denisovans aren’t just Neanderthals’ ugly cousins; their unique traits, from wider skulls to jutting teeth, tell a story of a distant relative who danced to their own genetic drum. This breakthrough isn’t just fascinating; it’s a vivid reminder of how much there still is to discover about our tangled human family tree. Ready to meet your ancient cousin? LEARN MORE
When scientists first discovered these remains of a teenage girl in 2010, they knew that the history of early humans was about to be rewritten. Now we know what the face of a Denisovan actually looked like.
Maayan HarelAn artist’s rendering of the reconstructed face of a Denisovan girl.
It’s incredible what just a little bit of DNA can do. Scientists have successfully reconstructed, for the first time, what one of our archaic human ancestors may have looked like — using only fragments taken from a pinky bone.
According to Live Science, a new study by international researchers has created the first facial reconstruction of a teenage girl who lived in modern-day Siberia some 75,000 years ago and belonged to the Denisovan group of early humans.
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