The Ancient Girl Whose DNA Revealed Her Parents Were Two Different Human Species
In 2010, they had just published the first draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome — a landmark achievement that had required years of work and had already revolutionized the understanding of human evolution.
The little finger bone from Denisova Cave was identified as belonging to a young girl — perhaps ten to twelve years old when she died.
The initial expectation was that the bone would yield DNA consistent with either Neanderthals or modern humans, both of which had been present in this region.
What the DNA showed was neither.
The mitochondrial DNA — the genetic material inherited from the mother, which is more abundant in ancient samples and therefore more easily sequenced — did not match Neanderthals.
It did not match modern humans.
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