The Jomon people of prehistoric Japan had “virtually no Denisovans.” DNAsuggesting their ancestors may not have had contact with this now extinct group of Eurasian people, a new study reports.
The discovery comes as part of a study of hundreds of ancient and modern genomes to determine when and where modern humans emerged.wise man) mated with our mysterious Denisovan cousins.
In addition, the team found that ancient inhabitants of mainland East Asia, e.g. China and Mongolia, carried more Denisovan genes than any other Eurasian population. These early East Asians received large amounts of Denisovan ancestry from several Denisovan groups before the Last Glacial Maximum (ca. 26,500–19,000 years ago), the coldest part last ice agethe team found it.
Meanwhile, ancient inhabitants of western Eurasia, such as those from Iran and Georgia, had the fewest Denisovan ancestors, the team reported.
The results help scientists map early human migrations and how different groups mixed. “Denisovan DNA provides a powerful marker for reconstructing population history,” study co-author. Stephane PeyrenThis was stated by an evolutionary geneticist from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. statement.
Mysterious Denisovans
Little is known about the Denisovans, who lived in Eurasia approximately 200,000–30,000 years ago, but researchers have found several remains and traces of their DNA among modern inhabitants of Oceania, East Asianspeople from Southeast Asia and Native Americans.
To track when and where Denisovan DNA entered the modern human genome, the team analyzed the genetic makeup of 115 people. X. sapiens whose ancient remains have been found in the USA, South America, Western Eurasia, Siberia and East Asia. The oldest remains belonged to a person who lived approximately 45,000 years ago in what is now Bulgaria, and the most recent remains belonged to a person who lived 766 years ago in what is now Siberia. They also analyzed the genomes of 279 modern humans, whose data was recorded in Simons Genome Diversity Project.
Researchers have found the largest number of Denisovan ancestors in human remains dating back about 40,000 years from China. Tianyuanwith 0.25% of their genome belonging to Denisovans. Tests have shown that Tianyuan's DNA belongs to many different Denisovan groups.
Researchers were surprised to discover that the Japanese of the prehistoric Jomon period had very little Denisovan ancestry: one person who lived 3,755 years ago had between one-sixth and one-eighth the Denisovan DNA found in modern East Asians. (Modern East Asians have about 0.1% Denisovan DNA).
However, Denisovan genes eventually made their way to Japan. People from the Kofun period in Japan (roughly 300 to 710 AD) had more Denisovan DNA than Jomon people, and these genes could potentially have entered the genomes after mass migration of East Asians to Japan during this period.
It's unclear at this point why the Jomon have few Denisovan ancestors, but the team has ideas.
Perhaps “some [modern human] groups took different routes during early dispersal in East Asia,” says the study’s first author. Jiaqi Yangthe doctoral student researcher in evolutionary genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology said in a statement. “Or Denisovans were so rare that communication with them was rare.”
Researchers cannot be sure of the exact scenario because available data is limited. Currently, the oldest Jomon genome is only about 9,000 years old, but there is evidence of modern people who lived on the Japanese archipelago approximately 32,000 years ago.. Genetic data from this missing 23,000-year period “could help unravel the region's early population history,” the authors wrote in the study.
