The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia

TLDR

Other hominin lineages beyond Neanderthals remain largely unknown, yet the Denisova Cave stratigraphy indicates contemporaneous coexistence with Neanderthals and modern humans. We sequenced the complete mitochondrial genome from a 2008 Denisova Cave bone in the Altai Mountains, Siberia. The mtDNA represents a novel lineage sharing a common ancestor with modern humans and Neanderthals about 1 million years ago, indicating a distinct African exodus separate from those of Neanderthals and modern humans.

Abstract

With the exception of Neanderthals, from which DNA sequences of numerous individuals have now been determined, the number and genetic relationships of other hominin lineages are largely unknown. Here we report a complete mitochondrial (mt) DNA sequence retrieved from a bone excavated in 2008 in Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia. It represents a hitherto unknown type of hominin mtDNA that shares a common ancestor with anatomically modern human and Neanderthal mtDNAs about 1.0 million years ago. This indicates that it derives from a hominin migration out of Africa distinct from that of the ancestors of Neanderthals and of modern humans. The stratigraphy of the cave where the bone was found suggests that the Denisova hominin lived close in time and space with Neanderthals as well as with modern humans.