Everyone has heard the common insult of calling someone a neanderthal, as if to call them stupid or dumb due to the stigma behind neanderthals as also being stupid creatures. Calling someone a Denisovan, however, does not roll off the tongue quite the same. Besides, most people are not really sure what Denisovans are in the first place.
Denisovans are an extinct creature from the genus homo, and are speculated to have lived with homo sapiens (us) and the neanderthals for a period of time before dying off.
Very little is known about the Denisovans due to the lack of fossils found. The only fossils to have been found have all been in one place called Denisova Cave, and all fossils are fragments and do not give great insight into how one of these creatures may have looked.
But recently, a new study suggests that they may have interacted with humans some 15,000-30,000 years ago, which is drastically different than what was previously thought. As paleoanthropologist Chris Strigner points out, “A late surviving lineage [of Denisovans] could have interbred with Homo sapiens.”
Of course, some in the science communities following this study are skeptical of the claims that have been made, thinking that the estimate of interbreeding from 15,000-30,000 years ago is too recent.
Without better fossil records of the Denisovans, it will be impossible to confirm whether these estimates are science fact or science fiction. Needless to say, more studies need to be done in order to unravel the truth about our little known cousins.
JustInScience 