Modern Melanesians Are Related To A Mysterious Extinct Species Of Human

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Most of what we know about Denisovan DNA comes from this partial finger bone. Thilo Parg via Wikipedia Commons CC-by-SA3.0

The extinct Denisovans live on, if somewhat tenuously, in our genes. Analysis of the DNA of Melanesians has revealed that their genome retains traces of the Denisovans to an extent similar to the presence of Neanderthal genes in people of European or Asian descent.