New Group of Humans?

[Steve]

Nature, December 23, and Science News, Jan. 15 report the discovery of a new group of humans "that split from the line leading to modern humans roughly a million years ago, well before the Neandertal-human split about 270,000 to 440,000 years ago." They are called Denisovans after the cave in Siberia where remains of two individuals were found and whose DNA were analyzed. Aside from indications of a gene flow to modern humans and shared genes with Neandertals, the Denisovans surprisingly share a 4 to 6 percent relationship with humans currently living in New Guinea and Bougainville Island.