A possible new species of human

 

DNA analysis shows a finger bone discovered in the Denisova cave, southern Siberia, may be from a previously unrecognized, extinct human species (Image: Johannes Krause, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

by Ewen Callaway
Courtesy of New Scientist

The human family tree may be in for a dramatic rewrite. DNA collected from a fossilised finger bone from Siberia shows it belonged to a mysterious ancient hominid – perhaps a new species.

"X-woman", as the creature has been named, last shared an ancestor with humans and Neanderthals about 1 million years ago but is probably different from both species. She lived 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.

"This is the tip of the iceberg," says Chris Stringer, a palaeoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London who was not involved in the find. More hominids that are neither Neanderthal nor human are likely to be discovered in coming years, particularly in central and eastern Asia, he says.

**See the entire story at New Scientist**