The Denisovans, now extinct, were a species or subspecies of archaic humans during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods. Hebrew University research scientist Liran Carmel and his colleague David Gokhman (among others on the team) have, for the first time, given the world an idea of the Denosivans’ probable appearance. They used genetic data from a few tiny bone fragments to produce the reconstruction.
Quote: “Studying Denisovan anatomy can teach us about human adaptation, evolutionary constraints, development, gene-environment interactions, and disease dynamics. At a more general level, this work is a step towards being able to infer an individual’s anatomy based on their DNA.”
— Prof. Liran Carmel
Sources: Wikipedia, Eurekalert.org
Learn more about Prof. Liran Carmel. >>
Watch “Who Were The Denisovan Humans?” [14:48]. >>
Read “First glimpse at what ancient Denisovans may have looked like, using DNA methylation data” >>
Photo directly above: NBC.com
Photo at the top: The Times of Israel