Another Species of Human? The Truth About Denisovans

Did you know that homo sapiens were not the only type of ancient "human" to exist? During most of the past 2 million years or so, there were several species of hominids on Earth at any given time. You probably know the Neanderthals, but since 2010 we’ve been uncovering evidence of another mysterious cousin that we lived alongside, the Denisovans! Join Hank Green and learn more in this new episode of SciShow!

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[rondonalves]

Bajau people (who live between fipilipines, malaysia, indonesia) have high concentration of denisovan genes, also related to their capacity of staying longer under the sea level and diving for much longer.

[ninow]

An indegenous tribe in the Philippines (Aetas) was found to have the most denisovan DNA in the world, about 5%. 30 to 40% more than the Papuans and Australians.

[Danfunnyman]

Sometimes evolution feels like a videogame... "You must reach immune system level 5 to enter this region"

[dennisvance]

My middle initial is not “O”. That would be somewhat disturbing.

[jonathanrumley]

Hi Hank! How likely is it that there are Denisovan fossils in museum collections that are mislabeled?

[NerdOutWithMe]

So.... early human history was closer to Middle Earth than we once thought.

[Aconitum_napellus]

They could tell it was a Hominins finger bone by the shape of it and yet I couldn't be certain it wasn't an overcooked popcorn.

[MrMortull]

Homo Sapiens Sapiens ("very wise man", modern humans), we're basically the "greatest hits" album of the Human family.

[micahphilson]

Don't worry, Hank, I'll clear it up for you:

"Dennis-ovans" are the male Denisovans, and "Denise-ovans" are the females.

[peetapol]

A study shows the Ayta Magbukun — a Philippine ethnic group — has the highest known level of Denisovan ancestry in the whole world. Interesting.

[CaliforniaCarpenter]

These Denisovans were evidently gigantic. When the female finger bone was found it was described as “unusually large and robust for a girl of such young age”. When the adult male Denisovan molar was found it was originally mistaken for a Cave Bear tooth until laboratory testing revealed it belonged to a Human. It is at least three times the size of an adult male Homosapien, and this, to me, does not merely represent “big teeth” but rather, gigantic Hominids. Also, the Chlorite bracelet that was found around the 50, 000yr level wasn’t included in this video, but the complexity completely surprised the excavators and it is gloriously beautiful. Curved drill holes indicating high speed! How on Earth does that fit the mud hut and fish bone vision of our predecessors?

[MichaelMiller-rgor]

The idea that there were once other species of humans that once lived along side us is so cool!

[Adam-wlwn]

You're correct, it is Den"ee"sovans. This is because in the Latin alphabet the cave is spelt 'Denísova'. The accented 'i' denotes a long sound hence the 'ee' pronunciation. It'll take a while for people to grasp, just look how many people still pronounce the 'th' in Neanderthal! Great video, I'm fascinated by Denisovans, it's such a mystery!

[elmohead]

Us: Damn, Tibet is kinda cold, unlike Africa.

**Looks at a group of Denisovans**

Us: Hello sexy, why are you wearing so little?

[Rebecca-witl]

I'm really excited about this topic because I'm an archaeology student and I went to Tom Higham's talk about finding the Denisovan bone fragment and radiocarbon dating, and I have to say I love being an archaeology student.

[SaintBroken]

Wait a second! Denisovan genes helped us adapt to high altitude and cold environments and are more common in SEA populations?? The Denisovans were the yeti!

[MrCelaneous]

This was totally fascinating, but am I the only one who finds it weird that Hank talks about Denisovans "interbreeding with our ancestors", when that literally means Denisovans _are_ our ancestors?

"My great-grandmother interbred with my ancestors." Wha?

[druid_zephyrus]

y'all pronouncing it wrong...

It is pronounced Denise Ovens.
She was a baker, and potentially discovered leavened bread...pretty sure.

[uaenruotel]

it makes me wonder how many other species of hominins are also part of our genetic pool that we dont know about

[TragoudistrosMPH]

I appreciate that Hank mentioned the possibility of humans killing them off. Most people and academics speak as if that were not a possibility...