New strain of humankind identified
New strain of humankind identified – The Globe and Mail.
In the latest use of DNA to investigate the story of humankind, scientists have decoded genetic material from an unidentified human ancestor that lived in Siberia and concluded it might be a new member of the human family tree.
The DNA doesn’t match modern humans or Neanderthals, two species that lived in that area around the same time — 30,000 to 50,000 years ago.
Instead, it suggests the Siberian species lineage split off from the branch leading to moderns and Neanderthals a million years ago, the researchers calculated. And they said that doesn’t seem to match the history of human ancestors previously known from fossils.
So the Siberian species may be brand new, although the scientists cautioned that they’re not ready to make that claim yet.
Other experts agreed that while the Siberian species may be new, the case is far from proven.
Well this is pretty nifty. It’s always weird knowing we all came from the same 20+ people. Or, for your Christians out there; 2.
