Homo erectus Interbred With Denisovans

Why this is here: Researchers found the AMBN(A253G) amino acid variant in all six Homo erectus teeth, a variant never before seen in humans or other primates.

Researchers studying teeth from six Homo erectus individuals in China discovered shared genetic variants with Denisovans and modern humans. The team, including Qiaomei Fu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, extracted enamel proteins to analyze amino acid variants. They identified one variant, AMBN(A253G), new to humans and primates, alongside a known variant, AMBN(M273V), present in both Denisovans and some people today.

This suggests Homo erectus interbred with Denisovans roughly 400,000 years ago in East Asia. The Denisovans then likely passed on the AMBN(M273V) variant to Homo sapiens through interbreeding. Katerina Harvati-Papatheodorou at Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen notes this paleoproteomic analysis fills a gap in understanding relationships between these hominin groups.

However, Denisovan remains are scarce—found only in Russia and China—making a complete understanding of their history difficult. While the study reveals a likely pathway for this genetic transfer, further research is needed to map the full extent of interbreeding across hominin lineages and the precise timeline of these interactions.