Ever since Charles Darwin has come out with his theory of evolution, scientists have been trying to trace the roots of modern man. Through the ages man has evolved, sometimes coming into contact with other species to form what would later be known as Homo sapiens. Now though there could be another unknown ancestor of the modern man that has not been found, but could be decoded through our genes.
Through computer analysis, the third ancestor of modern man has been found in DNA, according to Science News. Ryan Bohlender is a statistical geneticist from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He said that this lost ancestor is neither Neanderthal or Denisovan.
It has not been identified yet what species that might be, but it is speculated that it has come from Africa and then crossed into Asia. The DNA clue has been found among the Melanesian people, who can be found in the South Pacific. The DNA found is quite like that of the Denisovan yet also distinct from it. It is likely that a different group of Denisovans have produced the people from Australia and Papua.
Unlike Neanderthals, Denisovan fossils are quite few. Only a few finger bone and some teeth have been found, and the DNA from it have not matched any previously known hominid fossil. The DNA clue found among Melanesians are yet another group then, even if no fossil has been recovered yet.
This is not the first time that such a curious DNA clue has been seen. Earlier DNA from indigenous people in Australasia have uncovered another ancestor to modern man, as the Daily Mail reports. The discovery has been made by Professor Jaume Bertranpetit from Pompeu Fabra University in Spain.
Whether the two genetic clues are related is not yet known. The finding of Professor Bertranpetit has not disclosed yet what type of human that has been found in the DNA of people from Australasia. Given its close proximity though with the Melanesians, there is a possibility that there might be a relation, though that has not been proven yet.
In another discovery, a new species of dinosaur has been found in Australia.
