The 90,000-year-old remains of a teenage girl is the first evidence of interbreeding between two different species of early humans, scientists have revealed. Remains discovered during an archaeological dig in Siberia have been confirmed as a hominin hybrid between Neanderthals, and another sister-species to homo sapiens the Denisovans. The girl, known as Denisova 11, was believed to be 13 years old when she died.
Her remains were excavated from a cave in Siberia in 2012, among other Denisovan bones. Paleogeneticist Viviane Slon, who made the discovery, initially believed she must have contaminated her sample, she told National Geographic. But after six separate tests the find was confirmed.
Ms Slon, whose team reported their findings in journal Nature yesterday, said: “We knew from previous studies that Neandertals and Denisovans must have occasionally had children together. But I never thought we would be so lucky as to find an actual offspring of the two groups.” All evidence of Denisovans has come from the same Siberian cave, where the hybrid girl was found in 2012.
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