[NeilBlanchard]

Hi folks,

I found these articles just today on the Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes:

German researchers publish full Neanderthal genome

Entire genome of extinct human decoded from fossil

DNA scan sheds new light on mankind's mysterious cousins (Update)

Fossil finger bone yields genome of a previously unknown human relative (w/ Video)

Complex picture of evolution In the light of the Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes, a new, more complex picture is emerging of the evolutionary history of modern humans and our extinct relatives. According to Green, there was probably an ancestral group that left Africa between 300,000 and 400,000 years ago and quickly diverged, with one branch becoming the Neanderthals who spread into Europe and the other branch moving east and becoming Denisovans. When modern humans left Africa about 70,000 to 80,000 years ago, they first encountered the Neanderthals, an interaction that left traces of Neanderthal DNA scattered through the genomes of all non-Africans. One group of humans later came in contact with Denisovans, leaving traces of Denisovan DNA in the genomes of humans who settled in Melanesia.

Read more at: Fossil finger bone yields genome of a previously unknown human relative (w/ Video)

So, some more information will be available on both genomes.

Science is so cool!