Scientists analyzing proteins extracted from 400,000-year-old *Homo erectus* teeth discovered in China have uncovered evidence that the ancient species interbred with Denisovans. The findings, published in *Nature* by Qiaomei Fu and colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, challenge the long-held model that *Homo erectus* was an evolutionary dead end that left no descendants. Because proteins survive far longer than DNA in tooth enamel, the researchers were able to recover biological data from six teeth ac…
Key points
Ancient *Homo erectus* was not an evolutionary dead end because its genetic lineage survi…: Ancient *Homo erectus* was not an evolutionary dead end because its genetic lineage survives in living human populations.
Interbreeding between archaic human lineages was a routine occurrence rather than an exce…: Interbreeding between archaic human lineages was a routine occurrence rather than an exceptional evolutionary event.
Analyzing tooth enamel proteins enables researchers to recover biological data that persi…: Analyzing tooth enamel proteins enables researchers to recover biological data that persists far longer than ancient DNA.
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- Date:
- November 5, 2026
- Source:
- The Conversation
- Summary:
- A groundbreaking discovery is rewriting the story of human evolution, revealing that an ancient human species once thought to be an evolutionary dead end may have left genetic traces in people alive today. By extracting proteins from 400,000-year-old Homo erectus teeth discovered in China, scientists uncovered evidence suggesting that these early humans interbred with Denisovans, another mysterious ancient human group. That genetic connection may have eventually reached modern populations in the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
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For most of the 20th century, the model of human origins was a tree: with the trunk dividing into branches, and then twigs. Each species of human relative (hominin) was a neat, single branch.
As an undergraduate, I was taught that Homo sapiens was one of these branches that emerged in Africa, spread across the world, and displaced every archaic human it encountered.
Neanderthals, Homo erectus, and other ancient relatives were evolutionary dead ends – unfortunate cousins who left no descendants. In the…
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