Bernard's blog does a good job of reviewing the recent publication of a 200,000 year old Denisovan genome.
This Denisovan's life predates the emergence of modern humans from Africa, but overlaps with the existence of the earliest modern humans within Africa.
In a nutshell, the preprint is: Stéphane Peyrégne, et al., "A high-coverage genome from a 200,000-year-old Denisovan" bioRxiv (October 20, 2025). According to Bernard (via Google translate from French):
They sequenced the genome of molar Denisova 25. Initial results showed that the individual was male. Furthermore, the mitochondrial and Y chromosome haplogroups both belong to the Denisovan population.
have you heard of Chris Stringer newest theory of origin of sapiens ? it's in Asia not African
ReplyDeleteA maternal-fetal PIEZO1 incompatibility as a barrier to Neanderthal-modern human admixture
ReplyDeleteAsya Makhro, Sebastian Bardh, Lars Kaestner, Isabel Dorn, Nicole Bender, View ORCID ProfilePatrick Eppenberger
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.09.29.679417
Abstract
When Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans interbred, they may have faced conditional reproductive barriers. We identify a likely maternal-fetal incompatibility involving a Neanderthal PIEZO1 gene variant predicted to increase red blood cell oxygen affinity. While potentially advantageous in Neanderthals, this trait became detrimental in hybrids: heterozygous mothers carrying one Neanderthal allele could deliver insufficient oxygen to fetuses inheriting two modern alleles, reducing their survival. We tested this hypothesis using in vitro physiology, population genetic simulations, and genomic surveys. Pharmacological activation of Piezo1 in human red blood cells reproduced the high-affinity phenotype, providing a biochemical basis for impaired placental oxygen transfer. Simulations showed that maternal-fetal mismatch drives frequency-dependent selection against the Neanderthal allele, promoting demographic decline. Genomic data confirm that the variant is virtually absent in modern humans, consistent with strong purifying selection. Our findings reveal how subtle physiological mismatches plausibly restricted gene flow, contributing to Neanderthal extinction, and highlight a mechanism potentially underlying unexplained pregnancy complications today.
"have you heard of Chris Stringer newest theory of origin of sapiens ? it's in Asia not African"
ReplyDeleteProfoundly unlikely. Verging on crackpot.
"A maternal-fetal PIEZO1 incompatibility as a barrier to Neanderthal-modern human admixture"
Basically, a detailed and specific explanation for why Haldane's law applies in these cases.
Profoundly unlikely. Verging on crackpot.
ReplyDeletethat is the Yunxian 2 revolution
actually his paper on the Yunxian 2 peer reviewed is taken seriously and already has 8 citation
The phylogenetic position of the Yunxian cranium elucidates the origin of Homo longi and the Denisovans
Xiaobo Feng https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0120-0733, Qiyu Yin https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0263-1351, Feng Gao https://orcid.org/0009-0007-3237-6933, Dan Lu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9762-0940, Qin Fang, Yilu Feng, Xuchu Huang, Chen Tan, Hanwen Zhou, Qiang Li https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9724-5439, Chi Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6009-5273, Chris Stringer https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9183-7337, and Xijun Ni https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4328-8695 fewerAuthors Info & Affiliations
Science
25 Sep 2025
Vol 389, Issue 6767
pp. 1320-1324
It is now well known that there were at one time many Homo lineages. Understanding of the differences among these lineages is largely dependent upon crania that are rare and often damaged and deformed by age. Feng et al. reconstructed the 1-million-year-old Yunxian 2 cranium using an approach that allowed for removal of much of the compression and distortion naturally present in the fossil. In doing so, they found that the cranium contained both primitive and derived traits and concluded that it is representative of the H. longi clade, which is sister to H. sapiens and likely contained the Denisovans.
Abstract
Diverse forms of Homo coexisted during the Middle Pleistocene. Whether these fossil humans represent different species or clades is debated. The ~1-million-year-old Yunxian 2 fossil from China is important for understanding the cladogenesis of Homo and the origin of Homo sapiens. In this study, we restored and reconstructed the distorted Yunxian 2 cranium using recently introduced technology. The results show that this cranium displays mosaic primitive and derived features. Morphometric and phylogenetic analyses suggest that it is an early member of the Asian H. longi clade, which includes the Denisovans and is the main part of the sister group to the H. sapiens clade. Both the H. sapiens and H. longi clades have deep roots extending beyond the Middle Pleistocene and probably experienced rapid early diversification. Yunxian 2 may preserve transitional features close to the origins of the two clades.
Yunxian 2 is 1 million years old and in China, and share features with H erectus
Yunxian 2 may be the last common ancestor of sapiens Neanderthal and Deniosavans
Yunxian 2 is transitioning between the early erectus and later sapiens Neanderthal and Deniosavans, and found in China
Gutsick Gibbon talk about it