Denny: First-Generation Neanderthal-Denisovan Hybrid

Approximately 90,000 years ago, a 13-year-old girl with a Neanderthal mother and Denisovan father lived in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. Viviane Slon and Svante Pääbo conducted genetic analysis on a 2-centimeter bone fragment discovered in 2012 in Denisova Cave, designated Denisova 11. The analysis revealed the first-generation hybrid between these two archaic human species. The girl's father also carried Neanderthal DNA from earlier admixture events. This finding provides direct evidence that genetically distinct human lineages encountered each other and produced offspring, suggesting multiple instances of interaction between Neanderthal and Denisovan populations.