Re: Denisova:
Thank you for the very rapid FAQ on this fascinating new article! As you say,
the findings should not be unexpected. Even the contribution from archaics to
present-day Melanesians was foretold by the New Mexico group. Maybe this will
put some sanity into those recurring "Modern humans are from China not Africa"
stories. Pleistocene Homo sapiens in Asia just gets no respect! This seems to
show a population of “Chinese Neanderthals” replacing H. erectus and later being
replaced by OOA, but neither is quite 100%.Just thinking… If present-day populations, Neanderthals, and “Denisovans” make a
near-trichotomy of SUBSPECIES, perhaps Homo sapiens mapaensis Kurth 1965 or Homo
sapiens daliensis Wu Xinzhi 1981 will be found to have priority…
Yes, I suspect those names may be available, depending on the timing of these population divergences. The Chinese record has several shoes left to drop.
