Denisovan DNA may have also contributed to fat and blood sugar levels, as well as modern immune systems. Neanderthals also interbred with modern humans, as previous research has shown.

Initially, scientists thought that only Papuans carried traces of Denisovan DNA, with up to 5 percent of their genome being ...

But DNA from a fossil found earlier in a nearby cave had proved to be Neanderthal, so it was possible this bone was Neanderthal as well. The Theory The Denisovans’ closest cousins were Neanderthals.

an Indigenous group in the Philippines called the Ayta Magbukon have 30 to 40 percent more Denisovan DNA than these other frontrunners, for a total of nearly 5 percent of their genomes. Denisovans ...

Mitochondrial DNA, nuclear DNA from autosomes and sex chromosomes, and paleogenomic data from Neanderthals and Denisovans were analyzed. Researchers also examined physiological adaptations ...