Ian Sample “New species of human ancestor found in Siberia” http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/mar/24/new-human-species-siberia
シベリア南部の山中にある洞窟で、約３万年前の〈人間〉の指の骨が発見されたという。この指の骨は５〜７歳の子どものものと見られるが、性別は判定不能。マックス・プランク研究所のDNA分析によると、ホモ・サピエンスともネアンデルタール人とも違う「これまでは知られていなかった人間の祖先（a previously unknown human ancestor）」である可能性が高いという。
この地域は露西亜、モンゴル、中国、カザフスタンの国境地帯。アルタイ山脈の麓。この地域（Tuva）については、Anna Reid The Shaman’s Coat*1第４章”The Tuvans”を参照のこと。
Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, ran genetic tests on the bone fragments and were stunned to find it did not match the DNA profile of Neanderthals or early modern humans.Johannes Krause sequenced DNA from mitochondria, the sub-cellular bodies that carry genetic material passed down only the maternal line. Because the DNA came from the mother, they called the creature "X-woman"."It really looked like something I had never seen before. It was a sequence which is similar in some ways to humans, but still quite distinct," Krause said. It is the first time a new type of human has been identified from DNA alone.
By comparing the DNA with sequences from Neanderthals and modern humans, Krause's team concluded that modern humans shared a common ancestor with the creature a million years ago. Humans and Neanderthals diverged from an ancestor that lived 500,000 years ago.
The Shaman's Coat: A Native History of Siberia
- 作者: Anna Reid
- 出版社/メーカー: Orion mass market paperback
- 発売日: 2003/03/06
- メディア: ペーパーバック
- クリック: 5回
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