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Ghost Lineages

All articles tagged with #ghost lineages

science1 month ago•50 min saved

Two Ghost Ancestors Leave DNA Footprints in Modern Humans

Researchers using TRACE analyzed more than 500 modern human genomes from Africa, Europe, and Asia and uncovered traces of two previously unknown ancestral lineages. One lineage interbred with humans in Africa more than 50,000 years ago and now accounts for about 0.5% to 1% of modern DNA, while an older 'super-archaic' lineage dates back roughly 1.8 million years, with no DNA recovered. These ghost lineages help explain how humans adapted to different environments and why certain diseases affect specific populations, with current DNA providing the closest evidence of these long-lost ancestors.

via Ground News|

#african-interbreeding #ancient-dna #ghost-lineages

science1 month ago•58 min saved

Hidden ancestors traced in modern genomes reshape human family tree

A new method called TRACE lets researchers scan modern human genomes for signals from long-lost populations, uncovering two ghost lineages that contributed to today’s DNA: a younger Africa-related lineage that interbred with Homo sapiens over 50,000 years ago and accounts for about 0.5%–1% of DNA, and a much older “super-archaic” lineage (diverging ~1.8 million years ago) that interbred with Denisovans and reached modern humans via that lineage. The team found traces of both ghost ancestries across populations in Africa, Europe, and Asia, suggesting deep, widespread admixture before the major Out-of-Africa migration. While likely linked to Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus candidates, the exact populations remain unknown; the study highlights how deep genealogies can illuminate human history and evolution, with future ancient DNA potentially confirming the lineages.

via Yahoo|

#ancient-dna #ghost-lineages #homo-erectus

science1 month ago•205 min saved

DNA Reveals Two Hidden Ancestors In Modern Humans

A new computer-based approach called TRACE scanned genomes from 500 modern humans to reconstruct deep genealogies and uncovered two mysterious ancestral lineages: a relatively recent African ghost lineage that interbred with Homo sapiens in Africa over 50,000 years ago, contributing about 0.5%–1% of today’s DNA; and a much older “super-archaic” lineage that split around 1.8 million years ago and later entered the human gene pool through Denisovans in Eurasia, leaving traces in some modern genomes and showing that our ancestry includes hidden branches still influencing us today.

via CNN|

#africa #denisovans #ghost-lineages

science2 months ago•142 min saved

Ancient 'ghost' lineages embedded in every human genome, new study finds

A new method scans 500+ present‑day human genomes and reconstructs ancestral genealogies to reveal two previously unknown archaic lineages contributed to modern humans: a widespread 'ghost' lineage that left about 0.5%–1% of genomes in all people (likely from Homo heidelbergensis) and a 'super‑archaic' lineage dating to around 1.8 million years ago that is found in Oceanian genomes within Denisovan DNA at about 0.002%, implying interbreeding with extinct relatives far earlier in our history. The approach does not require fossil DNA and reinforces a view of human evolution as a web of repeated interbreeding rather than a simple branching tree. Published in Science (2026) by Moorjani and colleagues.

via Live Science|

#ancient-dna #ghost-lineages #human-evolution