The Sexual Adventures of Homo Sapiens with Extinct Species

Scientific research indicates that the sexual adventures of our ancestors, Homo sapiens, were much more extensive than previously thought. Evidence of sexual relationships between our ancestors and other human species, all of which are now extinct, still exists in the genome of modern humans. According to Reuters, an analysis of genetic data from 1,500 individuals from various parts of the world shows that at least four episodes of sexual intercourse occurred among our ancestors tens of thousands of years ago, three of which involved the closest extinct human species; in other words, these sexual relationships were neither rare nor accidental. Among these, the DNA of modern humans carries the legacy of Neanderthals, Denisovans, and another unidentified human lineage, but their genetic traces exist in modern humans. The report, details of which were published in the journal 'Science', adds that current inhabitants of remote tropical islands, particularly in the Melanesia region, are the only humans who have inherited a significant amount of Denisovan genes. Modern Melanesians, like most modern humans, also inherit Neanderthal genes. Research shows that our ancestors engaged in sexual relationships with at least three other human species besides their own over the past 100,000 years, a fact that was completely unknown to us until ten years ago. Joshua Akey, an evolutionary geneticist at the University of Washington who participated in this research, states that some hereditary genes from other human lineages that are now extinct have also been beneficial to their current descendants. In particular, the immune system, as well as the biology of skin and hair in modern humans, owes much to genes inherited from other human species. The DNA sequence of 35 residents of the northern Melanesian islands shows that two percent carry Neanderthal genes, while the contribution of Denisovan ancestry to their DNA is between 2 to 4 percent. Akey notes that non-African modern humans carry between 1.5 to 4 percent of Neanderthal genes. In contrast, Africans have inherited no genes from Neanderthals or Denisovans, as neither of these human species lived on this continent. Denisovans were first discovered in the past decade, with a finger bone and two teeth found in a cave in northern Siberia, and genetic research has been conducted on them. However, there is much evidence and many bones remaining from Neanderthals. This species lived in most of Europe and Asia for 350,000 to 40,000 years before becoming extinct. There is little information available about Denisovans, but the genetic traces in modern humans indicate that these humans lived in vast areas of Asia. Andrei Myrto, another researcher from Binghamton University, states that scientists have also found remnants of the genome from another type of human in modern humans, about which we still have no information. According to him, research shows that our ancestors engaged in sexual relationships with at least three other human species besides their own over the past 100,000 years, a fact that was completely unknown to us until ten years ago.