Latest News

  • Home
  • Global
  • 'Ghost' human ancestor discovered in West Africa
'Ghost' human ancestor discovered in West Africa
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 IST

A mysterious "ghost population" of now-extinct ancient human-like creatures may have interbred with early humans living in West Africa, scientists say.

 
 

Researchers suggest DNA from this group makes up between 2% and 19% of modern West Africans' genetic ancestry.
 
They believe the interbreeding occurred about 43,000 years ago.
 
Scientists found links to the Mende people of Sierra Leone, Yoruba as well as Esan people in Nigeria, plus other groups in western areas of The Gambia.
 
The new study was published in Science Advances this week.
 
It suggests that ancestors of modern West Africans interbred with a yet-undiscovered species of archaic human, similar to how ancient Europeans mated with Neanderthals, and Oceanic populations with Denisovans.
 
The research sheds more light on how archaic hominins added to the genetic variation of present-day Africans, which has been poorly understood even though it is the most genetically diverse continent.
 
Hundreds of thousands of years ago there were several different groups of humans including modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans.
 
The newly-discovered "ghost population" of ancient human species seems likely to have diverged from these groups.
 
Sriram Sankararaman - the computational biologist who led the research at the University of California in Los Angeles - told BBC Newsday he believed more such groups would be found in the future.
 
His team looked at the genetic make-up of West Africans and found that some of their DNA came from an ancient unexplained source.
 
"As we get more data from diverse populations - and better quality data - our ability to sift through that data and excavate these ghost populations is going to get better," Mr Sankararaman said.

 
 
 
 
 

Related Topics

 
 
 

Trending News & Articles

 Article
'Worse than prison': A rare look inside China's detention camps to 'brainwash' Muslims

ALMATY: Hour upon hour, day upon day, Omir Bekali and other detainees in far western China's new indoctrination camps had to disavow the...

Recently posted . 203K views . 1 min read
 

 Article
What The Shape Of Your Belly Button Says About Your Health

If you have payed attention to the belly buttons of people on the beach or the members of your family, you have probably noticed that they have different shapes and...

Recently posted . 9K views . 2 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Horrifying Acts of Chemical Warfare and Gas Attacks

In this age of terror, there might be nothing more terrifying than the thought of an attack carried out with chemical weapons. We’ve all heard the horrific ...

Recently posted . 4K views . 4 min read
 

 Article
Top 10 Best Gym Equipment Brands in India 2018

Body fitness is one thing that everyone wants to maintain irrespective of age. Going to the gym and doing some great exercise always helps to maintain your body fit...

Recently posted . 4K views . 2 min read
 

 
 

More in Global

 Article
Google launches ‘Cloud AutoML’ to help businesses build AI models

Businesses with limited machine learning expertise can use Google’s ‘Cloud AutoML’ to develop AI products.

Recently posted. 583 views . 0 min read
 

 Article
Vampire bats 'French kiss with blood' to form lasting bonds

Vampire bats establish friendships by sharing regurgitated blood with their neighbours in a "kind of horrifying French kiss", a new study says.

Recently posted. 623 views . 1 min read
 

 Article
5 features that DuckDuckGo has and Google does not: Pick your search engine wisely

DuckDuckGo calls itself the search engine that does not track you. Usually search engines, including search giant Google, collect and store data and link that dat...

Recently posted. 661 views . 1 min read
 

 Reviews
The Best 5 Hiking Backpacks in India – Reviews & Buying Guide



Recently posted . 2K views . 140 min read
 

 Article
Students overstaying their tenure in US are not welcome

MUMBAI: US President Donald Trump's administration has issued a draft policy late on Friday, that seeks to crack down on students overstaying i...

Recently posted. 663 views . 2 min read
 

 Article
"Ghost" Footprints Hiding Since End Of Ice Age Found Using Special Radar

The researchers examined the footprints of humans, mammoths and giant sloths in the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico.  

Recently posted. 580 views . 1 min read
 

 
 
 

   Prashnavali

  Thought of the Day

There is only one happiness in this life, to love and be loved.
Anonymous

Be the first one to comment on this story

Close
Post Comment
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST
Shibu Chandran
2 hours ago

Serving political interests in another person's illness is the lowest form of human value. A 70+ y old lady has cancer.

November 28, 2016 05:00 IST


ads
Back To Top