Those living in Papua New Guinea’s highlands may benefit from having Denisovan DNA
Michael Runkel/Danita Delimont/Getty Images/Gallo Images ROOTS
People living in the highlands and lowlands of Papua New Guinea have different frequencies of several Denisovan genetic variants, which may help them adapt to their local environmental conditions.
The Denisovans were hominins that lived across eastern Eurasia for hundreds of thousands of years, giving them plenty of time to adapt to a variety of environments.
After leaving Africa, Homo sapiens interbred with other human species, including Denisovans,…