400,000 year-old human DNA discovered in bones in Spanish cave

Reconstruction of a Neanderthal man by John Gurche. Photograph by Tim Evanson

Scientists have managed to extract human DNA from bone fragments that has been found to be 400,000 years old, confusing what we thought we knew about our historical ancestors.

Researchers discovered the bone fragments in the Sima de los Huesos cave in Spain and found that the DNA had less genetic similarity with European Neanderthals than with Denisovans, a human species previously believed to have lived exclusively in Siberia according to National Geographic.

Published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, Matthias Meyer of Max Planck Institute called the discovery of DNA similar to that of Denisovans as “irritating”, as it shows that the evolution of Neanderthals and Denisovans may be much more complicated and intertwined than previously thought.

The DNA is 300,000 years older than the previous record for the oldest discovered human DNA, and was preserved because of the cave’s stable temperatures.