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Hereditas(Beijing) ›› 2022, Vol. 44 ›› Issue (5): 362-369.doi: 10.16288/j.yczz.22-032

• Frontier Focus • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Exploring the evolution of archaic humans through sedimentary ancient DNA

Wanjing Ping(), Yichen Liu, Qiaomei Fu()   

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
  • Received:2022-02-14 Revised:2022-03-11 Online:2022-05-20 Published:2022-03-31
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China No(41925009);the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nos(YSBR-019);the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nos(XDB26000000);the Tencent Foundation (through the XPLORER PRIZE)

Abstract:

Recent success in the retrieval of nuclear DNA of ancient humans and animals from cave sediments paves the way for genome-wide studies of past populations directly from sediments. In three studies, nuclear genomes of different species were obtained from the sediments of multiple archeological caves and their genetic histories were revealed, including an unknown population replacement of Neanderthals from Estatuas cave in Spain, which was recovered using a new DNA capture approach. By extending sediments as a source of DNA beyond fossils, this breakthrough is of particular significance to the field of ancient human genomics, which brings about more possibilities for exploring the history of past population migration, evolution and adaptation within larger time-scales and geographical areas where no fossil remains exist. Here, we mainly review the significance of the technical advances in retrieving ancient nuclear DNA from sediments and present new insights into the genetic history of Neanderthals revealed by this technique. By combining ancient genomes retrieved from fossils and additional mitochondrial DNA extracted from sediments of archaeological sites, we may begin investigating diverse archaic populations and examine their genetic relationships, movements and replacements in detail.

Key words: sedimentary ancient DNA, nuclear genomes, archaic humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans, hybridization capture, probe-set, population replacement