Two molars, including this one, and a chip from a pinkie bone are the only fossil evidence so far of the enigmatic people known as the Denisovans. From the July issue of National Geographic magazine.
(© Robert Clark/National Geographic)
Svante Pääbo led the team that studied the Denisovans’ DNA. His ultimate quarry, he says, is not them but us: He wants to understand the genetic changes that made humans modern. From the July issue of National Geographic magazine.
A replica shows the size and position—on Pääbo’s pinkie—of the bone chip that allowed his lab to discover the Denisovans through their DNA. The chip belonged to an eight-year-old girl. From the July issue of National Geographic magazine.
(© Robert Clark/National Geographic)