1. There is genetic evidence that the Denisovan girl in the Altai had dark hair, brown skin and eyes.
The article assumes that Denisovans migrated to islands of Southeast Asia and Melanesia; it's more likely that it was the hybrid descendants of the first wave of modern humans to reach mainland East and South Asia and Denisovans. Later waves of human emigration then diluted the Denisovan heritage on the mainland of Asia.
The article assumes that Denisovans migrated to islands of Southeast Asia and Melanesia; it's more likely that it was the hybrid descendants of the first wave of modern humans to reach mainland East and South Asia and Denisovans. Later waves of human emigration then diluted the Denisovan heritage on the mainland of Asia.
2. No, except the last part.
The likely scenario is rather simple: About 600 000 years ago the early Homo heidelbergensis population split into African and Eurasian branches. The former gave rise to Homo sapiens by 195 000 years ago.
The latter interbred with the older Homo erectus population of Eurasia and split into Neanderthal and Denisovan branches, with the former branch evolving enough to stand apart from heidebergensis by 230 000 years ago.
Eventually modern humans migrating out of Africa interbred with neanderthals in Middle East and the hybrid descendants of this first migration wave interbred with the Denisovans, probably in the mainland East Asia.
The likely scenario is rather simple: About 600 000 years ago the early Homo heidelbergensis population split into African and Eurasian branches. The former gave rise to Homo sapiens by 195 000 years ago.
The latter interbred with the older Homo erectus population of Eurasia and split into Neanderthal and Denisovan branches, with the former branch evolving enough to stand apart from heidebergensis by 230 000 years ago.
Eventually modern humans migrating out of Africa interbred with neanderthals in Middle East and the hybrid descendants of this first migration wave interbred with the Denisovans, probably in the mainland East Asia.
3. There is some evidence that the admixture can still cause infertility in modern humans and might have played a major role early on in diminishing the genetic heritage from these species, which would indicate that the species were at the edge of being able to successfully produce viable fertile descendants with modern humans.
This would be a strong support of considering all three of them as independent species, but of course they were all humans like all the other genus Homo species - and perhaps we should include the later Australopithecines as humans, as the line between them and early Homo has become increasingly blurry in studies in recent years and different Australopithecine species and early Homo species can be assumed, but so far not confirmed, to have also interbred and produce hybrid descendants which might have contributed to our own genetic inheritance...
4. Oldest Homo sapiens remains are 195 000 years old, from Omo river in Ethiopia. There's plenty of over 100 000 years old Homo sapiens finds from Africa.
Beyond our own Homo sapiens sapiens, only one Homo sapiens' sub-species has currently wide support, the Homo sapiens idaltu, known from three partial skulls from Herto also in Ethiopia, dated to 160 000 - 154 000 years ago.
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