In short, this is an unprecedented moment in paleoanthropology. For the first time in the history of science, a form has been distinguished by its genes and nothing else. Can it therefore be considered a species?
From The Secret World of Denisovans: The Epic Story of the Ancient Cousins to Sapiens and Neanderthals by Silvana Condemi and François Savatier
As that very brief passage points out, Denisovans have been defined by their genes. Actual skeletal remains have been minimal. Genes can sometimes be a blueprint that wasn't actually followed in construction. Therefore, our understanding of Denisovans is very limited, and will be expanded―knock on wood―by further discoveries. Ideas will have to be revised.
Still, they were a very significant find, and a recent one. The finger bone fragment from which they were identified was only found in 2010. Yet the largest portion of the world's population is probably related to them, if distantly.
This is a good book. It has to take some rather arcane biological subjects and make then comprehensible to the lay reader. At the same time, it's respectful to the general public in a way that surprises me for a book published in 2025.
It also has beautiful, hand-drawn illustrations from Benoit Clarys, who seems to be very familiar with this kind of subject.
2 comments:
It sounds like a most fascinating book. I remember years ago when that first finger bone was found being the only evidence at the time that the Denisovan people had existed. As time has gone by many specimens have been collected including the leg bones of two individuals that show the race was much taller than was expected - taller than Neanderthals and much taller than Homo Erectus.. 6'2" and 5'11".
https://archaeology.org/news/2026/08/18/denisovans-were-much-taller-than-previously-thought/
A somewhat older article from The Natural History Museum has an illustration of what a Denisovan male looked like (great brow ridge) but no news then about height. They do say Denisovans may have been our closest ancestor since they've been known to range much further afield than Neanderthals.
https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/denisovans.html
It's always a wonder to read about people who lived an unimaginable time ago. I wonder if there are others whose remains still haven't been discovered. I agree with you that Benoit Clarys is a very good artist.
It is a pretty cool book. Translated from French, and the translator seems to have done a very good job. It's been exciting to see this other species discovered and come more and more to light. I'd be cautious about saying how tall they were, though. The remains the team is talking about could turn out to be outliers. That in itself might mean something, though.
Those hunters were quite capable if they could take down that aurochs with wooden spears. It's hard to say who's a closer ancestor since both they and Neanderthals bred with H. Sapiens, and with each other. But it does seem that most people currently in the world have a degree of Denisovan in them. Which have more and less can be surprising. There's a surprising amount in Oceania.
Thinking about these other human species, it was a long time ago, and then in some ways it wasn't. Much closer to our time than to the australopithecines, anyway. I wonder if they got into our early folklore. It is nice to see a book where the illustrations were a priority.
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