How are Neanderthals related to Denisovans?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Neanderthal Artist's rendering of Homo neanderthalensis, who ranged from western Europe to Central Asia for some 100,000 years before dying out approximately 30,000 years ago.

Neanderthals and Denisovans are closely related groups of archaic humans that share a common ancestral lineage.1

Researchers hypothesize that both groups descended from a late-migrating lineage of Homo erectus that moved from Africa to Eurasia approximately 700,000 years ago. Following this, the Neanderthal and Denisovan branches diverged genetically and geographically about 370,000 years ago.1

Following this separation, their populations occupied different regions:
* Neanderthals migrated to Europe and western Asia, ranging from the Atlantic regions eastward to the Altai Mountains.1
* Denisovans moved eastward into East Asia and Southeast Asia, spreading as far as the Philippines and New Guinea.1

Despite this geographic separation, genetic studies indicate that the two groups interbred with one another, as well as with early modern humans (Homo sapiens).1