highlands

A new genetic study has provided important data to evolutionary scientists seeking to trace the migratory movements and cultural interactions of the people who settled the South Pacific islands of Oceania. Most intriguing is a discovery that seems to link people living in the highlands of Papua New Guinea (PNG) with the famed Denisovans, the long-extinct cousins of the Neanderthals who were believed to have resided exclusively in East Asia. While many Pacific Islands show traces of Denisovan DNA from encounters that occurred before their ancestors migrated to their current homes, the latest evidence suggests more recent interbreeding, dating to the post-island settlement era. Growing Pacific Islands Evidence Indicates Denisovans In a study published in April in the journal Nature