The complete mitochondrial DNA genome of an unknown hominin from southern Siberia

Ancient mitochondrial DNA from a hominin individual who lived in the Altai Mountains in Southern Siberia between 48,000 and 30,000 years ago has been sequenced (http://go.nature.com/sokd1F for News story). Comparative genomics suggest that this mtDNA derives from an out-of-Africa migration distinct from those that gave rise to Neanderthals and modern humans. The stratigraphy of the Denisova Cave where the bone — part of the fifth 'little finger' digit — was excavated in 2008, suggests that this hominin lived close geographically to Neanderthals and modern humans, and at the same time. Taken with the presence of Homo floresiensis in Indonesia about 17,000 years ago, this discovery suggests that multiple late Pleistocene hominin lineages coexisted for long periods of time in Eurasia.