A skeleton of an early Neandertal ancestor from Sima de los Huesos, a unique cave site in Northern Spain. (Image credit: Javier Trueba, MADRID SCIENTIFIC FILMS)

A skeleton of an early Neandertal ancestor from Sima de los Huesos, a unique cave site in Northern Spain. (Image credit: Javier Trueba, MADRID SCIENTIFIC FILMS)

Hominins found in the Sima de los Huesos (“pit of bones”) in northern Spain are more closely related to Denisovans than Neanderthals, according to genetic analysis.

Until now it has been unclear how the 28 individuals were related to other hominins living during the Late Pleistocene.

Analyzing the mitochondrial DNA lead the authors to conclude the closer relationship to Denisovans.

Original research paper published in Nature on March 14, 2015.

Names and affiliations of selected authors

Koen Hufkens, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Bence Viola, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, Ontario