This Filipino Ethnic Group Posseses the Highest DNA Level of an Extinct Human Subspecies

The Denisovans only become known to science in 2010, when their finger bones and teeth were found in the Denisova Cave in Siberia. They happen to be our extinct relatives, and that's about all we know.

Most of their people's history remains a mystery to science to this day. With the use of DNA technology, scientists are still trying to figure out their lineage, where they lived, and what happened to them. What we do know, however, is that further analysis shows that Denisovans bred with our ancestors and Neanderthals. Accordingly, a lot of present-day humans possess these genes.

As it turns out, a certain ethnic group in the Philippines possesses the highest level of Denisovan DNA, according to this study. The Ayta Magbukun have quite the Denisovan ancestry in their genome.

Negritos, to which the Ayta Magbukun belong, were said to have been the first modern hominins to settle in the region some 30,000 years ago. The findings from the research say that they came into contact with the Denisovans. Thus, the high DNA level. The Ayta Magbukun mostly occupies the Bataan Peninsula. They remain one of the least-known indigenous groups in the country.

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“Although, much later, Negritos admixed with the East Asian group that had a small proportion of Denisova DNA, we found that the Negritos had a proportion markedly higher than those of other ethnic groups. Compared with Australians and Papuans, the Negritos’ Denisovan ancestry was up to 46 percent higher,” notes Maximilian Larena of Uppsala University, the study’s first author.

The study analyzed the genomes of about 120 ethnic groups in the country, examining DNA from 1,107 individuals across 118 ethnic groups. Larena collaborated with various cultural institutions, universities, and indigenous peoples’ organizations to come up with the results using a genetic tool called masking.

"On Southeast Asian islands, Negritos later admixed with people who arrived from East Asia and had some Denisovan genes, which caused dilution in the share of Denisovan DNA," another researcher, Mattias Jakobsson, added.

He continued: "But some groups, such as Ayta Magbukon, interbred only a little with the people who later migrated to the islands. That’s the reason why the Ayta Magbukon retained most of their Denisovan genes and therefore have the highest levels of those genes in the world."

The Ayta Magbukun carry more Denisovan DNA than the Papuan Highlanders, the previous record holder. Interestingly, this report also tells us that several archaic ethnic groups inhabited the Philippines before the Homo sapiens came.