News Genetics

An Indigenous people in the Philippines have the most Denisovan DNA

Indigenous Ayta Magbukon people get 5 percent of their DNA from the mysterious ancient hominids

a group of Ayta people in front of huts beside a river

Ayta people in the Philippines, shown here, belong to a group of ethnic communities that includes one with the highest level of Denisovan ancestry in the world, a new study finds.

Gerhard Joren/LightRocket via Getty Images

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Denisovans are an elusive bunch, known mainly from ancient DNA samples and traces of that DNA that the ancient hominids shared when they interbred with Homo sapiens.