Scientists found two mysterious ‘ghost’ ancestors hiding in our DNA

Scientists at UC Berkeley have identified two previously unknown human ancestors whose DNA persists in modern humans today. Using a new genealogical method analyzing hundreds of present-day genomes, researchers found that an unidentified ghost ancestor interbred with Homo sapiens in Africa over 50,000 years ago, contributing approximately 1% of the modern human genome — similar to the Neanderthal contribution. They also detected genetic material from a super-archaic hominin dating back 1.8 million years that interbred with Denisovans, whose descendants later mixed with modern humans.

The discovery reinforces emerging evidence that human evolution involved extensive interbreeding among multiple related hominin populations across Africa and Eurasia over millions of years. The ghost lineage separated from modern human ancestors around 800,000 years ago, when Neanderthals and Denisovans also diverged. The super-archaic ancestry entered modern human genomes indirectly through Denisovan intermediaries, likely over 200,000 years ago.