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Ancient DNA links an East Asian Homo sapiens woman to early Americans

An unusual hominid fossil from southwestern China is finally giving up its secrets

a 14,000-year-old partial skull of an ancient hominid shown from multiple angles

DNA from this approximately 14,000-year-old partial skull (shown from multiple angles) found in southwestern China pegs the find as a member of a Homo sapiens population with genetic ties to Native Americans.

X. Zhang et al/Current Biology 2022

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

A previously undetected Homo sapiens population inhabited what’s now southwestern China around 14,000 years ago and contributed to the ancestry of ancient Americans.