Has AI found a new human ancestor? Evidence of extinct hominid spotted by algorithm

Researchers have identified what may be a previously unknown human ancestor, thanks to the help of artificial intelligence. A new investigation into the genome of Asian populations has spotted the footprint of a long-ago hominid that appears to have been bred from two different species of human ancestor – Neanderthal and Denisovan. This ancient hominid, who lived tens of thousands of years ago, then bred with modern humans who arrived to Asia after the'Out of Africa' migration. It comes just months after a different team revealed the discovery of a hybrid'love child' born from a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father. And, the new research from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology (IBE), Centro Nacional de Análisis Genómico (CNAG-CRG) of the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG), and the Institute of Genomics at the University of Tartu suggests such hominid hybrids may not have been all that uncommon after all.