Ghost Ancestors Found in Human DNA

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Johns Hopkins University published a study in the journal Science on July 30, 2026, identifying genetic traces of two previously unknown extinct human lineages, termed 'ghost ancestors,' within modern human genomes. Using a novel computational method called TRACE, they analyzed over 500 complete genomes from present-day humans worldwide. The first lineage, the 'ghost ancestor,' diverged from modern humans around 800,000 years ago and interbred with Human in Africa more than 50,000 years ago, contributing approximately 0.5% to 1% of the genome of all modern humans, comparable to Neanderthal DNA. The second, the 'super-archaic' lineage, diverged about 1.8 million years ago and interbred with Denisovans over 200,000 years ago, leaving traces in Oceanian populations via Denisovan DNA. The findings suggest human evolution was more interconnected than previously thought, resembling a network rather than a branching tree. The study was led by Zhang Rui and Arjun Biddanda, with contributions from Priya Moorjani. Experts Chris Stringer and Fernando Villanea commented on the findings, suggesting possible links to Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus.