The analyses of an international team of researchers led by
Svante Pääbo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in
Leipzig, Germany, show that the genetic variation of Denisovans was extremely
low, suggesting that although they were present in large parts of Asia, their
population was never large for long periods of time. In addition, a
comprehensive list documents the genetic changes that set apart modern humans
from their archaic relatives. Some of these changes concern genes that are
associated with brain function or nervous system development.