400,000‑Year Teeth Link Erectus to Denisovans

Researchers sequenced enamel proteins from ~400,000‑year‑old Homo erectus teeth from China and found an amino‑acid variant (M273V) that matches Denisovan sequences and appears in some modern Philippines populations. Because bone DNA is unavailable at this age, the protein signal provides rare molecular evidence of cross‑group gene flow or a shared ancestry among archaic humans. — If confirmed, the finding recasts long‑standing narratives about distinct hominin species and highlights how gene flow shaped modern human diversity — with implications for science communication, ancestry claims, and how we teach human prehistory.