The Wire

Human remains dating back 400 000 years have been found in the Northern Spanish cave, Sima de los Huesos (‘the pit of bones’). The previous record of the oldest human DNA was around 100 000 years and this new discovery sheds light on what we know about evolution. Scientists believed the thigh bone belonged to an ancestor of the Neanderthals, but testing shows it more closely resembles Denisovans. The Denisovan species are still quite mysterious having only been found in 2010.