菲律宾人拥有最高丹尼索瓦人血统？
The only definitive fossil evidence that points to the existence of Denisovans -- an enigmatic group of early humans first identified in 2010 -- comes from five bones from the Denisova cave in the foothills of Siberia's Altai mountains.
唯一能证明丹尼索瓦人存在的确凿化石证据是来自西伯利亚阿尔泰山脉山脚下丹尼索瓦洞穴的五块骨头，丹尼索瓦人是一个神秘的早期人类群体，于2010年首次被发现 。
The fragments are so tiny that they can all fit in the palm of one person's hand.
这些碎片非常小，一个人的手掌就可以装下所有碎片。
Now, DNA from 3,000 miles (4,828 kilometers) away in the Philippines is shedding more light on human evolution's biggest mystery.
现在，来自3000英里(4828公里)外的菲律宾的DNA正为人类进化的最大谜团揭开更多的证据。
New research published Thursday has found that a Philippine ethnic group known as the Ayta Magbukon has the highest known level of Denisovan ancestry in the world.
周四发表的一项新研究发现，菲律宾一个名为艾塔·马布肯的族群拥有世界上已知的最高水平的丹尼索瓦血统。
Denisovan DNA lives on in some humans today because, once our Homo sapien ancestors encountered the Denisovans, they had sex with them and gave birth to babies -- something geneticists call admixture.
丹尼索瓦人的DNA在今天的一些人身上依然存在，因为一旦我们的智人祖先遇到丹尼索瓦人，他们就会与他们发生性关系并生下孩子——遗传学家称之为混血。
By analyzing current-day genetic data, we can look back into human history.
通过分析当今的基因数据，我们就可以回顾人类历史。
The "admixing" happened more than 50,000 years ago, as modern humans moved out of Africa and likely crossed paths with both Neanderthals and Denisovans.
这种“混血”发生在5万多年前，当时现代人类离开非洲，很可能与尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人相遇。
But pinning down exactly where it happened has proven difficult -- particularly in the case of Denisovans.
但事实证明，要确切地确定事情发生的地点很困难——尤其是在丹尼索瓦人的情形中。
It's especially puzzling that the only Denisovan fossils were found in Siberia (with the potential exception of a jaw bone on the Tibetan plateau).
尤其令人困惑的是，唯一的丹尼索瓦人化石是在西伯利亚发现的(另外可能还有一块颌骨在西藏高原。)
Genetic evidence has tied the archaic humans most closely to places much farther south.
基因证据则表明，古人类与更靠南的地方联系最为紧密。
"The fact that Ayta Magbukon have the highest amount of Denisovan ancestry of anywhere in the world is unexpected, and I am intrigued, as previous studies did not report such high amounts in other Philippines populations," said João Teixeira, a visiting fellow at the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA at The University of Adelaide.
事实上,艾塔·马布肯这里竟然有最多的丹尼索瓦人的祖先是意想不到的,我感到好奇,因为先前的研究没有报告等大量菲律宾在其他人群,“若昂特谢拉说,他是澳大利亚阿德莱德大学的古代DNA中心的客座研究员。
He was not involved in the study.
并未参与此次研究。
Researchers from the Philippines and Sweden stumbled on the new findings as part of a wider study on human history in the Philippines that involved studying the genetic makeup of 118 different groups in the country.
来自菲律宾和瑞典的研究人员无意中发现了这些新发现，他们正在对菲律宾的人类历史进行更广泛的研究，其中包括研究该国118个不同群体的基因组成。The study was published in the journal Current Biology on Thursday.
这项研究发表在周四的《当代生物学》杂志上。