Oldest genome from Wallacea shows previously unknown ancient human relations

The oldest genome of a modern human from the Wallacea region -- the islands between western Indonesia and Papua New Guinea -- indicates a previously undescribed ancient human relationship. Researchers were able to isolate sufficient genetic material from the skull of an individual buried more than 7,000 years ago on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. It belonged to a hunter-gatherer society and was interred at the site now called Leang Panninge ('Bat Cave'). A large part of the genetic code matched that of today's Papua New Guineans and Aboriginal Australians. Yet portions of the genome did not match these groups. This brings new surprises about the evolution of modern humans.