Echoes of the Ancients: Denisovans, Genetic Ghosts, and Relicts from the Past | MHP 04.29.25.

Recent advances in genetics and paleoanthropology are revealing a complex world where multiple hominin species coexisted, interbred, and left behind their DNA in modern populations. Fossils like the Denisovan jawbone Penghu-1 found in Taiwan and enigmatic remains from Red Deer Cave suggest that some archaic humans may have survived into the Holocene, much later than previously thought. Meanwhile, studies of modern genomes have uncovered “genetic ghosts”—traces of unknown ancient populations for which no physical remains have been found, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia.

This week on The Micah Hanks Program, we look at these and other recent discoveries challenging our past thinking on ancient humans, which point to a tangled web of migrations and ancient interactions. We look at global folklore and indigenous traditions that describe reclusive, bipedal, humanlike creatures that bear striking similarities across cultures, which raise profound questions about how many kinds of humans once walked the Earth—and whether some still might.

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Show Notes

Below are links to stories and other content featured in this episode:

• NEWS: Trump and Zelensky hold war talks inside St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of pope’s funeral
• A carnivorous 'bone collector' caterpillar dresses in the remains of its prey  
• New Findings Cast Doubt on Spectral Evidence of Life on Distant Exoplanet K2-18b 
• The National Archives needs your help transcribing UFO and JFK files 
• Ross Coulthart says Ashton Forbes' MH370 theories aren't credible  
• PENGHU-1: A Mysterious Fossil from an Unknown Humanlike Species Once Baffled Scientists
• Discovery of “Lost” Species, 'Homo Juluensis,' Challenges Accepted Ideas on Early Hominin Evolution
• A Genetic Ghost Hunt: What Ancient Humans Live On In Our DNA?
• A Humanlike “Living Fossil” Could Still Be Alive in Indonesia, This Anthropologist Says
• The Relict Hominoid Inquiry: Idaho State University

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