Bailey et al. (1) describe a lower second molar with 3 roots in a Denisovan hemimandible dated 160,000 ka. The presence of a third root is stated to occur in <3.5% of non-Asians and in up to 40% of Asians and some New World populations. From this, they conclude the feature “provides morphological evidence of a strong link between archaic and recent Asian H[omo] sapiens populations. This link provides compelling evidence that modern Asian lineages acquired the 3-rooted lower molar via introgression from Denisovans” (ref. 1, p. 14806). However, there are 2 problems regarding this statement:
1) While the expression of 3-rooted lower first molars (LM1) is more common in Asian and Asian-derived …
↵1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: grscott{at}unr.edu.
