One of the major mysteries of human evolution is the sudden divergence of ancient human lineages. However, when studying the ancient past, one time period pops up repeatedly. The Earth's Magnetic Field broke down around the birth of human consciousness 795,000 years ago, leading to the eventual rise of Homo Sapiens.

800,000 years ago, the ancestors of Neanderthals and modern humans were wandering the Old World when a pivotal genetic mutation caused them to separate into a new species. A widely held idea was that our parent species also gave rise to our sister species, the Denisovans and the Neanderthals. In other words, the two species share a common ancestor, known as ‘Ancestor X’.

How are we related to other prehistoric groups and species has been a persistent question for scientists since they first started discovering fossils that resemble ancient humans. How do we fit in with the Neanderthals and Denisovans who coexisted with us on Earth for the majority of our existence, in particular?